Category Archives: Australian Car Culture

Home of the V8 Supercars and Mad Max.

Holden Special Vehicles Gen-F GTS

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HSV-Gen-F-Clubsport-R8-SV-front-three-quarterHSV-Gen-F-Clubsport-R8-Tourer-profileCheck out this product overview video from the Holden Special Vehicles Team for their new halo model, the Commodore based Gen-F GTS. This is their latest V8 rear wheel drive sedan that is powered by the same supercharged LSA V8 that’s under the hood of the Cadillac CTS-V and Camaro ZL1. The GTS also benefits from an amazing HSV-Gen-F-Maloo-R8-SV-profiletechnology package with many firsts for Australian production vehicles. Head over to Motor Trend to see the rest of the gallery of the GTS and the new Commodore line including the Maloo and Tourer wagon.


Source: Holden Special Vehicles on YouTube

Bathurst 1000 Car Comparison 1963 vs. 2012

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Lee Holdsworth of Irwin Racing walks us through the in and outs of a modern $300,000 Australian V8 Supercar. To keep things interesting, he compares his car to a replica of the car that won the first ever Bathurst 1000 race. That car is a $15,000 Ford Cortina MK1. I came across this video while reading the coverage of the Bathurst Racing Museum on Speedhunters.


Source: Official V8 Supercars on YouTube

Red Bull Drift Shifters 2012

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Red Bull Drift Shifters is the brainchild of Mad Mike Whiddett. The premise is simple: have a drifting competition judged completely electronically on a pinball machine inspired course. The drifters have to try and link as many of the sensor points on the obstacles to rack up a high score. Electronic markers mounted on each car register it’s speed, angle and proximity as it passes by sensor points. Mad Mike hand picked New Zealand’s top 8 drifters as well as bringing in Daigo Saito, Matt Powers and Samuel Hubinette from Japan and the US. It’s a pretty cool idea that led to some exciting competition.


Source: Red Bull on YouTube

727 Cubic Inches and Australian Tire Smoke

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This episode of Hot Rod Magazine’s Road Kill embodies the reason I have an “Australian Car Culture” category here on the blog. The guys travel to Australia to check out the Powercruise events organized by a man named Gup. They’re basically a celebration of Australia’s love of the burnout. The Powercruise gives folks an excuse to annihilate tires and drag race at tracks all over the country. Gup also lets Finnegan and Freiburger play around in his 1974 “Elvis” Holden HQ and his 1,275 horsepower 2006 Holden HSV VE Clubsport R8 (the car we got as a Pontiac G8) with a 727 cubic inch Hemi built by Sonny Leonard. There’s also a 1500 cubic inch semi truck that smokes all four of its rear tires doing a doughnut at one point in this video. Stay tuned after the credits for 4 extra minutes of burnout competition footage.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

A Lap of Bathurst

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Bathurst is my favorite track. You literally race up and down a mountain each lap. It’s one of the marquee tracks of the Australian V8 Supercar series. Ride along with Rick Kelly as he guides around the track and then lets the car do the talking for one lap. I really wish Gran Turismo would put Bathurst in the next game.


Source: Official V8 Supercars on YouTube