Stories

The following is a first-hand account of the (hurried) restoration of Jack Brabham’s 1966 World Championship winning Brabham BT19. The article, by Bill Freame, first appeared in the April 2020 edition of Valve Bounce, the magazine of the Gippsland Car Club. Forty years ago, in the 1970s, I was an employee of the vast Repco […]

In recent year, John Smailes has become Australia’s most prolific author of motor sport books. His first, in 2018, was Climbing the Mountain, Allan Moffat’s autobiography. Then came Race Across the World: the story of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon; Mount Panorama, our greatest race circuit; and Speed Kings, Australians and New Zealanders at the Indy […]

Review by Peter Robinson I first became aware of Ross Vasse reading Survivor Car magazine. It quickly became apparent that Vasse, who produces the new-ish title, was also working on a book devoted entirely to the legendary Ford Falcon GT HO Phase 111. A few months later, my old Wheels magazine colleague Mel Nichols revealed […]

This truly is a must-have book for anyone who owns or, especially, is restoring any model from Holden’s 1968-1971 HK-HT-HG range. Dr Norm Darwin’s latest Holden tome ($65) includes (almost) everything you could conceivably want to know about the models.

Book Review by Hugh King (Chairman, AMHF) Bruce Polain has a sharp sense of what matters most to the older motor enthusiast. He not only conceived and gave life to a very special happening forty years ago but he skilfully made it seem like pure serendipity at the time. And now he has brought it […]

This book is a personal insight into the racing career of Spencer Martin, mostly seen through his own eyes. Early day influences and career defining moments, it charts his rise through the ranks and chances taken. Spencer says that his first racing car was the only one that he personally funded during his career. His […]

I have copies of previous books penned by Norm Darwin, – History of Ford in Australia, 100 Years of GM in Australia, and others. Early Australian Automotive Design (The first fifty years) charts the course of vehicle design from 1895 to 1953. Culminating in a thorough analysis of the design and engineering of the Series 48 Holden […]

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 […]

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 …