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TASKMASTER OF HUGE PROPORTIONS

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Question: does the Navara PRO-4X Warrior, a latecomer to the ranks, have enough to take on the army of talent in one of the most closely fought contests in the Aussie automobile market? With fully armed dual cab pick-ups the likes of the Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota HiLux Rugged, Mazda BT50 Thunder, Isuzu’s D-Max and the US Ram holding the line, the Navara Warrior has its work cut out. Not that Nissan isn’t out to giving things a shake, calling on input from local specialist engineer Premcar, to light… Read more

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NEW MINI COUNTRYMAN 

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  The Mini Countryman has been around since the 1960s when, as a small station wagon,   it sold alongside the classic Mini.    After being off the scene for a number of years, BMW brought it back in 2010, this time as  the first Mini.    While it could be argued that the Mini Moke that was built in Australia until the early 1980s  could be classed as an SUV, the Countryman came with a raft of features not seen in the  cute little Aussie Moke. To start with it… Read more

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TOYOTA TUNDRA COMING DOWNUNDER

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Toyota Australia has announced details of its full-size Tundra pick-up truck which, subject to a successful local evaluation program, is likely to go on sale here in 2025. If it does come here it will compete against vehicles such as Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and RAM 1500. Built at Toyota’s factory in San Antonio, Texas the Tundra has been around since 1999 but only in left-hand drive. An initial batch of 300 vehicles will come here and be converted to right-hand drive by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group in Clayton South,… Read more

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TRIUMPH SPITFIRE

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The Triumph car originated as a sideline for the successful motorcycle business which unfortunately went bankrupt in 1939, and Triumph was finally bought up by Standard in 1944. In 1946 the first Standard-Triumph car appeared. It was the 1800 Roadster which was aimed at the export market and had three-abreast seating, a steering-column gear change and was the last car in the world to offer a `dickey’ seat behind the driver. Initially it was fitted with a 1776cc engine exactly as supplied by Standard for the Jaguar 1.5-litre models, but… Read more

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LUXURY LEXUS LM PEOPLE MOVER NOW ON SALE

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After the public got an early preview of the Lexus LM at last month’s Melbourne Cup the luxury people mover is now on sale The name-tag stands for Luxury Mover and it certainly lives up to that description. While it’s technically a people mover, its price range of $160,888 to $222,000, means that its far more likely to be used for chauffeur-driven executive transport rather than on the family school run. There are two variants, the seven-seat LM 350h Sports Luxury, available in either two- or all-wheel drive, priced from… Read more

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LEXUS ES 2013 – 2022

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Late in 2013 a new generation Lexus ES was built on its own unique platform, previous models shared some underpinnings with Toyota models. Frontal styling was distinctly Lexus with its aggressive arrow-head spindle grille. The smooth, near silent ride and high-quality finish that had really impressed people since the earliest days of the Lexus LS400 was continued in the ES line. Perhaps it wasn’t quite as supremely smooth as its big brother, but the ES cost considerably less so has appealed to many. Thus, there are now quite a few… Read more

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VOLVO XC60, PLENTY TO SAY . . . MOSTLY GOOD

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What’s in a name? Plenty for Volvo, the Sino-Swedish car maker with its new mid-size luxury SUV, the XC60, tagged with a string of descriptors to separate each model from one another. Take, for example our test vehicle, the Volvo XC60 Ultimate B5 Bright: phew! And that mouthful comes without mentioning vital specifications such as the powertrain – in this case 2-litre turbocharged, four-cylinder petrol engine, plus eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. ‘Ultimate’ relates to the trim level, B5 to the engine, a turbocharged petrol motor enhanced by a… Read more

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FORD CUTS PRICES OF MUSTANG MACH-E

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In response to increasing competition in the premium EV market Ford Australia has announced significant cuts in the prices of its all-new Mustang Mach-E fully-electric SUV range. Commenting on the news, Andrew Birkic, Ford Australia President and CEO said: “This price reduction is a major positive for our customers and demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best products and great value to our customers. As the EV market continues to evolve, we are responding to it.” Although it shares a name with Ford’s famous pony car, that’s where any similarities… Read more

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FORD RANGER PLATINUM 3.0L V6 4WD TURBO-DIESEL

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Platinum Ranger is the last stop before you get to the top of the range, the Raptor, which is almost another $10K plus on-roads. Dropping back, one gets you the 2.0-litre four-cylinder Wildtrak X, with Platinum sandwiched between them. There are so many grades of Ranger these days, with so many special editions to come when sales start to slow that it’s hard to keep track of them. The spreadsheet detailing the grades and equipment they come with is mind blowing. It must be working for Ford, however, because Ranger… Read more

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FIVE-DOOR SUZUKI JIMNY IS FINALLY HERE

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Over the years, the Suzuki Jimny compact SUV has become something of a cult figure with its retro looks and its semi-serious off-road ability. To date it’s only been available with three doors and so limiting its potential buyer base but now the long-awaited five-door version has arrived. Built in India, the new five-door Jimny joins the ongoing three-door Jimny and Jimny Lite and comes in a single variant, tagged XL – as in extra-large – although at 3820 mm long it’s hardly that. It is however 340mm longer than… Read more