Category: Classic Cars

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ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SPRINT COUPE

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1954-1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

  The Alfa Romeo Sprint Coupe came onto the market in 1954 as a replacement for Alfa’s first postwar production design, the 1900, which had been released in 1950. Prior to the 1950s, cars were a relatively small part of Alfa Romeo’s business, its main business being the manufacture of aircraft engines. In the 1920s and 1930s Alfa Romeo competed in many car races and were successful in Grands Prix, Mille Miglia and Le Mans on a number of occasions, soon gaining a reputation as the outstanding marque for the… Read more

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LOTUS ELAN SPRINT

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1968 Lotus Elan Sprint

In 1962, Lotus announced the Elan to take over from the Elite. This was an entirely different type of chassis, designed specifically with series production in mind, for it could be stripped out and repaired more easily. The designer was persuaded of the advantages of having a separate chassis, particularly in an open car. From this the simple, but very rigid, folded steel backbone frame was conceived. It was agreed that the body could be made only in two parts – a top and a bottom. This type of construction… Read more

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FORD P6 LTD

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Bearing absolutely no family resemblance to the then current XC Falcon, the P6 LTD caused something of a sensation. It was first introduced in September 1976 and all up 5896 vehicles were built. It was eventually replaced by the FC LTD in June 1979. The P6 was big and looked big. Styling was clean and crisp in the American manner. The wheelbase was 3074mm, the longest of any modern passenger car in Australia. The engine continued to be the well proven 5.8-litre V8, designed to meet newly introduced emission controls…. Read more

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LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH

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Countach – the name comes from a Piedmontese exclamation of amazement which, very roughly translated into English, means something like `crikey’ and was an ideal name for the car that was to replace the Lamborghini Miura. First seen at the Geneva Motor Show of 1971, the Countach car was produced as the ultimate no-compromise high performance road car. To achieve this cost was barely a consideration, and the result was quite dramatic, to say the least. The designer, Bertone, included doors which did not swing outward but upward and forward… Read more

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DAIMLER DOUBLE-SIX

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1931 Daimler Double-Six

The name Daimler and the British royal family have a long association during the 1920s and 1930s. At every state occasion there would be a line of Daimler Double-Sixes each adorned with either a flag – the Royal Standard – or the Royal Crest above each expansive windscreen. These cars featured the unorthodox `Silent Knight’ double-sleeve-valve engine in use throughout the Edwardian years but when there was a change in chief engineer at Daimler, Laurence Pomeroy, the new man set about an engine redesign. Since he had never favoured the… Read more

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MAZDA RX-3

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The RX3 is best viewed as an uprated, restyled R100. Its heart was still the 10A rotary, which drove back through a slick shifting all-synchro four-speed to a live rear axle suspended by leaf springs. To reduce its emission and noise levels, the RX3’s 10A differed somewhat from its predecessors. New rotor housings and relief-cut trochoid surfaces and honeycomb style exhaust ports, along with other design changes, distinguished the new generation 10A. Perhaps surprisingly, maximum power remained at 110 brake horsepower, which translates to around 65 of today’s kW. On… Read more

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MERCEDES BENZ SSK

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1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK

The SSK – K from the German for short – was designed by Dr Ferdinand Porsche and was among the highest performance cars of the early 1920s produced anywhere in the world. This performance came from the supercharger with which the SSK was equipped. Mercedes developed supercharging technology for use in aero engines during the 1914-18 war as a means of dramatically increasing power without adding a great deal of weight. The last Mercedes cars designed by Paul Daimler before, in 1922, he left the company founded by his father… Read more

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RELIANT SCIMITAR

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The Reliant Scimitar was an Italian styled, British-built sports car that proved very popular in the USA. One of its best known owners was Princess Anne who gave the car quite a deal of publicity when she was booked for speeding in her Scimitar. With its distinctive plastic body the Scimitar SS1 two seater was introduced to the market by Reliant early in 1985. Reliant had a lot of experience in building short-run models with glass fibre bodies and outsourced running gear. In mid-1986 Reliant upgraded its Scimitar by introducing… Read more

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FORD FALCON XR GT

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In August 1966, the new Mustang bred XR Falcon was released. A major feature of this model was the famous US small block 4.7-litre V8. This new Yankee-built engine was one of three engine options, the others being two versions of the faithful straight six. The 4.7-litre V8 was not new to Australia but its use in a locally-made body now made it the cheapest V8 in the country and a favourite with buyers and the press alike. It was felt that Ford had made an effort to get it… Read more

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LAMBORGHINI MIURA COUPE

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1971 Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini presented a credible threat to Ferrari’s supremacy in Italy with cars like the 1966 Miura, with a quad-cam V12 which gave the car a top speed of 275 km/h. This car had a mid-engine layout, but the real advance was that the long V12 engine had been mounted transversely across the frame, the engine block being combined with five-speed all-synchromesh transmission. With an outstandingly beautiful body style by Bertone, and a name taken up from that of a particularly fearsome breed of Spanish fighting bull, the first complete Miura… Read more