In the realm of digital renderings, a concept model doesn't necessarily have to replace an existing or even an older model from an automaker's lineup.
The 365 Turin is a design study for a new Ferrari supercar created by independent designer David Williams from Sydney, Australia.
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General Motors announced today that the upcoming Chevrolet Trax will be sold in Australia as well under the Holden Trax moniker.
The only changes over the Chevrolet version of the Trax are the Holden grille and logos along with some market-specific tweaks to the chassis.
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A gruesome sight greeted drivers passing under a highway crossing in Melbourne, Australia, on late Thursday, after a truck carrying approximately 400 sheep overturned tossing the animals below.
According to local media reports, at least three cars on the Princes Highway inbound lanes were damaged severely when the sheep fell on the road, while one vehicle rolled over four times.
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So where do Australians go to burn some rubber? Well, there is the Summernats festival in Canberra, but that takes place only once a year.
If you are a friend of Mick Brasher, though, you might get another chance to smoke your car's tires to obliteration at the unofficial "Brasher NATS" gathering, which believe it not, is hosted at Mick's…backyard that features a huge concrete burnout pad!
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Turning a facepalm-worthy drift fail that entailed a rollover into an epic win is no mean feat, even more so if said stunt was performed in an old Mazda pickup truck.
The short clip was filmed in Clock Hill in Alexandra, New Zealand and was originally part of a DVD called "Asses of Alex 2" featuring people performing various stunts and pranks (think Kiwi-flavored Jackass), which was distributed in the country back in 2008
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At the end of April, Australian billionaire Clive Palmer made world headlines when he announced plans to launch a full-size replica of the Titanic that will make its maiden voyage from England to New York in 2016.
Fast-forward a few weeks to today, and the Australian Mining magnate is once again in the news, but for a very different reason.
The 58-year old businessman from the sunny state of Queensland was ticketed by Australian police back in January for going 87km/h (54mph) in a 60km/h (37mph) zone in his Mercedes-Benz. The police officer issued him an AU$333 (US$329 or €258) fine and deducted four demerit points from his driving license.
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We have been reporting for quite some time that General Motors is planning to bring the next Holden Commodore sedan to the States as a Chevrolet, and now the Detroit carmaker has made it official.
The General confirmed the news that next Commodore will return to North America in late 2013 as the new Chevrolet SS rear-wheel drive performance sedan, adding that the SS will also be the brand's next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar beginning with the 2013 Daytona 500.
"As a passionate race fan and performance enthusiast, I am thrilled that Chevrolet will deliver a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR racecar in the SS that is closely linked to the performance sedan that will be available for sale," said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.
Reports from Down Under are claiming that Holden will soon make an official announcement on a new export program to bring the next generation of the Commodore sedan codenamed VF to America as the new Chevrolet SS.
Australia's News.com.au tied the story with General Motor's recent decision to retire the Impala from NASCAR racing and replace it with a different Chevrolet nameplate for the 2013 series, saying that the Chevy SS will lend its body and name to the new racecar.
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As part of the 240hp (179kW) Falcon EcoBoost launch in Australia, Ford's local division in cooperation with JWT Melbourne prepared a new online commercial called the "Cane Toad Road", which for the time being, is not intended for television.
The viral video kicks off by showing a pair of cane toads, which are native to Central and South America, but were introduced to the northeastern parts of Australia in the 1930s to control the beetle population.
The two cane toads are sitting on the road talking to each other before they notice a car coming their way. Ralphie, the male toad, sees no reason to move quickly as he rightly guesses from the sound that it is a four-cylinder model.
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Some will be surprised to know that the ridiculously fast family car is not a creation of the German auto industry that has dominated the segment in the past few decades with models like the Audi RS4/RS6, BMW M3/M5 and Mercedes C63/E63 AMG.
Back in the late 1960s, while American carmakers were obsessed with pony and muscle cars in coupe and convertible forms, Ford's Australian division gave birth to a vehicle that would change the industry: the 1967 Falcon XR GT sports saloon powered by a Mustang-sourced 225bhp 4.7-liter V8.
Holden tried to compete with the four-door Monaro GTS, but it was Ford that ended up creating the world's fastest production saloon in 1971 with the XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III propelled by a tuned 351 (5.8-liter) Cleveland V8 with up to 390bhp and a top speed of 250km/h (155mph).
Every gearhead in Australia likes doing a good ol' burnout once in a while, just as long as it goes down smoothly and without an incident.
Unfortunately for the young driver of this late 1970s Holden Ute (it looks like an HZ, but we're not entirely sure), it didn't go as well or as smooth as he had hoped for and while he narrowly missed the newer Commodore Ute parked on the side of the road, he couldn't avoid crashing into a brick fence destroying his car.
Make your way over the break to watch the video.
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More than 200 workers Toyota workers at the firm's Altona plant in Melbourne, Australia, were in for a nasty surprise on Monday as the company went ahead with its original plan to axe 350 employees. The remaining workers will be sacked on Tuesday.
The announcement was made in January but up until today, nobody knew who was going to be sacked, despite repeated pleas from workers to end their torment. The company said that it axed the worst performing workers.
Both the workers and their union said they were extremely upset with the way Toyota handled the situation as the company brought in security guards to escort the employees in min-vans across the road to a special reception center to sack them.
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A seventeen-year old driver of a stolen BMW X5 crossover was involved in a high-speed chase that took place in Brisbane, Australia, on Monday, and which lasted for close to two hours.
According to the police, the driver of the SUV, William John Noel Compton, was under the influence of paint when he was arrested.
The teenager along with six more youths aged from 13 to 19 reportedly stole a white BMW X5 along with a black BMW Z4 roadster from the same Westlake home in the early hours of Monday morning.
The police eventually tracked down the two cars and began pursuit when they failed to stop. Media helicopters followed from above and filmed the entire chase, which for the occupants of the X5, ended when the teens entered an underground car park.
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It's time for a strategic change over at Toyota as the Japanese automaker today announced a new framework for vehicle development that will affect all brands within the group with the aim of lowering costs, reducing launch times as well as making its vehicles more appealing both in terms of styling and handling.
A core element of the firm's new strategy is the development of new global vehicle architectures that are to be shared across the world, a move that Toyota claims will ultimately help in the creation of better cars.
"Cooperation between planning and design divisions will result in a revised vehicle body structure with which new platforms will feature a lower center of gravity and bolder styling," said Toyota in a statement. "This will help to realize the development of cars with never-before-seen emotional designs and superb handling."
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Fiat may have been the one to buy a controlling stake in Chrysler, but it's the American arm of the company that it destined to take over the distribution of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Fiat Professional vehicles in Australia.
In a similar move, Chrysler had taken over distribution responsibilities for Fiat cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia back in February.
In Australia, the Fiat group's distribution rights will be transferred to Chrysler on May 1. Under the new deal, the Italian group's 17 passenger dealerships and 22 commercial vehicle outlets across the country, will report directly to the Melbourne-based Chrysler Australia group.
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America might not be getting the new Chevrolet Trailblazer but Australia will as parent company General Motors revealed that it's body-on-frame SUV will be sold Down Under as the Holden Colorado SUV.
The passenger version of the Colorado pickup truck, which is set to arrive in Australian dealerships mid-year, will be the first heavy-duty 4WD SUV to wear a Holden badge in almost a decade.
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The United States and Canada aren't alone in supporting General Motors and its companies.
The Australian government is also doing its part to keep GM's local subsidiary Holden in the country by promising a subsidy package worth more than AU$200 million (US$210 million) after the automaker threatened to shut down its operations if it did not get financial aid beyond 2015.
While Holden has yet to issue an official statement, Australian news daily, The Age, reported that the country's Prime Minister Julia Gillard, along with South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, Holden chairman Mike Devereux and vehicle union boss Ian Jones will be in Canberra today for the official announcement.
After securing the financial assistance, Holden is said to continue producing cars in the country until for at least another 10 years. According to sources, Holden has promised to invest some AU$750 million in its Australian operations during this period.
Interestingly, the newspaper said that Holden will "soon confirm an export deal to sell Commodores in the US, where the car will carry a Chevrolet badge."
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A video of an older man in a Mercedes SUV beating up a young bodybuilder during a road rage episode in Australia last Thursday has been making the local headlines.
After airing the amateur footage of the traffic punch-up and seeing the response from viewers, the Nine Network's flagship program "A Current Affair" investigated further and found the "guy with tattoos" named Josh.
Josh told the news channel that the older man in the Mercedes SUV almost backed into his pregnant girlfriend's car. The young Aussie claims that he jumped out of the vehicle to approach him at the next set of lights and they exchanged words and one thing lead to another.
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This past Saturday in Melbourne, the host city for the 2012 season's inaugural Formula 1 race, Australian spectators were treated to not only a very unpredictable qualifying session but also a variety of other events that aimed to dazzle those who were present in Albert Park.
Highlights included an aerial display from the PC9 aerobatics team known as “The Roulettes” and the third Australian V8 Supercars race of the weekend. For Ferrari enthusiasts, the day’s most eagerly anticipated track action, aside from the Formula 1, was a parade honoring Ferrari’s sixtieth anniversary in Australia.
At noon, sixty models from Maranello, one for every year that Ferrari has been in Australia, drove their way around Albert Park. The procession was led by the Ferrari 458 Spider, which made its Australian debut and is predicted to retail at around AU$590,000 when it goes on sale later this year.
Amongst the cars featured were fan favorites such as the 360 Challenge, the Ferrari California and the F40. The country’s very first Ferrari, the Ferrari 212 Export Coupe, hit Australian shores in Melbourne all the way back in 1952 and since then, Australia grew to become Ferrari’s tenth most important market in 2011.
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Every year FIA, the sport’s governing body, changes Formula 1’s technical regulations with the purpose of leveling out the playing field. This forces designers to work within a very strict set of parameters that make gaining an advantage a great challenge.
Despite FIA’s efforts to increase competition even more, F1 is far from becoming something akin to a one-make series. Some teams always make a better job than others do, but we have to wait until each year’s first race before drawing any conclusions.
At the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, the Saturday qualifying session showed us certain things like that the McLaren is currently the fastest car out there, while Red Bull Racing seems to have lost some of its pace due to the rule changes that affected the design of the RB8.
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