Australian Muscle Car

Australian Muscle Car is a fresh, proudly Australian publication dedicated to preserving the legend of the unique ‘Australian made’ Ford vs Holden muscle car heritage. From 1960s classic Bathurst muscle to the super sophisticated Falcon and Commodore performance cars of the new millennium and everything in between.

Editor’s Induction Steve Normoyle

Australian Muscle Car

Electric blue Phase III goes gold

Once bitten

Chrome Temple pilot

Bowe on top in TCM

Super S5000s

Auction update

Shannons turns 40 • For many Australians the advertising slogan ‘it’s gotta be Shannons’ rings true when it comes to anything involving classic cars. Liz Swanton checks out how the auction side of the company fared after a Covid-affected 2020 as Shannons prepares to celebrate its 40th birthday.

AMC BEST LETTER

Wally’s Words • The quick and the (unfortunately) dead (and other scallywag stories)

Adventures with Brocky: tales from Peter Brock’s PR chief

Professor Victor Haight

The second coming • It began as a Sunday afternoon lounge room sketch of a two-door Commodore – just something to keep the creative juices of Holden’s design staff flowing while they were between models. It wasn’t ever meant to be an actual production car, but when those sketches evolved into a full-size concept model, the Commodore Coupe design exercise began to take on a life all of its own. There was never meant to be a reincarnation of the iconic Holden Monaro, but when the two-door Commodore VT concept car was shown to a stunned Sydney Motor Show audience in 1998 (so that Holden could spoil Ford’s AU Falcon reveal), everyone knew they were looking at a Holden Monaro. Three years later, it went into production as the new Holden Monaro, reborn in the 21st century. Bruce Newton spoke to the people at Holden that made it happen.

Pontiac GTO

V2 Holden Monaro December 2001

Monaro updates

The other Monaros

Monaro: back on track

Max effort • Top level motor racing does not happen without sponsorship. And a lot of top level Torana racing action in the ‘70s would not have happened without the enthusiasm and generosity of one man, Max Aubert. Max passed away last year, aged 92, but the ebullient Holden dealer left a lasting impression, both on the drivers who raced with him and also on the sport itself.

Canned cams

Moore for your money

Steering the right deal

Retro Vision

Mounting disappointment • The 2021 Supercars season kicked off with the novelty of a sprint round at Bathurst. As Mark Mathot reports, despite strong TV ratings, the Mount Panorama 500 demonstrated that the series still has some work to do as it recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Jolly Green Giant • Max Stewart died in a Formula 5000 crash at Calder in the late 1970s. Nearly 45 years on he is still sorely missed by so many, among them his close friend and racing contemporary, Kevin Bartlett. Affectionately known as the Jolly Green Giant, Max Stewart was a man large in stature as well as character, and also large in what he achieved on the track. A twice Australian Drivers’ Champion and dual Australian Grand Prix winner in the F5000 era, he remains today one of Australia’s best-ever racing drivers.

Playing the Classic Hits 2021 Phillip Island Classic • A sudden Covid scare in Melbourne a month or so out meant it almost didn’t happen, so it was with great relief that the historic racing fraternity was able to reconvene at Phillip Island in March for the 2021 Phillip Island Classic. In the midst of the pandemic, it was the first historic race meeting in Victoria in more than 12 months.

Stirling quality • In a drag racing career spanning 25 years, Tom Stirling enjoyed a lot of success in Fords. Along the...