On my bike and back to normality for a trip down conventional lane
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Spanning 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2008
Motoring coach tackles his demons on cycling's grand stage
In 100 years, only 39 professional cyclists have completed all three Grand Tours.
Read moreFezzer back on track, as is desert Thermal Club
Something weird happened in F1 at Spa last weekend.
Read moreVale to two greats: Niki Lauda and Lee Iacocca
Have you noticed how many people seem to be dropping off the twig lately?
Read moreThree cheers for world's most expensive motorcycles
I bet you had a great new year celebration with laughing, drinking, talking, dancing and staggering.
Read more24 Hours of LeMons at Wakefield Park is a Shitbox Rally on steroids
It was not a good two days to be racing around at Wakefield Park, NSW, for the 24 Hours of LeMons if you were one for illicit substances at some stage of your life.
Read moreClassic Jags: D-type; XK150; racing Mark II; XK 5.0 Supercharged V8 R-S GT
Spare a thought for Billy Walmsley. Billy and Willy Lyons set up the Swallow Sidecar Company 93 years ago. But Bill didn't have the same ambition as his partner and left the company just before it became Jaguar, so he could have more time building his model trains.
Read moreDrink up, Oscar, it's 98 RON beer
Cheryl Isaacs, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, rang me late last night asking for tips on organising the Academy Awards after hearing how well organised the first annual Weekend Australian Motoring Lecture and BBQ Chicken event was.
Read morePhilip Island free Radicals: just the thing for a quick spin
When Garth Walden and Tony D'Alberto rang me to ask if I would come to Phillip Island to help them sharpen up their lap times in a Radical, I jumped at the opportunity.
Read moreFound: 'whack job' to run world's whackiest race
Australia's largest motor race ever, the 24 Hours of LeMons, with 100 cars and 600 drivers, will get under way on October 28 at the Wakefield Park racetrack in NSW. No, that's not a typo.
Read moreLife is grand at Le Mans
Hello, readers. I bet you are sitting at home reading the world's best motoring section in the world's best newspaper but still feeling not too good about things.
Read moreGreat Aussie took on world and won
Tasmania, April 1994. Jack Brabham, aged 68, with Grahame Ward in the left seat, was running third overall in the Targa. "Let's go for it," Jack said. He was confident — after all, Grahame had helped Jack's son David take third the year before.
Read moreShitbox Rally 2014
What remains of the 250 shitboxes that left Perth last Saturday are struggling into Darwin after nearly 4,000kms of red sand, red snakes and red skin. The 500 shitboxers faced extreme challenges including the Meekatharra Skimpies and the Fitzroy River.
Read moreReal Le Mans still powered by petrol
Audi won Le Mans again. Another Audi came second and a long way behind was a Toyota. Since 2000 Audi have only not won here twice. Mark Webber's Porsche did well but fell apart near the end.
Read moreTune up title goes to Chuck
Our classic car song competition has enabled a national catharsis, unearthing barn find beats like Thomas Dolby's The Key To Her Ferrari and Richard Thompson's My MBG-MT 1, while shocking us with the lack of enthusiasm for Bat Out Of Hell.
Read moreCamry V6 the rally poobah
In the most important event since Moses opened a freeway through the Red Sea, Alex Bradley and Brandon Dick navigated their 1995 V6 Toyota Camry from Adelaide through Uluru to Fremantle to take line honours in the 2013 Shitbox Rally.
Read moreExciting Le Mans but boring result
Audi's R18 e-tron quattro took their 11th Le Mans victory — historic as the first hybrid-powered winner, boring because Audi took all three podium places. Anthony Davidson walked away from a massive crash with a broken back.
Read moreStates where speed thrills
Let's face it, there's only so many times you can drive your car around a track before you get very bored. You can't drive it properly on the road because the fun police and the revenue raisers don't find that sort of behaviour as amusing as you and I do.
Read moreRally squeezes out the lemons
Three years, 300 cars, over 10,000 kms on Australia's worst roads — all worth $1,000 or less. Alex Hallowell, the master of the muddled motor, reveals which makes survive and which don't.
Read more'Alfa's Not Shitboxes' — Alfa ex President
The Shitbox Rally's 100% Alfa Romeo finishing record defended. In 2012 the Alfa Club in Victoria provided five Alfas for the rally — two Alfa 90 V6s, two Alfetta sedans and an Alfa 33 Sport wagon. They all made it from Melbourne to Cairns.
Read morePerfect place for pilgrims
A list of positive places for petrol heads — for the reader who has taken his partner and three children on the world's most boring holidays for 20 years and can't face another theme park.
Read moreTempers hit full throttle
The Weekend Australian motoring section is embroiled in controversy. Alex Hallowell told readers to avoid anything with an Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Peugeot, Renault or Saab badge for the Shitbox Rally. 250 vitriolic emails followed.
Read moreShitbox Rally 2013
Since 2010 the Shitbox Rally has pitted teams driving cars that cost less than $1000 against each other over some of Australia's roughest roads. This year's rally is from Adelaide to Fremantle via Coober Pedy, Uluru, Laverton and Kalgoorlie.
Read moreStirling Moss and I never drop names
A visit to Stirling Moss and Susie in their London apartment. At 83, Stirl is in remarkable shape. We have a lot in common — he loves a drink, he's been booked for speeding, and the traffic cop asked him "who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?"
Read moreTop Cop Stories
Following a run in with a San Francisco policeman while trying to recreate Steve McQueen's scene in Bullitt, I asked readers to share some of their own experiences with the boys in blue.
Read moreRich legacy digging the Racing Queen
Before winning the 1929 Women's Grand Prix, Helle Nice reached the track wishing she hadn't spent the night before dancing at Les Acasias. A mixture of morphine, champagne and sex had left her wanting to crawl into a coalhole. She won anyway.
Read moreStormin' Norman set the race pace
Norm Beechey said to me in a moment of reflection: "You know I think I was a better driver than I thought I was." Stormin' Norman changed the face of Australian motorsport — a showman who thought cars were better going sideways than in a straight line.
Read moreA hot car, a hot girl and a bottle of Barossa Pearl
It's back. It's big. It's Barossa Pearl. There was a time when it was cool to be a car lover. No one called you an environmental vandal, noise polluter, a threat to cyclists, pedestrians and the planet.
Read moreClubs snub V8 heroes
A HUGE week at the auctions in Arizona. If you weren't prepared to write a cheque for $10 million then the pickings were poor. But before we go to the US let's check on the big news right here at home.
Read moreBathurst points to the future of racing
You'd have to think the private equity suits down at Archer Capital would have the smallest inkling of impending doom. Archer owns the majority of the incredibly successful V8 Supercars franchise. But times are changing.
Read moreRallying, it's a dirty business
There's now only 100 days to the biggest event on the global motoring calendar. It's not F1 in Melbourne, Top Gear in Sydney, Le Mans or Goodwood. And happy birthday Shane Webcke — it was actually the Royal Hotel's 150th, not Shane's.
Read moreWhy the local car industry carked it
The real reason the Australian car industry carked it is pretty simple: makers went from Kingswood, Belmont, Monaro, Valiant and Falcon to Tiara, Fairlady, Cedric and Alfa Romeo — and hey presto all the factories close down.
Read moreHi-Tech Drift School: thrills on the slide
I hope you had a thrill for Christmas. You know, a swim with crocodiles, dolphins, sharks, silverfish or sky diving, bungy diving, jet fighter flying, V8 driving, rally driving or radical driving.
Read moreRange Rover – The Double Bay tractor – still has its place
When we announced the Porsche Macan as one of The Weekend Australian's best cars of 2014, there was a tsunami of emails from readers in Hawthorn, Mosman, Hamilton and Peppermint Grove asking how we could have ignored the Range Rover.
Read moreGTM gets you into orbit of supercars
Global colding, world poverty, the Arab Spring, peak oil, economic collapse, third world debt, overpopulation, washing your car and building your own car. Yes when you want the answers to life's biggest issues you come to the motoring section.
Read moreShark bait: no joke for bloke in a Moke
Last week I hit the City of Churches, Xenophonville, the place named after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, home to the biggest glasshouses this side of Jakarta and a commuter's paradise where there are wide streets and not many cars.
Read moreGet a dirty rich dad if you want to race
Juan Fangio was sponsored by Juan Peron for his entire career. This year is the 80th anniversary of Fangio's first race. Daniel Ricciardo has the potential to be the next Fangio — but talent is not enough. You need money as well.
Read moreOff to Europe after a weekend in hell
I have to report that last weekend I was at the very centre of hell — the entrance to Wakefield Park racetrack, where 38 Alfa Romeos were on the grid. Seeing nearly 40 invading the track would have turned Satan himself into a Mormon.
Read moreGift of lifetime for petrol head
Nathan Antunes has won his first race aged nine, driven in Formula BMW and Formula 3, and raced for Australia in the A1 Grand Prix. So naturally I took him to a rally school in a couple of Subarus and an Evo. His hair was even greyer by the end of the day.
Read more24 Hours of LeMons controversy: some cars possibly worth more than $1000
The inaugural 24 Hours of LeMons — a car race for vehicles worth less than $1000, at Goulburn, NSW — began yesterday in controversial circumstances.
Read more24 Hours of LeMons in Australia — follow our $250 BMW this week
Having butchered our attempt to complete this year's Shitbox Rally (a charity race across the outback in cars worth less than $1000), my buddies and I have decided to enter the similarly prestigious and gruelling inaugural 24 Hours of LeMons race this week.
Read morePulling the plug on a shocking show: Formula E electric motor racing
The inaugural Formula E electric motor racing series in Beijing ended with a shocking crash. Each driver has two cars — the 20 Spark-Renault SRTs only have enough juice for 30 minutes. When drivers come in for a pit stop they actually change to a new car.
Read moreTake your pick from Audi R8, F430, Gallardo, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911
The things I do for you! This week I will be out in the field, sleeves rolled up, driving the freeways of the US east coast, testing cars for your next holiday — selecting from an Audi R8, Ferrari 430, Lambo Gallardo, Merc SLS AMG, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911.
Read moreScandalous start to racing
The world's first motor race — the 1895 Paris-Bordeaux-Paris event. Emile Levassor was so far ahead he stopped at a restaurant for a 'rather luxurious snack' and still finished six hours ahead of the next car.
Read moreSex on wheels – cars as film stars
Welcome to the 2015 Hollywood edition of The Weekend Australian Motoring, in which we reveal the top five movie cars of all time, and what it will cost you to look like Steve McQueen or hop in Herbie.
Read moreHow Phil King became Grant Denyer and a Mini Moke became an Audi R8
Recognising we are living in a new-technology world where disruption is our friend, your motoring section is breaking free from the traditional media format and making a movie. Naturally it's a work of fiction.
Read moreBrabham motor racers keep it all in the families
It's pretty hard not to be a race driver if your name is Brabham. Twenty-year-old Matthew Chase Brabham is Geoff's son and Jack's grandson. When Mario Andretti was at the beginning of his F1 career he raced against Jack Brabham. Both were world champions.
Read moreAdelaide comes to life but beware of the Big Vanilla Slice
Premier Steve Marshall throws open the borders for four days in November for the Classic Adelaide Rally. Plus the Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation car.
Read moreGoulburn's 24 Hours of LeMons: the motoring team gears up
No, there is no American auto extravaganza today despite the final wording of the Declaration of Independence being approved this time 239 years ago and sent to the printer. But we do have a lot to cover so pay attention.
Read moreA bright shiny new F is a help in old age
What if you could drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren or Bugatti for $70 an hour with no annual membership fees, no insurance, no security deposit and unlimited miles? There's a catch — the supercars are crowd-funded and only in New York.
Read morePits perfection is revhead rhapsody
Hemingway said auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports. But Ernie didn't know motor racing's dirty little secret — it's not the speed, the noise, the smells. It's the pit crews.
Read moreHail the Crownaroos
Forget the Wallabies, Kangaroos, Socceroos and Matildas — today we have a new and best of all winning team, the Crownaroos. Some of our finest athletes took on the world's best in a 10,000km, five week trot across eight countries.
Read moreSteely Gaze
Frederick Anthony Owen Gaze flew 485 missions in World War II, was shot down over France, escaped through Spain, won three Distinguished Flying Crosses and became a double air ace. He also happened to be one of Australia's greatest racing drivers.
Read moreLe Mans: 24 hours of speed and mayhem
There are not many better tests of a car than driving it in heavy traffic for 24 hours covering 5,000km at around 225kmh. Audi has had a monopoly on the chequered flag for two decades. This year Toyota managed to wedge the Germans with a second.
Read moreHot laps with the Angels
If God drives he has a Porsche 911 Turbo, the apostles have a Cayman S and the angels have Mazda MX5s. Having just spent three days racing an MX5 around Carolina Motorsports Park, the angels are having the most fun.
Read moreChampers fuelled and feeling like winging it Guess the petrol heads
Do you often sit around murmuring to yourself? Do the kiddies and other rels think you've drunk all the 23l you made from the Coopers DIY brew kit they gave you for Chrissie? Of course, I know what you're murmuring about. Who are the world's top 20 petrol heads? Well, this month's BusinessF1mag lists them all.
Read moreRallying around tougher rules for Targa Tasmania
On Tuesday, 500 cars and 1000 drivers and co-drivers started the 30th running of Targa Tasmania. Twenty-four hours later three competition cars had crashed badly, one driver was dead and the competition section had been cancelled. Rallying around tougher rules for Targa Tasmania.
Read moreShitbox Rally: the cheap 200
If you're hanging around Canberra with nothing to do this morning, come down and join us at the Questacon carpark for the start of the Shitbox Rally at 9.30am.
Read moreShitbox charity rally: Aus car dies in devil's culvert
Marree, population 60, at the junction of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks, became famous last week. Made it to Marree, barely.
Read moreShitbox Rally: building a classic for $1000
I know we rabbit on here about really expensive cars selling at auctions in very expensive and exotic locations (with free drinks), but there are alternatives. For instance you could buy a real Lancia Delta Integrale HF Turbo Martini for about $190,000 or have Adelaide's Jeff McDonald build you one for $1000.
Read moreLess than the sump of its parts
It was as if the almighty had wreaked his revenge for the Priscilla theme night at the Silverton Hotel the previous night. The sight of 140 men dressed as tacky women and 60 women dressing up as men dressing as tacky women would have angered any higher being.
Read morePutting pedal to heavy metal
Car songs are even more emotional than regular songs. Hearing any old song instantly brings back memories of parties, girlfriends, boyfriends, transports you to where you were when you heard it — and creates a little tinge of sadness for a younger you.
Read moreHamo gets thrown off the front of the grid in Circuit de Catalunya
Hamilton loses pole and gets sent to the back of the grid for having too little fuel at the Spanish Grand Prix. Williams' first front row since Brazil 2010.
Read moreCarroll Shelby Tribute
Carroll Hall Shelby, a man whose vision for performance transformed the automobile industry, has died at age 89. Race car driver, WWII Flying Sergeant, philanthropist, automotive entrepreneur — a life well lived.
Read moreLast original Crocker Small Tank not for the faint-hearted
Yes, it's that time of the year again!
Read moreTarga Tasmania tactics: your heroes poised to strike
Many of you have been following our lack of progress in Targa Tasmania on the blog.
Read moreMoolia: the best place to drive your hard-earned moolah
Yes, many Australians are doing it tough. Every day they have to make a choice between feeding the kiddies, paying an obscene mortgage or rent instalments, dying from cold because the energy company has shut off the pow
Read moreYellow Lambos like a red rag to bull-at-a-gate taxman
Look can I give you a hint? If you are in the Persian rug business or any other dodgy caper that provides oodles of cash, don't do what every other reseller of Colombian marching powder does and buy a Lamborghini – parti
Read moreHow to buy used EVs as fuel-price-spike leads to rush
Electric cars, particularly second-hand ones, are suddenly more appealing to drivers.
Read moreShitbox charity rally set to hit the bush
BE excited, readers! It's only about 49 sleeps to the start of this year's Shitbox Rally, the highlight of the global motorsport calendar where more than 200 cars costing no more that $1000 will try to travel the 3600km from Canberra to Townsville.
Read moreOnce again it's Shitbox Rally time
Once again it's Shitbox Rally time and once again I'm sending you this email because I want your money. Not a lot of it, but enough so that together we'll help my team help the Cancer Council.
Read moreFerrari madness amid the mayhem
The real metal action is going to be in April at Sydney's Eastern Creek for Australia's first ever Ferrari racing day. On Saturday, hundreds of Ferrari owners with serious hangovers will drive en masse across Sydney Harbour Bridge to the racetrack.
Read moreBathurst turns back the clock
Who doesn't want to see Mercedes SLS AMGs, Ferrari 458s, Porsches, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, Aston Martins and Corvettes spending 12 hours racing around Bathurst? Well it happened a few weekends ago but no one told you.
Read moreAll hail to the king McQueen as motoring crown jewel auctioned
Good luck on the good ship Future Fund and all who sail anywhere near it. Jimmy Chalmers told the FF to invest in Australian houses and green energy rather than Ferrari and Tesla. Ferrari shares are up 260 per cent.
Read moreFearless Freddie put us firmly on the swashbucklery map
St Kilda boy Freddie McEvoy: first Australian to win a Winter Olympics medal, world bobsledding champion, and racing driver who beat the best at the Vanderbilt Cup.
Read moreTake Daniel Ricciardo's advice on notice and pick up an F1 dream
Try this quick quiz - what was the most boring motor race in the world?
Read moreForget all your worries, get yourself a Mustang and head for the hills
"People don't care if they have to pay $1m for a piece that's priced to sell for $60,000," Alex Rotter, chairman of Christie's art department, told the Wall Street Journal. "They're making up their own rules." From real art to classic cars, prices of everything vaguely collectable are going up faster than Tesla shares.
Read moreReality check of riding shotgun in deadly rally
Imagine you and the other 20 off-roaders in the local fun rally have just pulled into the servo for some juice, a few smokes (not while you're filling your tank), a few dozen chocolate bars and a nice cold can of Diet Co
Read moreTaking in the scenery and WART exhaust fumes in a rally up Scott's Bottom
The Adelaide Rally, a four-day event held within the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and what passes for a CBD. Despite a distinct lack of support from the Steve Marshall-led government, the rally brings hundreds of millions of dollars to bushfire and COVID-affected towns.
Read moreSex and cars: How you have been taken for a ride
Cars are much better than sex. But while you and I see them as objects of desire, the car industry sees them as a vehicle to sell you high margin finance and accessories.
Read moreAnswers without notice: day-old toasties, hot coffee and a fiery third place
Last Saturday we left your correspondent just about to get into the mighty Weekend Australian Racing Team MX-5 for warm-up and qualifying for the Wakefield 300. A race report from the Paris end of Goulburn.
Read moreWelcome to the Speedo Cafe and Australia's seven biggest used-car scams
The cafe of lost kilometres waits with heated pool and bar. (Apologies to Neil Young. Cars don't "lose" 130,000km on the Hume unless they stop for coffee at the Speedo Cafe on the way.
Read moreLeyburn Sprints is the best grass roots motoring event in Australia
Danny Ricciardo takes a $15m voluntary redundancy from McLaren. The Leyburn Sprints are the biggest outdoor event in Queensland — 220 cars timed on a 1km course around the streets of Leyburn, pop. 476.
Read moreWheels are back in motion, with and without engines
We apologise for the break in transmission last Saturday. Normal programming is resuming this morning.
Read moreBrough's the buy but also grab a chance to win a Corvette
Well that's another one down.
Read moreHealthy outcome worth some RAW prawns revving up
Here's today's first quick quiz: What's happening this weekend in the capital of Shirvan Baku Khanate that's bigger and faster than the NBN?
Read moreFeezers dominate as F1 lives up to and overtakes TV series in excitement stakes
No shocks in Bahrain except for the first time the racing was more exciting than the TV series based on the racing. Feezer came first and second for the first time since 2019, and Mad Max and Sergio Perez and their Red Bull cars all died before the finish.
Read moreHomegrown heroes: Garry Rogers keeps the dream alive with a born-again Monaro
Unless you are a motorsport perv you won't know Garry Rogers and that's a pity not only because he's just built a new 2002 Holden Monaro that will cost you more than a Ferrari, Lambo and McLaren combined but because he's been building cars in Australia for over 60 years.
Read moreRecall and response: The million car warning you probably missed
You may not have noticed, but while you were watching the Tour de France or yelling at the telly about Qantas, about two million cars were quietly recalled in the United States.
Read moreSteve McQueen, Mr Tag Heuer and the can't-miss investment
Hope you had a happy Xmas. But in more important news we've found the best money making rort, sorry, investment of all time. It's been sitting on your wrist.
Read moreThe size is right for 50 shades of excitement
Next week we will get on to Mad Max facing fun police action for driving his Aston Martin Valkyrie 137km/h too slowly; what went for $46m at an otherwise crook auction week in Monterey; and how much Clive Palmer's car is worth. Today we need to face up to the really big story of this or any other week: cars are secretly getting bigger!
Read moreCoolant-gate: Zoom-zoom goes boom-boom as Mazda faces a class action in the US
Mazda is facing a class action in the US over a serious engine defect in some of its most popular models.
Read moreRally school's really cool – just steer clear of moose
What weighs 544kg, is 2m high, 3m long and can run beside your car at 60km/h and kill you if it hits you?
Read moreMind the bowser wowsers during a virtual Oktoberfest
Oil prices are the lowest they've been since Jesus played fullback for Bethlehem United. And Oktoberfest is cancelled.
Read moreLess fill more thrill: The most efficient real cars on Aussie roads
These five hybrids are a better bet than Oscar this weekend.
Read moreDash cam video shows spectacular Finke Desert Race crash
Dramatic video footage has shown an in-car view of a crash that happened 10 kilometres north of Aputula during this year's Finke Desert Race.
Read moreIn search of a cure in the distance
James and Ben Freeman watched cancer murder their Mum and Dad. James Freeman's idea was to get men, women and others into cars costing less than $1000 to drive 3000km of Australia's most remote roads. The Shitbox Rally has raised $24m for cancer research.
Read moreThe worst and best cars and an island of delight
Thanks for asking but we have to work over this Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus and non (if you don't believe in anything, particularly electric cars). We will be sitting in the global HQ of the News Corp empire here in the colonies sharing the traditional lump of coal bringing cheer with exclusive stories of the worst cars of the year.
Read moreFive reasons to hold off on buying an EV in Australia
Tesla's Model Y has shed more than $25,000 in value in two years. Here are five reasons you should reconsider buying an EV in Australia anytime soon.
Read moreSprints, caravans ... and a Porker's Dutch auction
Today is one of those days when too much news is barely enough.
Read moreAkio stays in the driver's seat but Brad's in the pits
Good news readers! Akio Toyoda didn't get the flick at the AGM this week. Despite a lot of huffing and puffing by some big shareholders, he kept his job as chairman of the world's second largest car company.
Read moreHow cancel culture put a target on the Targa tarmac rallies in Tassie and northern Queensland
It's time to ban swimming at the beach. It's time to ban fishing. Particularly men who rock fish. It's certainly time to ban motorcycles and bicycles. Surf Life Saving Australia's general manager coastal safety, Shane D
Read moreFord's bid for Italian panache led to war with rude Fezzer
I know many of you are not true believers.
Read moreSo much less tyre squirt on a three-wheeler ride to Paris
What happened to Ferrari last weekend?
Read moreDesire that drives boy from Stevenage to the top
Imagine you're sitting in a black rocket. Lewis Hamilton is now the world's greatest driver ever, equalling Schumacher's seventh title in Turkey.
Read moreHow the EV dream has reached peak fantasy, giving carmakers nightmares
Ford stopped building its Lightning F-150 EV pickup truck in late 2025. Picture: Bloomberg
Read moreRacing with Radicals gets Christmas off to a quick start
A day at Eastern Creek in Radical sports cars with Brad Shiels, Tony D'Alberto and Garth Walden, plus the Ford Mustang Bullitt as a Christmas gift.
Read moreSunset-less Scandinavia or the home comfort of Leyburn?
Michael McMichael (so good they named him twice) rang me yesterday. "Have you thought about the Midnight Sun Rally?"
Read moreMazda needs to explain CX-5 drive system disengagement
<p>Before you drive or buy a Mazda CX-5 be really careful. Mike Dare's daughter has a three-year-old Mazda CX-5 and two young kids.</p>
Read moreCheap Car Challenge a fortune of fun for those new to racing
<p>Great to see so many of you last Sunday at the Marulan Cheap Car Challenge 4 Hour Enduro, with one hour off for lunch in the track's cafe, which has the best old-fashioned hamburgers in the world.</p>
Read morePorker takes Le Mans crown as brake fails kills Canary
<p>Bonjour readers! It's your correspondent Jean coming almost live from Le Mans, where the 85th running of Le 24 Heures du Mans saw incroyable racing in the world's most recognised and prestigious automotive event.</p>
Read moreMotoring fun: where you can find it and what price
<p>On Wednesday, American Express gave me a 599 GTB Fiorano to keep. But, hey, you don't want to hear about that because it will only encourage you.</p>
Read moreClassic Adelaide Rally: Adelaide rallies to the cause
It was the kind of call that sends a rush of terror all the way from your quickly thinning hair to your badly pedicured toenails. "They are breath testing every driver at the start. If you're even a bit over you can't race."
Read moreMeanwhile, at Wakefield Park, LeMons juices flowed
So now we know Lewis Hamilton is so relaxed that he watches the big screen on the track while he is racing; that Sebastian Vettel is so unrelaxed that he can break the world record for using the F word while shaking his finger at another driver while racing.
Read moreNear thing with Brownie requires medicinal treatment
Integrity warning (actually lack of integrity warning): Today's column contains gratuitous mentions of sponsors and suppliers to The Weekend Australian Racing Team (WART).
Read moreJapanese hot around collar after Wayne Gardner road rage
So where is the Australian government on Wayne Gardner's long stay in a Japanese jail for a road rage incident where even the police say no punches were thrown?
Read moreGet your hipster on at Goodwood, but do take the chopper
Let me give you a tip. Take a helicopter to next year's Goodwood Revival. It's two hours by car, or four hours by train, from London to Charlie March's 4856ha estate in West Sussex. It's 25 minutes by chopper.
Read moreGarth Walden's amazing racing career
As you know zombies are will-less and speechless humans capable only of automatic movement who are held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated. Later this month all the Australian ones will be in Capital Hill, Canberra.
Read moreCareering in supercars with Lewis Hamilton and Liz Taylor
It's coming up to the end of high school for many readers, reader parents and reader parole officers. It's a tough climate to get a job. Your career advisers are going to tell you to play it safe.
Read moreSBR Day 6
Who doesn't want to tour the beautiful coal burning Yallourn power station? Well we didn't, but our intrepid team of six cars and three support trucks who were dopey enough to think we knew where we going actually managed to find it.
Read moreSBR Day 5
It's a nice 236 mile drive from Cootamundra to Albury. Unfortunately we were not meant to be going to Albury but Adelong 177 miles before.
Read moreSBR Day 4
It's probably been a while since the fair citizens of Cobar have seen a shark. But at dinner, at the Cobar Bowling and Golf Club they saw two.
Read moreSBR Day 3
Excitement has a new name – It's Thargomindah. Well really Thargomindah to Cobar via Bourke or 650 miles of tarmac terror.
Read moreSBR Day 2
Well motorsport fans, aspiring grey nomads, kiddies wishing to learn more about this great country and Tasmania and others who just like filling their time reading meaningless ramblings from the mind of someone flooded in Thargomindah.
Read moreSBR Day 1
Shit Box Rally – Boîte de Merde Ralley – Mia Méra: Rally. Yes the greatest motoring event of the year, the annual Shit Box Rally where 200 cars costing no more than $1,000 drive 3,500 very long kms around outback Australia and Tasmania has begun.
Read moreShit Box Rally; Monaco GP; historic racing
Look, a lot of this is in French so if you are not un bon vivant don't read any further. Next month is going to be huge. You will be getting direct reports from the Shit Box Rally.
Read moreAustralian Grand Prix: Ten's TV 'stars' hijack F1 coverage
What did we learn from the Australian Grand Prix except that Mercedes is still the team to beat, Formula One cars are unbelievably safe, the new qualifying system is a disaster?
Read moreUltra Tune's latex-laden ads, plus Shitbox Rally 2016
"I don't think our ads are sexist. I don't think they objectify women. They are humorous ads designed to show that things can go wrong with a car," writes Ultra Tune executive chairman Sean Buckley.
Read moreF1 Melbourne: another season, ho hum
It's the start of the F1 season and Port Phillip mayor Bernadene Voss has been out encouraging Melbourne locals to complain about the noise and traffic the race brings to the fair suburb of Albert Park.
Read moreCOVID screening plan's a bit on the nose as our clobber keeps shrinking
Random COVID-19 testing by highway patrols? And why have all our clothes shrunk during lockdown?
Read moreMuscle cars, electric cars, rally cars … today, enough to drive anyone Psycho
Is a Ford Falcon worth a mill? Say Tata to petrol Jags. Hullo to a $3mill Audi rally car. Your correspondent and the Sultan are forced to flee Danland, running for the SA and NSW borders in the WART Beemer.
Read moreSmokes outrage, BMWs, even a Ducati … all for the right price
OK. I've got the message.
Read moreSome races stop nations, others are non-stop adventures
Melbourne Cup tip plus the 24 Hours of LeMons at Wakefield Park and the Mongol Rally adventure across 16,000km of Europe and Asia.
Read moreRally to the cause: it's 40 years since Holden risked it all
At the time it was called the toughest motoring event in history.
Read moreCheers big ears: King Chuck's secret pilgrimage to the Kensi pub
Polish up the pince-nez, suss out the smoking jacket, plump up the pipe and settle in for this special literary edition of motoring. We're going to be blabbing about books and muttering about mags.
Read morePoor drivers on the road to poverty as government incompetence takes its toll
Why do the upper middle-class illuminati still believe that "the poorest people either don't have cars or actually don't drive very far"? The petrol tax falls three times as heavily on the poor as on the rich. Poor drivers are on the road to poverty as government incompetence takes its toll.
Read moreThe five greatest drives, the worst places for a flat tyre and SVG
Aussie Shane van Gisbergen celebrates his latest NASCAR victory with the traditional burnout. Picture: San Francisco Chronicle
Read moreUte beaut just keep truckin on the Wild side
Don't believe them when the manufacturers, dealers and journalists tell you they are utes or SUVs. They might account for four of the 10 top-selling vehicles in Australia but they are trucks. Smallish trucks but trucks. We hired a Ford Wildtrak from Hertz in Brisbane to drive to Queensland Raceway and back.
Read moreWhy rich Aussie petrolheads aren't cheering Chalmers
Get real 20 readers! Jumping Jim Chalmers' beautiful big budget bonanza is not going to help the price of your classic car lurching ever downward. The Treasurer ignored the plight of old Ferrari and Lambo owners.
Read moreHot footing it: Just drive, don't complain
Today we're talking about how the NSW elections will be worse for drivers, car owners and even people who look at cars; how Supercars is getting way more dramatic off course than on course; how Wakefield Park may be comi
Read moreThe best 24 hours you will ever have in Le Mans
Many of you have been asking is Le Mans worth visiting? Well compared to Baku City in Azerbaijan of course it is. The 24-hour race was jam-packed with Australians from the mainland and the seventh state across the Tasman.
Read moreFear FIFO fumble: I thought I smelled a taxman
Does it strike fear in your heart when you get a letter addressed Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms? Is your first thought, "the fiscal fiends have finally found out about my stall at the fruit markets"? Well, readers I got one such lette
Read moreA truly Stirling performance by the greatest of them all
Sir Stirling Moss was probably the greatest racing driver that has ever lived or will ever live. He was also sexist, homophobic and incredibly patriotic.
Read moreSetting a hot pace with some sting in the tale
There is only one party that wholeheartedly supports Australia's national sport. Motor racing holds a special place in Australian society. The ALP is sponsoring RFK Racing's NASCAR team with a BuildSubmarines.com car.
Read moreFederal government offer to axe luxury car tax will devalue new and used cars from BMW to Kia
King Albo's plan to axe the $5.2bn luxury car tax will reshape Australia's metal market.
Read moreGet your poetic licence to read these fictional favourites
Good news! There's now a path forward out of our suffering and misery. Motorsport Australia has a strategy. And some great books to read in lockdown.
Read moreBreaking broke the Games so why not braking
Given that "breaking" wasn't a big winner for you at the recent Olympics, your team here at Global Sports HQ have come up with some new categories. We suggest monster truck racing and dances of the 1960s and 70s.
Read moreWhen demonstration models aren't all they're cracked up to be
Dealer "demonstrators" are everywhere right now. Low kilometres, shiny paint, big red "$7000 Off!" stickers.
Read moreThe intoxicating Alfaholics GTA-R might just make me an Alfa male after all
Remember how it felt when you discovered there was no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and the government allowed electric cars on our streets? I've found an Alfa I want to buy.
Read moreBuy a hybrid if you want efficiency and convenience without relying on charging infrastructure
So about 70 per cent of you say you are not even thinking about an EV!
Read moreToby the desert wizard and king of Finke
Forget Italy, Monaco and Spain, there is only one race you want to focus on in the next two months and that's the 460km drive on the old Ghan railroad track to the St Tropez of the Northern Territory – Aputula. But St T
Read moreFlying GoPros and disgruntled cows in Adelaide Rally
I bet you rushed down to the paper shop on Saturday.
Read moreThere's nothing like a Dane, eh Mr Trump
There's a lot of Emperor's New Clothes stuff going on in our motoring world today. Jaguar recalled 6400 I-Paces five times for battery fires. Their new ad has no cars. And the FIA is in more trouble than a porcupine in a balloon factory.
Read moreDo COVID-19 lockdown victims dream of electric flying cars?
Since March 18, all of us have been living in a collective dream. And an Adelaide company wants to make electric flying racing cars.
Read moreHaving to harry spider horribly hampered habitual habits when behind wheel
Imagine you're just about to drive out of the garage on to the pit lane to line up for qualifying and you feel something big and hairy moving up your inside pedal leg.
Read moreFriends Romans rev heads: lend me your ears
Look no further news fiends. Wondering about Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Mad Max, the Hamster, Vern Schuppan, the Cooper family, Michael McMichael, Ned Whiskey or China? Let's start by talking about speeches – s
Read moreDing Dong SSangYong and the engine's dead
Would you buy a $50k SUV from the Dong-A Motor company? The company formerly known as Dong-A became SsangYong — and reader JD from rural Victoria has a very unhappy story to tell about parts availability.
Read moreHow the plug got pulled on electric (car) dreams
Let's cut the crap on electric cars. The big Western automakers are in a mess. And the Chinese are in a spot of bother too but still laughing. It's about supply, demand, and governments working to a wish-driven strategy.
Read moreHills of Tasmania will be alive with the sounds of Ukraine
"I've decided to change," he shouted at me above the noise of the engines.
Read moreRoyal commission clipped your wings? So go Buddhist
I'm surprised I didn't see more of you on the Elite Terrace at the Palais Heracles on Sunday.
Read moreMazda's still behaving badly but nothing to see here
All together now: "What time is it? It's Mazda behaving badly again time!" I don't need to run you through some of the more momentous Mazda moments, do I? Why not? As we always say here, echoing the best ever line in A
Read moreWho knew US president-elect Donald Trump is a petrol head
At long last TV has transformed motor racing from sport into entertainment. Bernie Arnault has put a lazy $150m a year into sponsoring F1 for 10 years. And Dan Ricciardo deserved a much better send-off.
Read moreMelbourne's heaven for motoring fans with deep wallets where $1m won't buy much
The most you can pay to be a member at AFL club Richmond is $5500. Just up the road at GG Classic Cars, the least you can pay is $1m. GG Classic is Australia's only million-dollar car dealership.
Read moreOf Ubers and Oysters and a festive fit of peak
Dara Khosrowshahi, 54, of San Francisco, controls a few million cars that bring in about $47bn a year. He was born in Tehran into a wealthy family with a lot of money who had to leave the country with not much money afte
Read moreJaguar Land Rover in the spotlight over reliability issues
What do our Washington correspondent Donny Trump and Melbourne reader Dr AS have in common? Strong feelings about the Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover.
Read moreF1's $40bn empire: Melbourne pays $70m for Grand Prix privilege
As the FI circus rolls on to Monza this weekend, I'm tipping Oscar Piastri to seal it. Picture: Mark Sutton via Getty Images
Read moreIt's a marque of the strange times we live in
Weekend Australian citizens, you're quite rightly confused. It's clear now that reality isn't what it used to be. In what universe does Chinese billionaire Li Shufu own Volvo, Lotus and a big slice of Mercedes and now Aston Martin?
Read moreElectric vehicles: If you really must buy one, here is what to do
New figures show that sales of electric vehicles are going down faster than my enthusiasm for Dry July by July 2.
Read moreWhy a heavy toll on Sydney is hard to digest
You by now, realise that, for all these years, I have been right when warning you the world is stuffed. On January 1, 2023 the world reached peak stuffedness. While not directly related to the auto world, a new trend, r
Read moreThese are the car brands most likely to die in the global industry crisis
The global car industry is in more trouble than an exhaust supplier at an EV trade show.
Read moreOlympics rings no match for manic spectacle served up at the Hungaroring
While billions of Covid-ridden punters from all 193 countries were watching riveting moments in Olympism like the trampoline, wall climbing, ping pong, skateboarding, artistic swimming and underwater dominos, true followers were transfixed by the miracle at Mogyorod.
Read moreFrom frisky Ferrari execs to Supercars without sheilas, we're in the doghouse
The former Australasian head of Ferrari alleges he was sacked for having an affair — and Supercars' all-male celebrity e-series draws fire.
Read moreBook lifts the lid on the tragic Senna crash
Roland Ratzenberger cut short the interview, telling the journalist: "Let's finish this in the evening, I have no more time." He ran to the pits, pulled on his helmet, desperate to qualify for his third F1 race.
Read moreIn Bond and Mad Max, the wheel heroes of the films are the daredevil drivers
Remy Julienne died this week from COVID-19 aged 90. While he talked about his work as science rather than stunts, his work behind the wheel of a Kenworth W-900 in Licence To Kill is all him. The real stars of Bond and Mad Max were the stunt drivers.
Read moreDon't go down with the ship when there's money to be made from rustbuckets
The good ship Felicity Ace has gone down off the Azores with its fleet of Lambos, Porkers, Bentleys and numerous iPad holders cleverly disguised as cars with electric batteries that started the fire. The 73.5m Belgian tug Bear was towing the FA when the stricken ship simply turned turtle.
Read moreOn the Road to Roma and ruin with stops at Lightning Ridge
Our first two epic Aussie road trips – not suitable for influencers or electric vehicles – had a huge response.
Read moreUnder the fuel pump: Mazda ownership experiences not so comfortable
How good is Mazda? Akira Marumoto says Mazda is here to "brighten people's lives through car ownership." But while Mazda owner Rachel Palmer was being told there was nothing wrong with her car, Mazda Australia knew there was a fuel pump recall problem affecting 93,000 vehicles.
Read moreRomain calm and carry on: F1 racer's fiery day at the office
The sun sets early in Bahrain in November. Romain Grosjean drove into last place on the starting grid — and then survived 28 seconds in a fireball.
Read moreQueensland or California: They'll both get your motor running
Of course you have bought your tickets for next weekend's Australian Production Cars Championships at Tony Quinn's Queensland Raceway, where you'll see 72 men, two McLarens, three Porkers, 11 BMWs and one 1996 Nissan Pul
Read moreAre car dealers, banks and finance companies colluding to rip you off? Of course they are
A landmark case in the UK Supreme Court could force banks and lenders to cough up $90 bill in compensation over shady car loan practices.
Read moreHow a Bavarian motoring marque has chargrilled its brand reputation with a recall of 200,000 so far
The damage left to a BMW X5 four-wheel-drive in Sydney's Parramatta after flames started coming from below the bonnet.
Read moreWhy a quick fix is on the road to nowhere
Today we are asking the big questions, like: Why do spare parts for cars cost so much; and why do Ferrari, Hyundai and other makers not believe in Australian Consumer Law?
Read morePokies card makes carwashing a viable gamble
Here are your big sure-fire investment tips for 2023: Art, classic cars and shares that are selling at a low price and will go up during the year. The prices of the first two and possibly the third will be driven even m
Read moreLife lessons of motorsport: Covid hotel tips and where not to put your phone
Was it Covid that made us all so selfish? All the focus and love for the past 18 months has gone to humans and animals. Who has thought about inanimate objects, well like Armco, the corrugated steel barriers invented in 1933 by Sheffield Steel Corp of Kansas that saves millions of lives every year?
Read moreGet a Wiggle on, crack a XXXX and climb aboard for an all-Aussie adventure
We are all being encouraged to take driving holidays into acceptable parts of rural and regional Australia. Here are our memories of some of this great country's outback icons.
Read moreHow to blow $2000 and still smell like a toilet and other terrible Mother's Day ideas
Thinking Mother's Day? Here are the six worst car accessories you can buy now.
Read moreHow to sell a winning rort Stay tuned folks
Hullo viewers! Welcome to our first annual "rort of the month" award beaming to you direct from the Regent Room of the Kensi Hotel with your host, the Sultan of Stepney, Michael McMichael.
Read moreReport into fatal Targa Tasmania aims to put rally driving back on a safer path
The 60-page report into the three deaths in the 2021 Targa Tasmania is a devastating read about an event that is to tarmac rallying what the Bathurst 1000 is to motor racing. Twenty-three recommendations come out of the report. All of them make absolute sense.
Read moreLegends in a working person's lunch time
You probably think you go to countries like Scotland to look at castles. Look, if you've seen Game of Thrones, you've seen all the castles you need to. The real reason you head off to Edinburgh is Scotland's national racetrack Knockhill.
Read moreMajor changes ahead as Uber plans autonomous vehicle rollout in Australia
Uber says it intends to expand its global autonomous fleets in the coming years. Picture: Josh Edelson / AFP
Read moreA whole, new pickleball game: how F1 could bring back the biff at race starts
What do you think about pickleball? It's the fastest-growing sport in America. Not that new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hasn't got some top ideas — like three Saturday sprint races and bringing back the biff to F1.
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