Have Car, Will Drive

BMW Vision Concept at AIMS 2011 After more than a month of running around madly, resting intensly, and doing various things that can only be done during uni holidays, it is well and truly time for me to put some time back into Have Car, Will Drive. In that time I've visited the Melbourne Motor Show, driven upwards of 1500km including two trips to Phillip Island, and dipped my feet in the mirky waters of car mechanics peforming my first radiator flush and attempting to understand the intricate workings of a Hyundai's hydraulic clutch system. 

Porsche 911 GT1-98 at AIMS 2010 in Sydney I love a good motor show. Since a young age, the journey to the Melbourne Motor Show has been an annual ritual. Until last year that is. For the first time in my lifetime, there was no motor show in Melbourne for 2010. Thanks to a new agreement between the organisers of the respective shows in Melbourne and Sydney, a show would occur in each city in alternating years. This came after industry pressure for a single show shared between the two cities, and struggles experienced by organisers of shows in lesser Australian cities. But was this enough to save the motor show from the jaws of the internet generation? Or are high-cost events that seem to cater to an increasingly niche audience headed for extinction?

Toyota FT-86 II Concept I have written previously about Why I Idolise Rear-Wheel-Drive , and it seems that Toyota (and strangely enough its development partner Subaru) agrees that a true driver's car should be driven by the rear wheels. Shown in its latest concept form at this year's Geneva Motor Show, the FT-86 might just be the perfect affordable sports car. The latest concept is reportedly quite close to the production model, and is a refreshing return to reality from the boy racer version that I was lucky enough to view in the flesh at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney last October. I have followed the FT-86 since its first concept form, but it was only when Toyota's European division released production specifications this week that the reality of this car hit me: here is a real-sports car for the masses, a refreshing addition to a global new car fleet dominated by bland-mobiles and econoboxes. The production version of the FT-86 will sport a 2.0 lit...

When the term SUV (that's a Sports Utility Vehicle for any of you who have been living under a rock for the past ten years) first attempted to migrate to Australia from its US origins I was resistant. What did the term add that existing descriptions of vehicle types did't have? What does it even mean?

If I could buy any car as daily personal transport for my current routine, it would be a BMW 135i coupe. Yes, I know the 1-Series M is nearly here, but I fear it will be just a little too pure to be an ideal daily drive. I have never driven a 135i, yet its combination of that beautiful inline turbo six driving the rear wheels with a six-speed manual transmission in between is just about as close to perfection in my mind as any car could get. And all this while maintaining useable boot space and practicality, as well as a degree of anonymity.  My assumption in choosing an ideal daily driver is that I could own more than one car, as the 1-Series coupe is not practical on all fronts. It is I believe however, a beautiful compromise.

Welcome to Have Car, Will Drive. I am a young motoring enthusiast and uni student living in Melbourne, Australia and I have decided to share my thoughts, experiences and opinions on this blog. HCWD will document my driving experiences, and thoughts all all things automotive, as well as share interesting vehicles I see and anything else that is vaguely relevant. Car love for me is not just about exotic vehicles that are out of reach for most of us, but about finding enjoyment in any vehicle. This enjoyment for me is two-pronged, and stems from both driving enjoyment and a less tangible, emotional attachment that I seem to have to anything with four wheels. Pictured above is my '08 build Ford Focus, my first new car purchase. Two weeks ago I piloted it on a four-day, 1000km round trip laced with twisty bitumen and a good helping of gravel back-roads. It is not amazingly fast, not is it particularly luxurious. And yet with its two-litre four and five-speed manual transmission,...