Category: News

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MAZDA MX-5 CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY

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Mazda Motor Corporation surprised the motoring world at the Chicago Auto Show, on February 9, 1989 when it unveiled its cute little MX-5 open top sportscar. Until that day the general feeling had been that safety regulations meant that it was probably impossible to ever build open top cars again. Mazda MX-5 proved them wrong and today it’s all but impossible to find an auto maker that doesn’t have open top models in their range. At the Chicago Auto Show, on February 9, 2019 Mazda Motor Corporation unveiled a 30th… Read more

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MASERATI LEVANTE IS A GENUINE OFF-ROADER

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When Maserati invited me to spend a full day at Sydney MotorSport Park (nee Eastern Creek Raceway) I looked forward to fun times blasting around the tricky 4.5km road track. Which I did… What I didn’t expect was having fun at crawling speeds in a brace of Maserati Levante 4WDs. Yes, I’ve used the term 4WD here, Levante isn’t just a pretty on-road station wagon, it leans so much in the direction of capable SUV that I’ve granted it my personal top title of 4WD. This Italian masterpiece tackled serious… Read more

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2019 MITSUBISHI TRITON

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Mitsubishi Australia is on a roll at the moment, cleverly realising that pickup trucks are the flavour of the year. The company has virtually stopped all sales of sedans and is concentrating on pickups and SUVs. Hence this big makeover of the Triton ute / pickup. After a briefing on the latest Triton a few weeks back we have finally spent a solid day behind the wheel. More about this in a moment, suffice to say it involved plenty of genuine off-road work. Though not completely new Triton has received… Read more

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JAGUAR CHEQUERED FLAG EDITIONS

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Jaguar XF Chequered_Flag Sportbrake

Jaguar has revealed new Chequered Flag special editions as part of the latest model year updates to the XF Saloon and Sportbrake. The Chequered Flag editions feature unique badging on the side vents, has a sport front bumper, Jaguar’s Black Pack, body-coloured side sills and a boot spoiler. It rides on 18-inch Chalice alloy wheels in Gloss Black Finish. Inside, the XF Saloon and Sportbrake Chequered Flag models feature handpicked elements including unique interior badging on the tread-plates, Dark Hex aluminium instrument panel finisher, R-Sport full leather interior, and a… Read more

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MASERATI GHIBLI SCATENATO LIMITED EDITION

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Maserati is importing just 20 limited-edition Ghibli Scatenato to Australia. Scatenato – Italian for Unleash – is powered by the Maserati designed, Ferrari built twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6 engine. This puts out 350 hp and drives the rear wheels via an eight speed automatic. This Ghibli can get from zero to 100 kmh in 5.5 seconds. Special features on the Scatenato are 21-inch Titano forged alloy wheels. Sitting inside the wheels are brake calipers in Maserati Blue. Inside, the standard seats have been up graded to wrap-around Sports Seats upholstered… Read more

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RANGE ROVER VELAR SVAUTOBIOGRAPHY DYNAMIC EDITION

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Land Rover has introduced a new limited run model with what is perhaps the longest title ever: “Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition”. Designed as the pinnacle of the Velar line-up, it has been developed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations and is powered by a 405 kW 5.0-litre V8 supercharged engine. It does the 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds on its way to 274 km/h where conditions permit. Calibrations for the AWD system, Active Rear Locking Differential, eight-speed transmission, steering and air suspension are bespoke to the SVAutobiography. The… Read more

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RENAULT CAPTUR GETS MORE GRUNT

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A new more powerful turbo-petrol engine is available in automatic versions of the Renault Captur Zen and Intens. Producing 110kW (150 horsepower) of power, and 250Nm of torque from 1600rpm the 1.3 TCe 150 engine was launched on the limited edition Captur S-Edition in 2018, this new engine is now available across all specifications, replacing the 1.2-litre turbo. Captur Zen also receives a multimedia system update that now offers smartphone users the opportunity to stay connected through either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Captur Zen auto with 1.3-litre turbo is… Read more

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MINI 60TH ANNIVERSARY

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In August 1959 Morris and Austin launched brand new cars called Mini-Minor and Austin Seven respectively (same car, different names, and this isn’t the place to talk about Riley and Wolseley models). They were a brilliant design, with a surprising large interior due to having an engine mounted sideways across the front, with the gearbox in the sump and driving the front wheels. All four wheels were pushed out to the corners. Though aimed at low-cost motoring for the masses the Mini was a huge success with celebrities world-wide, so… Read more

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NOW KIA CERATO TAPS INTO ‘GT’ TAG

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In days gone by, GT, as in Grand Touring, was generally reserved for aristocratic automobiles, usually from Europe, or American muscle cars. Then hot hatches got in on the act. These days, GT seems to be bandied about, being given to any ‘below stairs’ vehicle showing spirit. Take the new Cerato GT from Kia, for example. Does it stack up to the top-shelf suffix? The South Korean car maker thinks so, with its best-selling model, the Cerato sedan and hatch, adding a 1.6-litre turbo model and a ride and handling… Read more

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BMW Z4: PRICING AND SPECIFICATIONS

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BMW has released details of the all new BMW Z4 Roadster that will go on sale Downunder on a date yet to be announced in April. Prices range from $84,900 for the Z4 sDrive20i to $124,900 for the BMW Z4 M40i. On-road charges have to be added. (See the full price list in our separate table.) Fascinatingly the Z4 has been styled by Australian Calvin Luk. We chatted to this personable young guy when he made a recent visit Downunder and he’s a real genius with the pen, not to… Read more