by Brian Goulding – – – In my previous article on 4wd competition cars, I wrote about the success, or rather lack of success, of four-wheel drive cars in Formula One. This time I want to explore the efforts of engineers to use four-wheel drive in the era before Formula One – pre-1950, and the […]
Four-wheel drive fallacy
by Brian Goulding – – – Many motor manufacturers use four-wheel drive on their powerful (and not so powerful) road cars as a method of ensuring a more efficient transfer of drive to the ground, especially in wet and slippery conditions. It is an obvious advantage on the road, but it begs the question: why […]
Ford Australia’s Archive
by Peter Robinson – – – The battle over Ford Australia’s precious archive, raging since 2015, finally seems to have settled. There’s still one major step before all parties are happy, but, crucially, the vast majority of the archive stays in Australia. For a time it seemed possible (even probable) that the entire collection would […]
The wild ways of Wally Warneford, motor racer and undercover policeman
by Andrew Moore – – – For those of us who read Racing Car News in the 1960s and 1970s, the name Warneford may strike a chord of recognition. No issue of RCN was complete without an advertisement for a Warneford product. They made some pretty good kit, particularly manifolds for carburettors. Many a hot […]
The Graham Howard papers: a jewel of the Australian Motor Heritage Foundation
by Andrew Moore – – – Graham Howard (1937-2013) was the doyen of Australia’s motor racing historians and a highly respected journalist. Brian Caldersmith described him as ‘Our Doug Nye, Eoin Young and Denis Jenkinson all rolled into a quiet package‘. For John Medley and others he was simply ‘The Guru’. Medley, Graham’s long-term friend […]
Corvette Concept
by Peter Robinson – – – The first in a raft of Corvette concept cars due to be unveiled this year has been revealed at the official opening of GM’s new UK advanced design studio. GM admits, “there is no production intention behind this concept”, and says the UK Design team undertook the exercise to […]
Skoda 1000 MBXL Communist Cult Classic
Retro Stories by David Burrell – – – In a quiet corner of the 1966 Geneva Motor show was the Skoda stand. The Czechoslovakian manufacturer had survived through two world wars and was now under communist control, but that did not stop it from turning out interesting cars. While all the attention at Geneva was […]
Albanita: GM’s secret 1933 “aero” concept car
Retro Stories by David Burrell – – – Automotive folklore says that the Buick Y Job of 1938 was General Motors’ (GM) first concept car. But that’s only half right. It was the first concept car shown to the public. During the early 1930s GM developed a number of concept cars, but never let them […]
You wouldn’t repaint a Rembrandt
The story behind a Ferrari 330 GT barn find by David Williamson – – – Barn finds are always big news for motoring enthusiasts. A couple of years ago, twice Gold Star champion Spencer Martin suggested I join him on a visit to one of Sydney’s Ferrari service centres. Intrigued, I was told only that […]
