Latest from Retro Rides Originals
Magnarrific: Here’s why the Mitsubishi Magna deserves more love
While Holden and Ford may have produced the best-known locally-designed darlings of the Australian automotive industry’s heyday, the Commodore and Falcon you’ve likely owned at least one of or were at least driven around in as a child, there was of course a third major player that sat alongside them: the Mitsubishi Magna.
Legends: Meet the ‘Porsche of the East’, the Škoda 130 RS
Turning 50 this year, the Škoda 130 RS was a powerhouse in Czechoslovak motorsport during the 1970s and 1980s, winning numerous titles in both international rallying and circuit racing.
How To Check Out and Buy a Classic Car at Auction
According to the folklore surrounding automotive auctions, you’re best not to wave at a friend or scratch your nose during proceedings, or you might just buy a car. Today, it’s a different world where everyone plays by a new set of rules and it’s hard to do anything by accident.
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Top 10 Homologation Specials From Bathurst’s Golden Age
How Australia and the Bathurst 1000 helped shaped the era of tarmac racing homologation specials.
Top Tips for Buying a Used Holden Torana LX SS V8 Hatch (1976-78)
The local motor industry was more than a little shocked in 1976 when Holden’s LX update of its mid-sized Torana included a stylish new hatchback body style. Versatility was the reason Holden had gone with the hatchback, expanding the Torana’s appeal and giving the car maker a player in a segment populated by Japanese models like Datsun’s 260Z 2+2 and Toyota’s Celica.
How the Nissan GT-R became King of The Mountain for two years running, helping create the legend of Godzilla
To fully understand how the Nissan GT-R earned its monster ‘Godzilla’ moniker, you need to travel back in time to 1992 to the holy grail of Australian motorsport, Mount Panorama.
Top 5 Unlikely Bathurst 1000 Heroes
The recipe for success at Bathurst is well established. Of the 61 races held, 51 have been won by a car with a V8 engine powering the rear wheels. Obviously, since 1993 the regulations have dictated no other option, but even when it was open slather, from 1967, when the first Ford XR Falcon GT appeared, to 1992, only five winners had a different mechanical configuration.
How the Nissan Bluebird Turbo signaled a changing of the guard at the 1984 Bathurst 1000
Forty years ago, there was a changing of the guard at Bathurst. Since 1967 and the arrival of the Ford XR Falcon GT, every car that sat on pole position for The Great Race had had eight cylinders under the bonnet.
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…
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.
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.
