On October 24, 1969 Fiat paid one lira (around 0.6cents) to gain outright control of Lancia. That one lira was merely a symbol of course, for Fiat also inherited Lancia’s debts – totally many hundreds of millions of lire. The sudden fall of Turin’s most respected car maker came as a surprise to most people. […]
The Motoring Heritage of India
In the forecourt of the Liberty Cinema in Bombay a few years ago, an immaculate Figoni et Falaschi bodied 1936 Delahaye 135 stood in resplendent red, cordoned off by red rope. Passers-by gawked at the car, puzzled by its unfamiliar appearance. Little did they know that this very car, once exchanged by its previous owner […]
Julian Thomson
In 1989, when the Tokyo motor show moved 30km from downtown to Makuhari, the only practicable way from the city (where most of the press and manufacturers stayed) was by train. Which is how I meet Julian Thomson and Simon Cox. As almost the only Caijin on the platform, we struck up a conversation. I […]
Holden’s Stylng Directors
Leo Pruneau, former head of design at Holden, is one of my favourite car people. In the 1990s Leo and I worked together as members of the Wheels magazine Car of the Year judging panel. After the 1994 COTY week, when among much else we discussed Holden design, Leo sent me this photograph of Holden’s […]
FJ Holden Special
Charger
‘Dyno’ Dave. The Yella Terra Story
Part family history and personal anecdote, part business and motoring history, ‘Dyno’ Dave’s memoir is a valuable contribution to the literature of motoring in Australia. Bennett is primarily remembered for two of his ventures. As the moniker ‘Dyno Dave’, bestowed on him by Norm Beechey, suggests, one was his pioneering use of dynamometers for diagnostic […]
SUNRAYCER and the World Solar Challenge 1987 & CONFESSIONS OF A FAST WOMAN
Darwin to Adelaide – the 1987 BP World Solar Challenge, six hard days and 3200 kms down the Stuart Highway, each car powered by nothing but the solar rays …
PRODUCING THE FIRST HOLDEN ENGINES: The 1946 Journals of a Tool Engineer
This remarkable, large and very specialised local work deserves a full review from our own specialist in matters of Australian motor manufacturing lore, the redoubtable …
