Ferrari is threatening to make its withdrawal from Formula 1 permanent. So far in season 2009 the prancing horse has been trialling a quasi departure from F1 by running its cars towards the back of the field. Happy with this lack of progress and wildly unhappy at the planned budget cap due for introduction in [...]

The new Opel Astra is scheduled for its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show way off in mid September. Thanks to the wonders of the interweb you can now put back your visit to Germany as images of the 2010 Astra have been leaked. It would appear unlikely that we’ll see this model here [...]

Well, I didn’t mind the return of Top Gear Australia on SBS TV tonight. New host James Morrison was not bad. Actually, for a first up effort he was quite good, even if there is room for improvement. His opening piece testing the Mitsubishi Evo X was more than reasonable, helped by some very good [...]

The latest rule changes earmarked for Formula One could propel Toyota to the head of the field. But not in the way the Japanese giant might like. Such is the dismay at the proposed £40M budget cap for the 2010 season that Toyota team boss John Howett said if the outlined changes stay as they [...]

Mark Webber finished in third place at the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix overnight. This is the Australian’s fourth F1 career podium finish and adds to his second placing at Shanghai last month. In a race that followed recent Formula One trends not a hell of a lot happened during the race. Indeed, it was [...]

Respected mag evo recently filed a review on the new Mk6 Golf GTI. Reviewer Henry Catchpole almost didn’t like it, “as I link one fourth-gear left-hander with another fourth-gear right-hander there just aren’t any fireworks making me go ‘ooh’ or ‘ahh’. Then we reach The Corner…” For their take read the review in full, which [...]

After having hopes raised last month, it seems the Volkswagen Scirocco is not on the cards for Australian customers after all. Continuing the on again, off again saga is an article on The Motor Report quoting VW Aus marketing boss Karl Gehling, “We like the car but cannot bring it here. We are still looking [...]

A bit of a catch up story this one, but it’s never a bad idea to feature an Aston Martin article. The One-77 hypercar made its public debut at the Concorso d’Eleganza in Italy last month. And while doing so it won the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes. Yay, for Aston [...]

To help celebrate the 50th birthday of the Mini here is an electronic copy of an Australian Morris 850 brochure from the early 1960s. There are 12 images in all, and if you would like a closer look click on each pic to load a larger version. Minis were made in Australia from 1961 to [...]

To paraphrase those British pop icons; it was 50 years ago today, Issigonis taught the Mini to play… In other words, today marks the 50th anniversary of the first Mini rolling off the production line at the Cowley assembly hall. The car featured above is that first car. 602,817 Minis were built at Cowley from [...]

Truth be told the Porsche 914 is probably a love or hate model. I happen to be one who loves its slightly oddball looks and revel in its equally awkward history. This example above was recently passed in at a Shannons auction held on Monday. The expected price range was a seemingly reasonable $12,000-18,000. For [...]

Dramatic swooping lines, 132kW twincharge engine and a lightning quick 7-speed DSG transmission. What’s not to like about this new Bocanegra model, released by Seat at the Barcelona International Motor Show yesterday? Sure, it may not have the 155kW 2-litre turbo four from the Ibiza FR, but the bodykit changes make the Bocanegra stand out [...]

After plenty of wrangling it looks as though the Porsche-Volkswagen takeover will end up being a friendly merger. At least, that’s how it is being played out in media reports across the globe. The merger, announced today, will put an end to Porsche’s takeover bid and it is hoped the combined approach of the two [...]

This year marked my second trip to Targa Tasmania, so it was with some experience that I knew the excitement and anticipation of seeing the entire fleet of competition cars at Launceston prior to the event, would soon end in a twisted wreckage for some. Symbolising the loss of someone’s hopes and dreams. Motorsport is [...]

Service crew duties meant I wasn’t able to get the camera out during Leg 3, so the next suite of images are from the ‘Mt Black’ stage from Leg 4. This is when the rally heads down the west coast, leaving the Launceston base for an overnight stop in the picturesque village of Strahan. While [...]