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.
Steve Normoyle
Australian Muscle Car
A portrait of King Leo
HSV Fighter third at Bathurst
Auction update
End of the Lion
Remembering Leffo
Restored Geissler A9X for sale
AMC BEST LETTER
Wally’s Words • Grand Prix shenanigans
Adventures with Brocky: tales from Peter Brock’s PR chief
Paul Newby
Holden’s HQ Hero • Today it’s revered as an all-time classic Aussie muscle car. It was the flagship performance coupe in a new model range which 50 years ago represented a huge step forward for Holden in so many areas. And yet the HQ Monaro GTS 350 coupe was not the car it could have been. It was an opportunity missed by Holden to create a truly great high-performance sports coupe, and the tragedy of the HQ Monaro was that the fl aws that spoiled it could so easily have been fi xed.
Spoiled for choice
Corvette arrives • It’s only taken 70 years and eight generations for the Chevrolet Corvette to finally arrive in Australia direct from the factory in right-hand drive form. Bruce Newton takes the new C8 Corvette Coupe for spin to find out if the wait has been worth it.
CHEVROLET C8 CORVETTE STINGRAY COUPE 3LT
Back up and Running • It’s like taking your muscle car on a fun weekend day trip in the country, except that it lasts a full week. You get to hang out with other muscle car owners and enthusiasts on the way, visit some great destinations and experience first-hand some of our top motorsport venues – and while you’re enjoying all this you’re also raising money for a children’s charity. This is the essence of the Aussie Muscle Car Run, which this year has returned from Covid-enforced hibernation.
Ruf runner
Purr Pull pedigree
1985 Castrol 500 Richo’s Sandown
Summer Gold • Summer gold surely must be an appropriate colour for any Falcon GT residing in the tropical Top End, but things aren’t always straightforward when it comes to restoring muscle cars in the Northern Territory.
Red vs blue
Retro Vision
Don’t call me Mad Andy Part 2 • Andrew Miedecke switched from openwheelers to touring cars in the late ‘80s and there began a tin-top adventure that took in turbo Ford Sierras, V8 Supercar Commodore and Falcons, and then later a TCM Series Camaro and TA2 Trans Am Dodge. While major success in touring car racing proved elusive, Miedecke was, in trademark Miedecke style, almost always a front-running force.
Turbo terror
Q and A Part 2
Tassie Hardtop Tour • Thanks to Covid, the Ford Coupe Club hasn’t been able to hold its bi-annual Hardtop Anniversary event since 2019. But when last year’s event was cancelled, a group of Tasmanian Ford owners decided to stage their own Hardtop tour of the Apple Island – where Covid restrictions didn’t apply.
Old school • Over a lengthy quarter-mile career, Jim Rowley was a fearless competitor and a master at the art of making Holdens go fast. And because Rowley was an old school racer, none of his Holdens had forced induction or automatic transmission. Rowley’s uncompromising attitude and his canny ability to deliver results on a financial shoestring made him into something of a legend in the drag racing world.
Gasket A Go-Go
Street is neat
Trailer trash Torana
That tricky six
Jim Rowley VT/VZ ClubSport
Slot car addiction
A girl called Darrylyn • It may be remembered as a decade of rampant sexism and gender inequality, and yet Australian...