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FORD FIESTA 2004 – 2016

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2004 Ford Fiesta

Ford Fiesta is a European sourced small car that has the of on-road dynamics that please keen Aust drivers. In particular they love the hot-hatches, like the Fiesta Zetec, ST and the XR4. Though it dates back to the mid 1970s in Europe, Ford Fiesta wasn’t sold here till 1984 when Ford Australia realised it was losing sales to Holden because local buyers weren’t keen on the cheap n’ cheerful Ford Festivas that were imported from South Korea. The earlier models were built in Germany, from 2010 they came from… Read more

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MIDDLE TRAX EXTREMELY WELL CONNECTED

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While the Holden Trax small sports utility vehicle showed a 25 per cent increase in sales in Australia in 2016, Holden is not standing on its laurels and has added to the range with a mid-spec LT. Slotting in between the LS entry-level and range-topping LTZ, this intended to put Holden at the leading edge of in-car connectivity in the small SUV segment. Holden says it is estimated around 77 per cent of Australians own at least one smartphone and check them more than 150 times a day, so the… Read more

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KIA SPORTAGE SI PREMIUM REVIEW

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My first time in a Kia Sportage was on a sneaky trip to Byron Bay to escape the UK winter. That it features in my memory alongside an unforgettable Byron Bay adventure, will forever cloak it in fondness. It matters not that that Sportage was boxier in appearance and certainly included far fewer niceties than it does today. A bond was formed. The Sportage Si Premium that visited with us for the week looks a world apart from that first experience, with its rounded hourglass grille, sleeker lines and plastic… Read more

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2017 TOYOTA 86 SPECIAL EDITION

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In a world that’s moving at breakneck speed a five-year old car like the Toyota 86 needs a serious freshen-up to keep it in the minds of potential buyers. A clever marketing move is the introduction of limited editions – not ‘special’ editions which can be moved off the showroom floors in volume and soon fade from the mind. Limited editions take on an aura of exclusivity hence the Toyota LE. Only 60, all in a wild orange shade, came Downunder a couple of months back. We’ve just spent a… Read more

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STYLISH NEW TOYOTA CAMRY

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Out with the old, in with the new. New Toyota Camry is most certainly an eye opener when compared with its honourable ancestors. Sadly the Camry is no longer made in Australia, it now comes from Japan. The build quality on the ones we have seen to date is every bit as good as what we have seen coming out of the Altona, Melbourne factory for the past 20 years. Let us jump straight to style because, believe it or not, that’s what people will be talking about in the… Read more

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DROWSY DRIVERS DIE

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A recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the USA has found that “Fatigued (sleepy) drivers kill more people [16.5%] than all of the drivers exceeding the speed limit [7%] or running a red light [2%].” Inattention is by far the biggest cause of road fatalities, unfortunately the technology companies that manufacture speed and red light cameras cannot supply camera technology to detect inattentive drivers. So there is no revenue in detecting fatigued drivers and inattentive drivers. Roadside cameras are being used by some Australian police… Read more

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NISSAN STILL A BIG MANUFACTURER IN AUSTRALIA

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Nissan started assembling cars in Sydney over 50 years ago, in 1966. Then began full-line local production in 1972, eventually not only making Nissans here, but also Holdens for a while (some Astras were based on Nissan Pulsars). Though Nissan pulled out of full-scale manufacturing here in 1992, it continues to make car components to this day, and plans to do so well into the next decade. The Nissan Casting Plant (NCAP) in Clayton, Victoria employs 192 skilled workers, runs three shifts a day, seven days a week making approximately… Read more

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AUSTIN HEALEY

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Donald Healey was born in Perranporth, in Cornwall, England in 1898. He became a successful competition driver, engineer and finally a car manufacturer with his own business. In 1931, driving a 4.5 litre Invicta he won the Monte Carlo Rally outright, and joined Triumph in Coventry in 1933 and shortly after became their Technical Director. At the end of World War II he started his own car manufacturing business in Warwick producing Healey cars using engines sourced from Riley. In 1952 BMC’s chief executive, Leonard Lord, sponsored an informal `design… Read more

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MERCEDES UTES – YES, UTES

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The eagerly awaited, though somewhat surprising, Mercedes-Benz X-Class ute is getting closer to Australia by the day. With the announcement of pricing – from $45,450 for a manual cab-chassis, to $64,500 for a luxurious dual-cab – the working Benz will compete with the top end of utes from more traditional sources. Or to be more precise, the top end of traditional utes with a stack of extras – because you will have to pay about $5000 to $15,000 extra for the Merc comparing like for like. Why is Merc selling… Read more

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ADVANCE INFO ON FORD ENDURA

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Australian 2019 Ford Endura is based on the American Ford Edge of 2017

Many consider the Ford Territory was the best Ford ever designed and built in Australia, bar none. Sadly it disappeared when Ford Australia pulled up stumps. Ford Territory’s replacement has finally been announced and it’s called Ford Endura – which Ford tells us is short for endurance. Details are sketchy at this stage, as is the date it will arrive, other than that it will be sometime late in 2018. The fact that Holden is about to introduce its new Equinox SUV probably tells us why an Endura press release… Read more