Latest from Retro Rides Originals
Classic TV: Ford Falcon XR8
Must be stuck in third! A blue streak rockets across the barren landscape, its two fully ignited jet engines spewing flame as it accelerates to warp speed. Onboard, the pilot struggles to read the gauges as his body is buffeted by extreme g-forces.
Extraordinary Engines: Holden/HSV 215i 5.7-litre
How Holden Special Vehicles stretched the 5.0-litre V8 to 5.7-litres and created an Aussie performance icon. The first factory V8 fitted to a Holden was the imported 307 cubic inch Chevrolet small block that made its debut in the HK range in January 1968. Six months after the HK’s launch Holden debuted its first two-door coupe, the HK Monaro, with an imported 327 cubic inch V8 option on the top-s…
Video: HWA EVO - Frankenstein in a Suit
HWA EVO, a limited-edition super sports sedan that pays homage to the iconic Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II.
Top Tips for Buying a Used Ford Mustang (1964-66)
Launched at the 1964 World’s Fair, Ford's ground-breaking Mustang was never really intended to be a performance car. It began life as a low cost, stylish 'secretary's car' with six cylinders and a bland persona. But there was a V8 option. The short lived F-Code 260 V8 for the 1964 model year with the C-Code 289 arriving for the 1965 models.
Newly Classic: Nissan 200SX (S14)
Nissan’s fifth-generation S14 200SX delivered V8-eating performance in a handsome two-door sports coupe package. In the Australian automotive vernacular, the phrase “hairdresser’s car” is a not-so-subtle sledge usually reserved for attractively styled but somewhat underpowered and dynamically underwhelming sports coupes.
Opinion: Should You Convert Your Classic Cars to EV?
The answer is obvious, isn’t it? OF COURSE BLOODY NOT! The sounds and smells of internal combustion are an integral part of the classic car ownership experience and replacing that with a box of volts should be actionable by law.
Top Tips for Buying a Used Mazda RX-7 (Series 1-3)
Mazda’s first production rotary, the Cosmos 110S was a sporty two-seat coupe and Mazda didn't build another one in significant quantities until 1978 when the RX7 appeared.
Extraordinary Engines: Ford Barra Turbo
How Ford’s adoption of turbocharging for its inline six-cylinder engine created one of the fastest four-doors on the planet. It may have ended up with an aquatic moniker, but Ford’s turbocharged 4.0-litre inline-six – colloquially known as the ‘Barra’ – initially carried a more avian title.
Unicorn: 2002 HRT 427
In the early-2000s the Australian car industry was riding the crest of a wave. Ford was bidding farewell to the AU error, sorry, era, with the launch of the BA Falcon and the revival of a dedicated performance division, Ford Performance Vehicles.
Retro Rides Presents : Subaru Impreza WRX 1994-2000
How success in rallying fired-up the Subaru WRX phenomenon, making a future classic Three decades on, it would be easy to recall that the first Subaru WRX was an instant hit, given the sales and World Rally Championship successes it enjoyed through the second half of the 1990s.
Rear View - Lamborghini Countach
How the Lamborghini Countach became the definitive supercar of the 1970s – and the decade after Half a century ago, cars didn’t look like this. Suddenly, this one did. First previewed three years earlier as the LP 500 concept, the effect of the production Lamborghini Countach LP 400 driving onto the world stage in 1974 was like the Imperial Star Destroyer in the opening scene of Star Wars – a fil…
Top Five: Road Cars Peter Brock Built
Top Five: Road Cars Peter Brock Built
Extraordinary Engines: Why the Gen III V8 Engine was a performance hero
How the US-sourced Gen III V8 put a cracker under the bonnet of Holden’s mid-1999 VT2 Commodore. IN 2024, IT WILL BE 25 years since Holden unleashed its new all-alloy, 5.7-litre GM V8 onto the Australian market, immediately making the 5.0-litre V8 powering its arch-rival the Ford Falcon look old hat.
