CORNER STORIES

Let's start with a very simple concept. The image below is a VN Commodore wagon, made in my backyard ( Aussie land ). Simple enough. Now here's where it gets a little more interesting; We actually sold these to China ( it gets better ). However, that's been covered before; UNIQUE CARS So instead I wanted to bring this to your attention... Yep, the first BYD was in fact a VN Commo wags . Wikipedia : BYD began exploring hybrid and electric vehicles as early as 1997, before acquiring Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile. In that year, Wang Chuanfu, as part of his research into electric vehicles, purchased a BJ6490D, an electric car made by Beijing Second Auto Works that was built off an imported knock-down kit of the Holden Commodore VN station wagon. The BJ6490D was powered by golf cart batteries, with a range of about 100 km (62 mi) and a top speed of 92 km/h (57 mph). Later, BYD acquired a second BJ6490D, which was subsequently converted into a hybrid vehicle.

I'm going to call this one - How to sports car, an orthodox look at a British motor car down under. Starting with the obvious, bright yellow at the-drop-of-a-hat tells everyone wait one second this might be interesting. When British Leyland starting advertising these they went with "the shape of things to come" which is honestly not half bad - kinda similar to the car. The yellow paint on this one was real schmico but void of any decals hinting it's a respray. Nothing wrong with that. I really like the yellow over black along with the strange convertible sunroof?   My opinions on sunroofs/verts should probably be established. As an owner I think I'd normally prefer a slick top car because it usually means less to go wrong or rust. But I also have long blonde hair so I owe it to myself to enjoy blowing wind through it when possible. Conflicting but oh well. In this case I'm all for it. It looks maintained, simple and the black on top of the yellow creates a so...

Bit of a disappointing thing to do, but here goes starting a write up with a definition; Oxford Dictionary - CHARADE - definition An absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.  With that out of the way let me show you a glorious Facebook marketplace listing ... I've tried to avoid writing about marketplace listings but I can only hold out for so long. Therefore, low res imagery, 80's u-plates, rusty shit box and a description so minimal I can pen my speculation, a perfect precedent. Straight out the cereal box this toy masquerading as a cool car sits atop factory ( 12inch? ) tri spokes. No doubt they have some stupid PCD making them coveted unobtainium to a niche group with less members than Hamas. The rear features a faded turbo decal to let you know it has a 50% increased chance of a vacuum leak at any given time. Unpainted black bumpers with a red strip to broadcast your virginity status. And lastly a decrepit plate with the former entry code t...

A few things happened this week that gave me a series of ideas that form the substance of this post. Starting with Girls Can't Surf , a documentary that ' follows the journey of a band of renegade surfers who took on the male-dominated professional surfing world to achieve equality and change the sport forever . ' - Madman   A very worthwhile watch even if you're not into surfing. As for the second ingredient the ABC's long running program Australian Story never fails to hold my attention. The specific episode ' Common Ground | Liz Heggaton & Tim Baker' - ' An unlikely duo – a sheep farmer and a surf writer who have joined forces to draw attention to the potentially deadly psychological side effects of the most commonly prescribed treatment for prostate cancer.' - ABC // WATCH HERE As a young bloke with ( until now ) a total disregard for prostate cancer this was a really good watch and eye opener into side effects of treating it. But more im...

I find myself quite annoyed I didn't try break this story because it has been in the back of my mind for some time now. Throughout my uni degree I would procrastinate by opening Freeskatemag and later Speedhunters . After making my way through the last year or two worth of articles it became apparent that the frequency or writing was quite slow. Furthermore, the shop section was not functioning. Very early into frequenting the site I decided I wanted a sticker but the store was inactive for so long and when it finally did restock for a short window I missed my opportunity.  This isn't what raised alarm bells. Before visiting the Subaru F1 car in NSW I pitched various outlets the story including Iamthespeedhunter . Absolute silence compared to other options. After that I pitched them a few more press releases, met with more silence. This coincided with DinoDC launching his YouTube channel and Chaydon Ford becoming much more active on Instagram. They along with others starte...

Club prez. Well I'm assuming the owner was the lawn bowls Club President on my run past. He was the last to leave the joint and looked to be well into his hundreds. A tiny sultana of a chap. Respect though because it seemed the car gets out and about. It's vert/cab and auto so not really desirable, getting wheeled about is really what it's good for. Keep it simple in the black 2-door, put the roof down, cruise about your everyday and play They Reminisce over You (instrumental) over flat six noises comin from the back. I mean you only buy a Porsche like this for one reason.

Glass, metal ( barely ) with chrome bumpers sitting on top of rubber. Holden called it the Kingswood . Don't get me wrong cars are products and have to be cost effective to build and sell, but when I look at some of the early Holden 's I question if anyone was really trying.  They kinda just look like a passing grade. Like if the workers were watching the clock and listening to the cricket when the bossman walks into the room asking... Hows the new Holden coming along, gotta name yet? To which after tossing their smokes out the window one worker responds off the cuff.. Course its gotta name, ah, king, kings;   Kingswood .  This example looks like its wearing cricket whites. Shit, the roof has more cherries then my bat ever did ( I could block the ball or get bowled out, I mostly did the second ). Like I wrote at the start it's just some rolling metal but also looks, smells, sounds, and an experience from a point in history I'm not from. Can't pretend it doesn'...