by David Burrell – – – I’m searching through the AMHF’s extensive collection to find examples of Australian car companies and their advertising agencies reusing overseas print advertisements and brochures. In those pre-internet days very few car enthusiasts would have had access to overseas brochures, so the copying remained undetected for decades. 1963 EH HOLLDEN […]
Green Lizard: Rotary Torana
by David Burrell – – – A rotary engine in a Torana? Yes! Holden once considered a rotary for the Torana hatchback. Back in the early 1970s, GM’s president, Ed Cole (the same Ed Cole who created the Chevrolet Corvair), was one of the rotary’s greatest champions and established a well-funded and highly publicised project. […]
Copy Cat Ads: Part 1
by David Burrell – – – The AMHF has an extensive and fascinating collection of automotive brochures and print advertisements. Some date from the 1930s. How many items are in the collection? No one has conducted a count. A small team of volunteers is doing so now and cataloguing them. While the cataloguing continues, I’ve […]
The story of the Tyrrell P34 Cosworth Formula One Car
by Brian Goulding – – – Back on September 22, 1975, the 1976 Tyrrell Formula One car was introduced to the world’s press. The new car sat in the London Airport Heathrow Hotel under a white dust sheet with all the familiar bumps showing – rear wing, cockpit roll hoop and front wheels. However, when […]
Ford Crown Victoria – Built for the USA
by David Burrell – – – On 15 September 2011, the last V8 body-on-chassis passenger sedan was built in the USA. It was the Ford Crown Victoria, known to us devotees as the “Crown Vic”. I reckon that the Crown Vic is the most recognised car on the planet. In just about every American TV […]
Who was Hugh Griffiths?
by Colin J. Piper – – – Enter the name Hugh Griffiths into the AMHF Archive Database and you will be directed to one book in our collection: “The Fabulous Farm: Tasman Cup Races,” published by Racing Car News in 1979 and sold for the princely sum of $2.50. It is in magazine format, the […]
Secret Solaris: The Australian Connection
by David Burrell – – – Does the car in the photo above look vaguely familiar? A little bit like an HD Holden? A little bit like General Motors’ (GM) cars in the sixties and seventies? Known as the “Solaris” it was one of the most influential concept cars ever built by GM and kept […]
Newsletter – June 2026
Welcome to the AMHF Newsletter for June 2026. AMHF Collection Spotlight: Recalling the Redex Trials The 1953, 1954 and 1955 Redex Reliability Trials were epic tests of endurance that captured Australia’s imagination. Ordinary production cars were sent across brutal outback roads, river crossings, dust, mud and thousands of punishing kilometres. Such was the excitement of […]
Decca Major – Rebuilding a classic motor
by Dave Williamson – – – John Murn and I had been discussing the state of the motor in his 1960 Decca sports car. While being a solid power plant and having the reputation for being reliable, the trusty English 1500 BMC “B” series motor has its own Achilles heel: its weight. Part of the […]
