Scientists claim that we’re currently doing a reasonable job at a mass extinction but not nearly as good as the huge rock that struck Mexico around 65 million years ago. Regardless of what the top five extinctions tell us, the planet is fine, always has been, probably always will be. It appears to have a fairly nonchalant response when it comes to mass extinction. Before you start frantically commenting on why a mass extinction is bad, if they had never taken place, today we would not have sharks and cars, two of my favourite things.

Corvette Mako Shark

That being said, we have to enjoy our short but sweet time here and so far we’ve been pretty busy. Thankfully for me, fellow curious human beings make movies about sharks and cars. Obviously I’m not here to talk about sharks but I was thinking about my favourite retro motors in movies.

Without doubt in my mind Anton Furst’s Batmobile is one of the coolest retro on screen motors of all time. His design work on the bleak metropolis of Gotham was second to none and to have produced a very striking and timeless Batmobile was no mean feat. With inspirations from war machines, aircraft and art deco styling, the final result was the perfect driving machine for a super goth. Batman was charismatic and cool back then, the car was purely an extension of that. With a turbine driving the midnight black machine, it looked every bit intimidating as it did sexy, with its winged rear end and the aircraft like cockpit in the centre.

Twin browning machine guns mounted at the front, armour plating and a grappling hook, need I say more?

The Bat Bastard

In George Millers depiction of the future in Mad Max, a massive percentage of everything has died (Probably including sharks) with the exception of humans and cars. Not just any cars though, modified beasts with armour, guns, spikes and flamethrowers. Whilst there is something refreshing about a world without the Nissan leaf, tax returns, governments and police. The world in which Max lives is rather bleak and unforgiving. What better way to see the day through than mowing down members of a tyrannical biker gang with an armoured, nitro fuelled V8, a Ford Falcon to be exact.

The interceptor was the product of Barry, the seemingly mentally challenged mechanic in Mad Max. Despite his impairment he was quite handy with a spanner and put together what is arguably the meanest looking vehicle for a protagonist. “She’s the last V8, she sucks Nitro!”.

I could go on and mention all the most obvious super star cars, The Back to the Future DeLorean, Ecto 1 or the five hundred bond cars but as a car guy, I think we should all take a moment to remember those unsung heroes of the big screen. Those cars that got people from A-B or a car you saw only for a few seconds before it was blown up by an overzealous director. Knowing what kind of money these relics go for now, I watch some scenes through my fingers.

Take the Ford LTD for example. A large lumbering “yank tank” from as far back as the 60’s, which, in all of it’s variations, ran until the end of the 80s. If you’ve seen any films within this era, you’ve seen many of these land boats smashing into other cars, people, chasing criminals dressed as a smokey or simply driving entire families around in it’s vast expanse of an interior.

For the fans of the synthwave community I guess the go to movie is The Terminator. Kyle Reece came from a future war and needed some muscle. What better vehicle to steal than a sixteen foot long, two and a half ton V8 sedan. With a 0-60mph that could be measured on a sundial, 12 mpg and all the handling of an abused shopping cart, I guess the only bonus was that it was incredibly comfortable. The sheer size and weight was probably Kyle’s saving grace, because if Sarah Conner was born in Europe, Kyle would have stolen a Fiat and subsequently the Austrian death machine would have picked it up and thrown them in the sea.

In a sort of car “cos-play” the Ford LTD has been most memorable in retro movies as the Crown Victoria, in fleet use they were used for primarily police or taxi markets. Again you may remember it as the cop car used to getaway from the T1000 in Terminator 2, similar cruisers in Universal Soldier or from the hundreds of scenes of taxi rides in your favourite movies. The LTD is truly an on screen icon, from action films to crime thrillers, the LTD was stuntman, sidekick, for good guys and bad guys.

Throughout the 70s and 80’s car wrecking was a big draw for Hollywood. Ron Howards Grand Theft Auto (now overshadowed by the multi million dollar gaming franchise) was a wrecking-fest. Dozens of cars, now considered cherished automotive icons, were rolled, crushed and launched into untimely deaths.

If you want to see some of the best chases and stunts, check out Junk Man. Henry Blight Halicki, nickname, Junkman. A stuntman, director and a bit of a lunatic. Using his own vast collection of vehicles, he wrote and starred in Gone in 60 seconds, Junkman and also made a sequel to Gone in 60 seconds, aptly named Gone in 60 seconds 2.

Grab a copy and some popcorn and enjoy some automotive carnage!

Much like poor ol’ Roy Batty, we don’t always get what we want in life. Then again he did live in a world of deep poetic melancholy, sex androids and flying cars. There’s no pleasing everyone.
Christmas shouldn’t be a time of mass consumption but we all should have a wish list for one thing or another though. Having wishes means perhaps you’ll strive to do whatever it is to get there, whether it manifests in reality is another thing but it’s good to have vision.

My wish list has always been cars I guess, as materialistic as it may sound, anyone who has read previous articles knows that this is far from the truth. Driving is an art, car design is art, they bring people together and shared experiences are the best. They become iconic, in the design world and in our everyday worlds, they keep us moving forward.

Cars that appeared on bedroom wall posters, with beautiful women draped over the bodywork for good measure. Cars that evoked vision, adventure and wonderment. They were showcased in quick and clever advertisements that compared them to fighter jet innovation, rousing emotion and almost life changing experiences. Today car commercials are about as exciting as watching someone write a book. Now it’s often some closed road driving sequence with the added excitement of rain to some breathy cover song by a busker.

So without further ado, here is my wish list

1968 Ford Mustang Fastback “Bullitt”

One Saturday afternoon in the late 80s my dad sat me down and produced a VHS tape with the name “Bullitt” written crudely on a TDK white label. He gave me a brief rundown of the plot but the main reason for this little showing was THE car chase. Lieutenant Frank Bullitt is assigned to protect a VIP with a small team. In short, it’s no cakewalk and during the operation Frank is targeted by a couple of hitmen driving a Dodge Charger R/T. The hunted becomes the hunter when Frank turns the chase and manages to ram the men off the road, they then plough into a petrol station and explode, burning to death.

It wasn’t the last shot of the chase that stuck with me, where the passengers hair has nearly all but gone and the sound like bacon sizzling from the cockpit. It was the brutal, snarling sound of the V8 through the streets of San Fran, Steve McQueen’s slick double clutch technique and his effortlessly cool behind the wheel. Because I never shut up about it for the next twelve months, because my dad and I bonded over it, to this day I believe it’d be the first on my list if I won a lottery.

De Tomaso Pantera

I’ve said it before and I’ll said it again, if you don’t walk away from your car and look back at it, you’re driving the wrong car. The De Tomaso Pantera would have me walk away, come back, make sure it’s locked, walk away again, look back, take an easel out and start painting. The Ford V8 in this thing, makes for a jaw dropping start up. I’ve never had the pleasure of driving a Pantera but it is said to be a raw, highly strung machine that doesn’t care much for city driving but would rather be hammering along a highway. Where as the Americans used a big V8 as a tool to get an oversized car moving, the Italians utilized the lump to create a gorgeous display of engineering in the rear of the car. The interior for me is just right too, gated gears, a leather and chrome theme throughout with only a stylish colour palette option. Google it I think you’d agree.

Porsche 911 (930)

I’m ashamed to admit I was young enough to have watched Condorman back in the 80s and enjoyed it. The film didn’t do well at the box office for reasons I haven’t got time for but my lasting memory of this film was the bad guys fleet of murdered out 911’s. Watching these old films now is sometimes hard to watch, cars which now are considered sought after were often beaten like a bad step child. In Condorman, several 911’s were burnt and subsequently thrown off a cliff face.

If like me you browse IMCDb for instances where a car pops up in a film, you would know that Porsche have had a generous mention throughout hollywood and regular TV shows and documentaries. I love the profile of the 930 and the whale tail for me is the icing on the cake. In my dream garage I’d probably use this as a daily, testament to the build quality a large percentage of these classic Porsche’ are still on the road today.

In all honesty I could probably list ten of my dream cars but just these three would have me grinning for a few years. Like and share Retro Motors, comment and tell me what your dream garage would be!

My main inspirations for obtaining a licence to ride a motorcycle wasn’t to join a gang, or to race, or to grow a beard, get fat and become fearful of the rain like a Harley Davidson rider; but it was of course, Street Hawk.

Jesse Mach, ex motorcycle cop, now lone wolf working for the government fighting crime in a bustling city, dealing with crooks, robbers and thieves. Jesse was given free reign to deal with wrong doers on a military grade motorcycle which fired lasers and rockets, and could reach 300mph with “Hyperthrust”. At the time I didn’t care that a road bike was achieving speeds of a WW2 fighter plane around Los Angeles, I was more enamoured by Jessie and his exploits. A mysterious man philandering around L.A whose day job it was to protect the innocent, with a licence to kill. Street Hawk was a short lived television series that aired back in 1985 on ABC. It lasted only one season and there were only thirteen episodes ever made. And as with anything this cool and short lived, it gained a bit of a cult following.

He didn’t have a second helmet

Inspired by the enigmatic presence of man and machine dressed all in black, I did include some of that when customising one of my first motorcycles, the Suzuki TS125X. The Suzuki TS was released in Japan in 1970, with a simple and comfortable ride for multipurpose use. It was 2 stroke with a 6 speed gearbox and long fork travel. You could pretty much go anywhere on this little machine and have fun doing it.

A similar bike to the TS was the Yamaha XT ridden by John Rambo in First Blood.

Reliable and good looking, in the 80s the TS was given rad decals and a bright paint scheme. The classic look round headlight was replaced with a square fairing and lamp, emulating that futuristic Street Hawk look even more. My bike was in bright Suzuki yellow with retro decals, but my aim was to achieve more of a “murdered out” look. As it was my first attempt at anything like this, it ended up a bit more “Mad Max” than the high gloss finish of Jessie Mach and his black beauty.

From the same team who built the cars of Bladerunner and The Last Starfighter, the Street Hawk was designed by non other than Andrew Probert who had touched many 80s franchises. FRom M.A.S.K to Airwolf and TRON.

Hondas XL500 and XR500 were used as the base frame and many modified parts were introduced over the series timeline, from the practical to the purely aesthetic. Here are the specs;

MODEL: Top secret government project.

TOP SPEED: 200 MPH, 300 MPH with Hyperthrust

WEAPONRY: Laser Cannon, Machine Guns, Rocket Launcher

OTHER FEATURES: Infrared Cameras, Compressed Air Vertical Lift System, On and off road capability

My TS125 was a little less dynamic, no lasers or Hyperthrust, but I had, on more than one occasion, switched off the headlights and ducked into a driveway or side street to avoid the cops (Stealth mode), and if you drafted behind a truck you could perhaps pretend to “boost” around it.

Dirt bikes were mad popular back in the 80’s, the lethal 2 stroke power of the raspy, smokey on/off road machines gave them a rebellious streak all of their own. I used to stick on The Dirt Bike Kid back in the day, which, if you haven’t seen it, is a lot of fun. The premise is fairly simple to follow, providing you’re a complete lunatic or a child.

Jack Simmons, a small town geeky kid from a single parent family, spends his mother’s last fifty bucks purchasing a self aware dirt cross bike (A Yamaha YZ-80). Infuriated by his whimsical purchase, she sells the bike to a local shop owner but the bike returns to Jack signalling the start of a “friendship” between boy and machine.

Dirt nerd

Jack gets involved in a financial battle between a bank and a hot dog business, ran by a family friend. After hacking the bank with his best friend Bo, they attempt to stop the demolition of said hot dog business by disrupting the bulldozing with a pie fight, enlisting the help of his little league team. I won’t spoil the ending but in a nutshell the kid and the dirt bike win and the hot dogs are ok. A dirt bike was now a childhood dream, yet the YZ-80 was not a street legal machine here in the UK, unless you modified it.

In the early nineties a young man and a robot father figure ran from another man with knives for arms in Terminator 2. Although quite obviously Arnie was a thorough badass in the film, I couldn’t help but admire the rebel without a cause, John Conner, on his stripped down Honda XR complete with a ginger carrying a ghetto blaster. The Terminator 2 bike chase is to bikers what Bullitt is to car lovers and if you have no clue what either of these things are, get in the sea.

The Honda XR however, didn’t sound like it would have in real life, the bike was dubbed with the 2 stroke engine to perhaps further accentuate the dichotomy between the brutal black truck on Johns tail and Arnie on the thundering Harley Davidson. Legally I could only ride small capacity machines until I was 21. So dirt bikes were my preferred mode of transport until that time came.

He may have needed a step stool to hop onto the Kawasaki GPZ900 R in Top Gun but Tom Cruise undeniably looked rad in his flight jacket and aviators riding the iconic Japanese sports bike around an military air base. Whether you’re drag racing a fighter jet or running from an angry blonde in a Porsche, a sports bike is what you need. Like the Street Hawk bike, although this wasn’t a custom dirt bike, it actually looked similar in ways to the futuristic crime fighting machine. The GPZ also known as the Ninja 900, came in a range of quintessential retro colour schemes.

The littlest pilot

Some of the 80’s flagship models from Japan are often now referred to as “Jap Muscle”. Large litre bikes were relatively compact, fast, good looking machines with the edition of plastic fairings which certainly made the naked british bikes look ancient. Fairings were the future!

Talking about fairings, perhaps one of the most badass retro bike movies was Mad Max. Jim Rains or “Goose” rode a 1977 Kawasaki KZ1000, not a bike for faint hearted, a beast of a bike at a little over 240kg yet the strong 1000cc inline four cylinder engine could take you to 130mph. Because of its stability, power and adaptability the KZ was in fact used for many years as a police bike. Notably the KZ1000P was ridden by the T1000 in Terminator 2 in full police fairings.

So that’s a brief history of some of my inspirations for riding motorcycles, it would be good to hear your stories of what got you into biking and what do you ride? For those who don’t ride, maybe make it a news years resolution to saddle up, stick a lid on and go have an adventure.

I told you if you pissed me off I’d bring in Dinosaurs

Why am I telling you this? Because, if all this be true, it is perhaps why us men have been given a little leeway when it comes to pleasurable experiences in mortal existence. One of these activities is speed, specifically Motorsports. Back in time when people thought smoking made you stronger and a popular brown soft drink contained cocaine. Men with moustaches slapped numbers on wheeled contraptions and raced from point A to point B to prove a point. We soon figured out you could race just about anything and so we did. I was told that my Grandfather once raced a German tank crew up a mountain during WW2, when he was stationed overseas. The amateur hill climb event was short lived when the German crew went in overzealous and ended up rolling backwards, flipping the tank over, resulting in a fatality and some serious injuries.

Inflatable tanks were much safer

My love of motorsport began early when my parents invited a stranger into our home, who drilled holes in our property and installed an array of technology, including a satellite dish. SKY TV was then accessible 24 hours a day and if there wasn’t a real need for reading and writing, I probably would have spent an abnormal amount of time in front of the box. I attended a monster truck rally in the UK recently and being that I’m well past thirty now, I thought back to my childhood in the late 80’s and didn’t think for one minute I’d get as excited as I did back then. The show, with the addition of expensive hot dogs, beer and the smell of high octane fuel brought back the nostalgia, much to the disgust of the row in front of me as a stood up and sloshed beer over their children shouting GRAVE DIGGER!

Monster trucks began exhibitions back in the 70s and by the 80s some of the trucks became household names. It was effectively a vehicular WWF with rivalries and comebacks just as you’d find in the ring. Trucks such as Bigfoot, Rolling Thunder and Grave digger are old school favourites of mine from the late 80s SKY TV era. Ryan Anderson, second son to Dennis Anderson today drives “Son-uva Digger” carrying on the tradition and inspiring new crowds.

Paranormal mode

A 9,000lb truck running on 66 inch tyres that uses a supercharged, methanol-injected engine that burns around 2.5 gallons of methanol per run isn’t a recipe for Greenpeace but holy shit it’s fun to watch. Today monster truck shows are obviously heavily scrutinised, this isn’t just to limit the amount of shrapnel that gets kicked up by the brutal machines but also because occasionally trucks have been known to veer off course and turn some people into street pizza. If you haven’t experienced a truck show yet, go get some! Just make sure it’s on the tenth row back, on concrete foundations.

Three fucks per gallon

If I enjoyed the sensation of sliding down a mountain strapped to two plastic planks in the cold whilst squinting, I’d take up skiing. Perhaps because of its exhilarating facets skiing was a mere past time for the great Michael Schumacher. The cool calculated style of the German was a marvel to watch as he faced off against turbocharged angry Frenchmen, emotional Italians and Nigel Mansell’s mustache.

I was a keen viewer of late 80s and early 90s Formula one. With it’s eye watering speeds, iconic sounds and characters, there will never be a time in the sport that comes close. Drinking, smoking and cheating were not as frowned upon then as it is today. Todays drivers are abstinent, fresh faced track athletes, sponsored by fashion labels and caffeine drinks.

The retro era F1 was a fascinating mix of intense rivalries, absurd politics and life threatening technologies. Arguably the most beautiful of all cars in the sport was the Lotus, John Player Special 80 to 90 series. With it’s gloss black and minimal gold pinstripe paint scheme, it became an icon in its own right, the performance still wows drivers today.     

Screaming along asphalt in a high octane lightweight winged vehicle, propelled by over a thousand brake horsepower was a recipe for a lunchtime fatality. F1 was fairly unforgiving to the brave pilots in the retro era, watching your friends and or rivals explode was almost an annual occurrence for several decades. The world of F1 changed dramatically however Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994 when he left the track at roughly 190 mph and eventually died after suffering severe injuries. The following year Mansell shaved off his mustache and perhaps further highlighted the effects of these traumatic events. Today fatalities in F1 are rare and that can only be a good thing.

Stick a roof on a race car and you’d be a fool for thinking the racing would be any less exciting. On the Eurosport channel at about the same time I watched less and less F1, I found myself glued to British Touring car championships (BTCC). It was tight, fast racing that utilized cars that you’d often see down your local supermarket. With Murray Walker manning the commentary box and a group of professional drivers in everyday saloons, it made for some edge of the seat viewing.

Us Europeans have been lucky enough to live amongst the greatest driving roads on earth, we also make the fastest cars and produce the best race drivers. In Britain the best drivers in the 80’s and 90’s quite often crossed over to other forms of racing. Our very own Tiff Needell for example has pretty much raced everything decent in the world of motorsport, he’s been the Top Gear Stig and continues to drive sideways for other series today.  Alain Menu was a man I liked to watch in the 90’s, he could shake up a grid, survive contact battles and go on to win. He came to England to race and was so good, he could almost sway you into buying a French car. Some of the best looking cars however were from the world of DTM or Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft for short. The bodykits and liveries from this series of racing really made them stand out and probably helped in the current state of the worlds automotive market.

All told, I feel the passion, pace and noise of retro “analogue” racing will never be beat. Like war perhaps, the human element will eventually be removed so not to endanger lives, with computer controlled vehicles operated from control towers with drone cameras and AI commentary. At least then we could perhaps fix weapons to them.

Speaking of war…I’ll leave you with an advertisement of a series of videos I used to collect. Enjoy!

This months Retro Motors looks back at some of the best cartoon vehicles. Again the 80’s and early 90’s were the host to an abundance of all action vehicular combat based cartoons; ranging from the absolutely absurd, to some of the finest animated work to date. Taking a look over what people consider “The best cartoons” today, it’s clear to see that we have moved away from the more classic storytelling and instead opted for balls out, physiologically unsettling and surreal. Back then it was good vs evil, David vs Goliath, man vs machine- or a mix of all three. Not only did the majority of these cartoons tell of a great adventure or explore some primal instincts but they also looked damn cool.

A group I wholeheartedly feel should exist in real life is M.A.S.K (Mobile Armoured Strike Command). If money were no object I’d mobilise a team akin to M.A.S.K and chase ivory poachers with a flying Camaro that shoots rockets. People like Elon Musk think they’re doing the world a favour by producing silent cars and an underground tunnel, but I feel if I was wealthy enough, people would much rather watch a live feed of me in a flying Camaro bombing Japanese whaling boats.

Thunderhawk

No list of the coolest cartoon vehicles could end without mentioning Transformers, although my favourite robot was not only a bad guy but was never a vehicle in the first place. Sound wave, for me, always stood out for the fact he decided to talk through a vocoder and his arsenal consisted of a massive cannon and weaponised cassette tapes.

Yet no other cartoon character made such an impact on me than Optimus Prime. I seem to remember entering a Video Nest here in the UK and choosing a film for Friday night with my dad. From Thundercats to HE MAN, Jason and the Wheeled Warriors to Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. What could go wrong with a full feature length film about these mighty metal heros? Optimus Prime could go wrong, that’s what.

Optimus Prime

There are some people who still believe that certain human beings, deceased yet period correct, still wander the earth as ghosts. It is believed that certain spectral entities come back with such tasks as moving trinkets, walking without purpose or simply switching on and off the lights. They may be one of the most underwhelming myths of the natural world but the Ghostbusters on the other hand are real and the film is a masterpiece. The Real Ghostbusters was the name of the animated series and what a series it was- exploring further into the characters whilst retaining all the fun and bizarre ghost stories of New York City.

Ecto 1 is a Cadillac- in case you didn’t know. Miller-Meteor, the famous coach builder, designed and manufactured modified versions for businesses who required a classy looking vehicle as big a boat. It had been used as an ambulance-come-hearse in some states of America and became infamous when it starred in the Ghostbusters film. The unforgettable wail of the siren and the bright colour scheme are as iconic as that silver car from Back To The Future.

Ecto 1

The best Batmobile has been and gone when Michael Keaton drove it back in 1989. Long, black, sleek and sexy, complete with mounted guns, turbine and armour plating. Since then the Batmobile has gone from looking like it runs the city, to something that looks like Super-Goth is trying to compensate.

A little later in 1992 Batman the animated series was launched. A beautifully animated, well scripted; timeless, moving comic, also featuring its very own Batmobile. In keeping with the gothic art deco style of the series, the Batmobile of this era is a brutal looking, four wheeled slab of a car. Housing what appears to be a monstrous V12 and with all the essential gadgets like teargas, bullet proof armour and missiles. The dark deco style was inspired by Tim Burton’s work and in my opinion deserves a live action version someday, if only to see the car for real.

The Batmobile

Not exactly a cartoon, more like an animated schizophrenic episode- Akira is an extraordinary masterpiece of technical ability, eccentric storytelling and cult imagery. Any New Retro Wave fan will tell you, the Neo-Tokyo setting is an unnerving mix of real world imagery and sci-fi elements that blend in such a brutal way, it’s going to leave a mark.

My lasting memory of the film however was not the face melting fight sequences but the bike. Kaneda is a young teen with a bad attitude. He’s also the leader of a biker gang who take no shit when it comes to the open road. His chosen chariot is renowned even before you get to see it. Rumour has it this thing was a 200mph, electronically driven sports bike. Whatever it is, it’s one of the coolest animated vehicles to date. Some die hard fans of the franchise have spent thousands creating exact replicas. It has even inspired Honda to create something that closely resembles Shotaro Kaneda’s iron horse.

Kaneda’s bike

These vehicles were at first animated, then became toys and now in some cases would become a reality. I may not be able to have my very own Batmobile but I’ve always thought cars and bikes bring adventure and can become a very real emotional attachment. I hope that even with the decline of fossil fuel burning vehicles, we could see a revival of memorable characters and and equally as memorable vehicular concepts.

Bertone, like Giugiaro has styled for many manufacturers. Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Citroën, Ferrari, FIAT, Iso, Lancia, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, Opel and Volvo, among others. The family business survived two world wars and carried on with the familiar style, right up until Nuccio Bertone passed in 1997. It was Marcello Gandini, working for Gruppo Bertone, who created the Stratos and presented the radical design to mortals in the 70’s, who could only try and keep up. Powered by the Ferrari Dino 2.4 L V6 engine that was also fitted to the rallying versions, but in a lower state of tune, it resulted in a power output of 190 hp, giving the road car a 0–100 kmh time of 6.8 seconds, and a top speed of 232 kmh (144 mph). The car was sold as the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale.



The Stratos HF was a rally weapon that dominated in its class in the 70’s. It’s worth mentioning now that Gandini also designed the Lamborghini Miura, Countach and Diablo. Three of my favourite vehicles of all time. Check him out on Wikipedia and you’ll probably pick out a few you love to.
The Zero was far too wild for production but it was used in Michael Jacksons Moonwalker and in later life, as a fascinating museum piece.



The Peugeot Oxia

My dad had a late 80’s Peugeot van and although the basic lump in it could probably run on French wine forever, it sounded like a WW2 tank.  
This Oxia was a bit of a golden carrot for car nuts the world over, coaxing them over to Peugeot expecting big things but aesthetics wise, the rest of Peugeot range in the 80s was far from spectacular.



The Oxia would probably see off a number of super cars in the same class today. The styling reminds me of a less brutal looking Saleen S7, or an even more elegant Isdera Commendatore. The exterior was made of carbon fibre, Kevlar, and epoxy-resin composite bonded to aluminium honeycomb and sheet panels, giving the car a lightweight and superb handling. Pushing along the mere 3000lbs is a mid-mounted biturbo 2.8-liter V6 engine with 670 hp and 535 lb-ft , six-speed manual gearbox, AWD, four-wheel steering.
The two-seater cabin was able to provide a continuous airflow even when the car’s engine was not running thanks to the energy stored in the 18 solar cells installed at the base of the windshield. Electrically-adjustable seats and a CD player were also interesting to find on a car from that era, as were the spectacular butterfly doors.

The dash reminds me of the perfectly laid out cockpit of the Nissan Fairlady. The digital green readouts compliment the 80’s grey primary colours and the simplistic, yet flowing lines are quite timeless. I personally think this is perhaps Peugeots best design. I wish we had seen more of them or have it battle it out with another supercar from the same era.

Dome Zero

Dome is worth a mention. (株式会社童夢 Kabushiki Kaisha Dōmu), literally “child’s dream”, is a Japanese-based racing car constructor, involved mainly in open wheel and sports car racing. Back in 1975 Minoru Hayashi started the Dome project and by 1978 The Dome Zero prototype was unveiled the public. The intention was to run a car at Le Man and also produce a small run of sports cars. The Dome Zero, much like the Stratos Zero, was designed with every intention of chopping pedestrians in half. The fascination with wedge shaped cars began well before the 80’s and continued into the 90’s. Space aged lines, full wrap around windscreen, pop up lights and loads of air intakes. It was by no means powerful with its 2.8L L28 SOHC straight-six engine from Nissan producing 143 hp, but it only had to propel a 920 kg (2,028 lb) chassis. With this engine, the Dome Zero offered a power-to-weight ratio that closely matched Porsches of the day.

Although the car inspired many and created a buzz internationally when it was shown, the Dome project was canned after a failed attempt at Le Mans. Dome created the Zero RL which was still pretty crazy looking but failed to finish at Le Mans in ’79 and a last place in 1980.

The inspirational design lived on through the first generation Transformer character Hot Rod and appeared in video games, including Gran Turismo. Since that time though Dome still continues today, competing in various aspects of motorsport. Check out some of their history here on their website.
http://dome-museum.com/category_car.html

Dodge M4S

I couldn’t really write an article about retro concept cars without mentioning the Dodge M4S, more famously known as the car from the movie The Wraith.
Dodge originally built the car as a technology showcase. The Americans are famously known for ignoring certain developing technologies and continuing to use massive engines outputting shameful figures. Although in the case of the M4S, the engine was actually only four cylinders but with an added boost of a twin turbo induction.
The mid-engine car had a tested and confirmed top speed of 194.8 miles per hour (313.5 kmh) and could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 kmh) in 4.1 seconds, with more than 440 horsepower.



The Wraith is a movie you’re going to have to go and watch, if you haven’t already. The M4S in all black is driven by a dead racer, who was killed in shady circumstances and then seeks revenge on the road.
If you’re a car fan the movie is full of interesting and rare machines but undoubtedly the M4S prototype is the rarest. 

The Dodge looked as though it was built for another time but that’s what concepts are for. Designers are here to push the boundaries and stretch out of conformity. Without them, some movies would not have been as iconic, or so memorable. Conceptual artists are still able to let their imaginations run wild and I hope that there is still some room for some road movies. Today we see concepts with more computers and technology than we could ever have imagined, intelligent cars that could propel us even faster. Lets hope that all of the control isn’t all taken away one day. Something about taming materials, constructing something powerful and then taming that, is something that feels right. If only for the Wraith soundtrack alone, grab some popcorn and turn it up!

Cars will literally drive themselves, leaving you to be able to eat and sleep whilst a computer does all the hard work, at a fraction of the cost! Don’t worry about having to wait for your car to charge either because robots will be doing your job for you, so you can chill out at home with your nearest and dearest. Even food will be a thing of the past, no more microwaving your machine excreted pies. Once meat has been deemed toxic or something, food powders, pastes and tablets will be delivered to your door via a drone which will conveniently scan your vital signs and never pass this kind of information onto global authorities. Plastic and other waste will be gone to and all the money you save on buying your groceries with no need for packaging like that, will mean you can go on holiday three times a year.

But until the high times of Star Trek like living there are a few teething problems. Like the cost of making the future happen. For the cost of one battery for a Tesla I could have purchased ten Audi 80’s and still have change to buy a pair Nike Mags. But I only needed one car and one that isn’t a silent Jaguar lookalike.

The Audi 80 was introduced in the 60’s as a compact executive car. Audi were fast growing in popularity, more so since their name change from Auto Union, an amalgamation of four automobile manufactures during the great depression in the 1930’s. Conveniently the world found enough money for yet another war and this gave an opportunity for Auto Union to have a go at armored cars and trucks. The U.S remodeled the landscape and turned over most of what was left to the Russians. The Germans, now pushed over into the East, started to rebuild and no one would know just how successful Audi would become.

I wasn’t drinking officer

The Audi 80 shared it platform with the Volkswagen Passat, a coupe, convertible and the Avant (Audi’s name for an estate car or station wagon). Again, the ever efficient Germans had a logical alphanumerical range of vehicles. The B1 Audi 80 had a face lift in the 70’s, the full range with two door, four and the Avant, they were built to last at the cost of fairly underwhelming performance. The B2 launched in the late 70’s and had the hand of god, or Giorgetto Giugiaro, design the body for the refreshed look. In the 80’s, Audi unveiled their turbocharged rally machine, the Audi Quattro, or Ur-Quattro, the “Ur” German for “primordial”, “original”, or “first of its kind” although some would dispute that back in the 1960’s, Jensen the British car manufacture had a system developed for their awesomely regal Interceptor.

Zero to the shops in 6 seconds

Finally the penultimate B series aptly named the “B3” appeared in ’86, it was finally not having to donor from the VW Passat, this was the all new body with an extensive range of specifications. More aerodynamic and a quattro 20V option was enough to make this a very popular car across Europe and further afield.

Mine in particular is a 1.8 litre 80 E in a rather fetching champagne colour.

Or is it gold?

If you’re thinking about starting a journey with a classic, I would highly recommend the Audi range from this era. They are built well, with parts still in abundance. The mechanical layout is straightforward and would only require a fairly standard set of tools to start pulling things apart. It’s a no frills experience with the Audi gadgets wise, but then again I needed a solid reliable car for my commute and this thing has just survived one of the harshest winters I’ve experienced, putting into perspective the sticker in the rear window which reads “Ten year anti corrosion guarantee”. I was surprised however by the quality of the sound system, the acoustics alone are pretty cool but the speakers sound like something decent from the late nineties. In the back parcel shelf is a small black box with two headphone jacks, I later discovered this is for the option for the front and rear occupants to listen to different soundtracks, in case your passengers listen to pop music.

Punch the four rings for horn

You’ll probably notice the wheels are very much not of the Audi range and you’d be correct. It’s currently sat on some Calibre alloys, similar to something from BBS although probably for around half the price. I recently performed an oil change on the car and didn’t expect it to be difficult and indeed it wasn’t, the only reason I needed a jack was because my oil collection tub was too tall to fit under the car. I could reach the sump bolt with ease and the oil filter is placed in the upright position, on the side of the engine, meaning that I could actually unscrew it and not cause death in the environment, unlike some engines where the filter is often positioned I presume, for a joke.

Four cylinders missing but it’ll do

I admit, mine does hold the road a little better than stock thanks to lowered springs and so far the engine gives out enough poke to keep up with modern traffic. In short this is a very usable and cheap classic and with a few upgrades it can bring life back into an old tank, I mean a saloon, like this.

The wet look

This is, however, the reason we produce some of the greatest racing drivers in the world, cars produced on this island of rural race tracks required pin sharp handling, just enough speed to keep things interesting, looks were optional.

An Austin Maestro and an oil rig. Two things near extinction.

I’ve recently purchased a 1989 Audi 80 for less than a pair of trainers from Kanye West with a colour scheme that would make a five year old puke. I’m a fan of German and Japanese cars as you can probably tell but this is mostly down to the fact I’m not much of a gambling man, so I avoid French and British cars. I’m not saying they’re all bad but whilst thousands of workers in the UK cried into their cups of tea when British car manufacturers started to close down, I didn’t lose much sleep over it.

There are however some cars that became legend in my eyes and I’m sure for many of you overseas NRW fans, you wouldn’t have seen many.

GTE “Get there evenfaster”

The last time I saw a Vauxhall Astra GTE was around six years ago. I was on my Kawasaki Ninja at the time and waiting to pull away from some lights. As I pulled away and onto a dual carriageway an AC Cobra (another British sports car) filtered in front of me. I could hear the low rumble of the V8 through my helmet and I accelerated to get a closer look. As I did so a rather tatty, brown/red Astra GTE came in on the slip road and in-between me and the Cobra. At first I raised an eyebrow, staggered that one had actually survived 90’s but on further inspection I realised this was no regular GTE. The guy driving was wearing a hi-viz vest and ear defenders, sat in what appeared to be a bucket seat…surrounded by a roll cage.

With the Ninja poised and ready, the Cobra approached the part of the road that split into two lanes, I was hoping he’d put on a show. The driver of the AC laid down the power but it was too late, the Astra’s front end lifted, a pop, a bang and he dropped into third, I think, and we watched the GTE leave us like the Starship Enterprise leaves orbit.

The weapon

If you ever saw Police Camera Action here in the UK during the 90’s you’d always watch intently if the narrator mentioned a high speed chase with a GTE. Wildly underdeveloped handling, front wheel drive with around 150BHP made police chases with this thing more exciting than The Fast and Furious if everyone was on PCP. You were never in front of a GTE which is why myself and friends named it “The fastest car in the world”.

If you had the money and wanted Mustang speed, the Ford Sierra Cosworth was the one to get. In the 90’s my home town here in England was host to an unofficial Sunday night cruise, where young men and women came to show off their motors with widened body kits and ear bleeding sound systems in what is now probably considered the golden era of car modification.

Note the picnic table on the back

Much to the dismay of local authorities, proud owners of modified cars would lay down rubber in various car parks on the outskirts of the town, blasting bass heavy electronic music, whilst crowds gathered resulting in near misses and discarded fast food packaging.

Just like when a fight breaks out at school and a ring of onlookers gather to see who loses the first shoe, if you saw a large ring of people in a car park it may be surrounding the infamous Sierra RS Cosworth.

With its bad boy looks, ironing board size wing on the back and obnoxious exhaust as standard, this thing would eat more donuts than a New York cop. Although a fairly large car by UK standards the Cosworth was rebuilt and tuned to compete globally and finished off competition in Europe, Australia’s Bathurst and Japan’s raceways.

In rally the old girl was not quite as agile as the rest of the pack, up against the mighty Lancia and Toyota’s finest in the group A class but spectators fell for the brutish style it would blast around a track, spitting flame and shards of exhaust matter into the air.

The Ford production line probably made more cups of coffee in a day than TVR made cars in the 1980s but the TVR Tasmin for me beat them all in looks. I’m a fan of most wedge shaped cars of the era but TVR decided to provide drivers with a choice of wedges, complete with either V6’s or V8’s. Speaking of Ford, TVR actually poached many parts for the Tasmin from some of the most common Fords on the UK market and for some reason, like early limb transplants, TVRs did reject things in its body from time to time. I’ve looked at servicing costs and intervals, TVR owners would suggest you DON’T miss them and as you can expect from a company that’s been up and down like an ageing 80s A-lister, it’s not going to be cheap.

But just look at it!

The one thing I’ve heard from anyone who owns a TVR at various meets, is that if you have a million pennies to spend on a car, the TVR will reward you in many ways. You’re going to enjoy driving every minute it’s actually running, purely for the sound it makes. But i’m not here to review the running costs of a TVR, if you’re enthusiastic about this stuff, you WILL keep it going and survive on noodles for the month.

I could fill this article up with the most popular retro cars in the UK and this would most likely be a long list of Fords, but this wouldn’t be a run down of some of the British greats without mentioning a Bond car. I’m firmly in the Aston camp when it comes to choosing which car was the best. If i had the funds, it would the be the V8 Vantage.

Over 6 litres of carburettor fed V8, around 450BHP giving it enough welly to take it up to 170mph. Aston Martin weren’t kidding around but when you are tasked with building a car to outrun tanks in the snow, who else would you turn to?

I remember seeing a guy refuelling one of these at a petrol station, when i arrived he had been filling up before me. As i started refueling my motor, he closed that cap and walked around the other side to fill another tank! A car best remembered for cutting a Lada in half with a lazer beam, destroying a police roadblock with missiles, spiked tyres and skis…it even transformed into a shed at one point! (See the film)

Here are a couple more motors worth the mention;

The Rover SD1. A British muscle car with as much class as a kebab but for some reason I love it’s presence on the road and the distinct sound of the beautiful Rover V8. The choice of vehicles for both cops and robbers of the 80’s. Gorgeously quirky, an acquired taste.

The Jensen Interceptor had a huge Chrysler V8. I know this because a man in his 50’s used to thunder past me everyday whilst i waited for a bus for school back in the day. I never knew until sometime later what it actually was. You only had to describe the looks to a car nut and they would know instantly the long bonnet to sleek body and then finished off with a huge pane of glass at the rear, it had to be the Interceptor. Developed as a GT car, if you fed it enough fossil fuel, it would happily get you from England to Monaco and back again in one big powerful wafting motion.

Well there you have some of my favourite British retro motors but what are yours?

Comment below and happy driving retro fans!

The closet I’ve got to owning a movie car was driving the Jeep Cherokee XJ. Made famous by the Fratelli family in the 80’s hit The Goonies. Mama Fratelli is not only the getaway driver but a straight up badass too. She casually nibbles on a cracker whilst her son fires shots at the local police force, after having just broken out of jail.

Chunk eventually stumbles on the Jeep later in the movie and notices the bullet holes in the back from the chase. My dad owned one of these wagons and I had a blast around town a few times, enjoying bucket loads of torque and the rumble of the lazy V8. There’s something about the large armchair like seats, the big controls and the abundance of space. When you drive a big Jeep in the UK it feels bigger than it is because our towns and villages are much smaller than the grand United States. You feel powerful, you feel safe.

One thing is clear about these vehicles, they are up for an adventure. Big enough to throw your BMX in the back, your dog or a couple of henchmen perhaps.

This month’s entry is something a little different, the team at NRW had a suggestion made by a diehard fan who stated that some of his favourite cars had already had a mention but what about the coolest retro off roaders?!

Specifically he asked for a mention of the all American Jeep Wrangler YJ body. But whether it is a YJ or a CJ model, you’ll recognise the body style from the many hundreds of appearances in Hollywood movies, even TV series.

”The Wrangler is arguably an indirect progression from the World War II Willys MB through the Willys civilian Jeeps (Jeep CJ) of the mid-1940s through 1980s that were produced by Kaiser-Jeep and by American Motors Corporation (AMC). Neither AMC nor Chrysler (after it purchased AMC in 1987) have claimed that the Wrangler was a direct descendant of the original military model.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger drove a Jeep Wrangler in the opening scenes of Raw Deal in which he chases down a phoney motorcycle cop through the country, eventually stopping said motorcycle by igniting a fuel soaked portion of road with a cigar, briefly setting him on fire before making his arrest.

You may remember the famous Jeep launch from the intro to the A-team, or more famously the Jeep that Marty McFly hooked onto whilst skateboarding in Back to the Future.

Without doubt one of the baddest 4×4’s was Marty’s truck. The Toyota SR5 specifically, commonly known as the Hilux, has become a legend, but not just because it was waxed up by Biff and driven by our favourite time bandit. The trusty pickup is a global phenomenon, not always for the most favourable reasons, as it is a common sight in the hands of terrorists gangs and lawless rebels. Marty’s truck in particular was allegedly stolen from the US of A and wound up being driven by a Mexican drug gang. But before Spielberg caught inspiration and made BTTF 4, sending Doc and Mr McFly to their untimely deaths fighting drug lords, enthusiasts painstakingly (and thankfully!) restored the truck to its former glory.

Speaking of cool black 4×4’s, some of you may remember as far back as the 1980’s Michael Douglas hit, Romancing the stone. Effectively an action film in which Mr Douglas drags his female co-star through perilous jungle settings avoiding torture and execution, whilst simultaneously keeping her shirt wet and at one point taking a life threatening ride in a modified Ford Bronco.

Funnily enough Michael and crew were being shot at by soldiers driving Jeep Wranglers, who end up crashing into a ravine after a pretty death defying stunt. As a kid I guess there was something infinitely cool about a black V8 truck getting down and dirty in an escape from militant rebels.

There is perhaps nothing more American than a two tone monster truck with an eagle painted on the bonnet, just like the one relentlessly destroyed in The Fall Guy. This GMC truck would put KITT to shame and didn’t even need a turbo boost button to do it, just a baseball cap, a ton of testosterone, and a lead foot. Personified in Colt Seavers.

Colt’s truck was a GMC K-2500 Wideside with all the chrome a man needs. Sadly, even with the magical editing studios of Hollywood, it was quite obvious the same truck wasn’t used for some of the ridiculous jumps seen in the show…still, seeing it actually perform the stunts for real was pretty rad.

Lee Majors, perhaps more famously known for his role as the Six Million Dollar man, went on to marry Farrah Fawcett. He is a certified American legend and no doubt has a the Star Spangled Banner as his doorbell.

In the states I imagine some would argue they loved their trucks more than their cars, and looking back through their automotive history it’s easy to see why that would be a strong debate.

Retro 4×4’s of bullbars and chrome certainly appeal to me but I couldn’t justify single figure MPG and wheels from a tractor.

If you really are a car or truck nerd, check out the automotive equivalent of IMDB…quite aptly called IMCDB.

The Nissan Leaf for example depreciates faster than a Bosendorfer Piano in the hands of blind removal men. My friend gleefully explained that his twelve thousand pound, second hand leaf didn’t cost him a penny to get to the Cotswolds from his apartment in the toxic hell that is London. Driving a Nissan leaf in London to combat pollution is like spitting in a volcano to extinguish it.

Today for a fraction of the price of the Nissan’s rolling tablet, you could drive an older car, maintain it yourself, care about your driving ability and stop yourself entering a life of celibacy. You could buy a Porsche 944.

Porsche engineers took an axe to the gorgeous five litre V8 from the 928, chopped it in half, and added counter-rotating balance shafts for the vibration. It drove better than a 924, stopped well and looked even better. The 944 is my current retro motor and in all honesty I really have fallen for the old girl. Brought to life by the Dutch automobile designer Harm Lagaay (responsible for the 924, 968, and 933, to name a few) he took the 924 and gave it brutal good looks. Handsome yet sexy, stylish but not excessive. What you have here is a real drivers’ car, at home on your local roads but capable of having fun on the track. Modified, the Porsche 944 can be an incredible machine, proving itself internationally in both amateur and professional racing.

There was the standard 944, the turbo, then came the S and finally the S2. Each time, Porsche made improvements, more power, both stopping and pulling, and adding to that power steering and ABS. The final revision S2 was capable of 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 150mph. With handling to match the performance figures, it goes down as one of the most memorable porkers of all time.

My car is a 1984 2.5 LUX, a non power steering, non turbo, square dash model in solid black. When you walk around you’ll first note it’s pretty perfect proportions, gorgeously elegant hips at the rear, the now iconic front end with pop up’s and the period alloys from Porsche sit the car nicely on the ground. As you step closer the soft yet noticeable aroma of fuel & oil mix and for any car fan, it’s enough to make you want to get in and drive for hours.

The body was made at Audi in Neckarsulm, and the engine was manufactured at the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen. Inside the basic model has everything a driver needs, I recognised some of the controls on the test drive from the VW Scirocco and that isn’t a bad thing. Functional, hardwearing and thankfully they don’t look out of place in the Porsche interior.

Porsche is a part of German history we can appreciate, cars so good in fact, that we can forgive them for their earliest ventures and humbly acknowledge that although we (The British) never like to give up, we can’t build and maintain a motor company for shit. We do however, produce some of the world’s best racing drivers and this can be attributed to the fact we enjoy making roads through our country that look like Korean missile launches. Blind, twisty country roads full of tractors, wildlife and fallen foliage. By the time you’re old enough to drive you’ll have been a passenger long enough to hone your reaction times and understand racing lines.

The 944, thanks to its gearing and near perfect weight distribution (50.7% front/49.3% rear), means that it is at home on both the highways and the byways. There’s good visibility too, with the long sloping rear window and a decent seating position for the windscreen, she’s a joy to drive confidently. I especially like the huge sunroof which is powered to tilt up, this gives you an awesome soundtrack without having to endure the wind rush. Whether it’s solely because the car is as old as me, or the rumours are true, the aerodynamics of the rear end of the 944 appear to bring exhaust gases rolling back towards you, even at speed. I’m hoping it is only an airflow issue and not a leak but legend has it the rear lower diffusers on the 944 were in fact an attempt by Porsche to rectify the issue.

That being said, the mix of octane and your personal choice of fragrance only serves to combine into the classic musk of a race driver and if it was good enough for James Hunt…

I often talk about these cars as if they are one of life’s best kept secrets, like mixing cereals or walking out without paying; but in reality it can be a hardship. A labour of love which has brought me to this point now. I wouldn’t recommend a Porsche 944 for your first classic car, or if you are of a nervous disposition, especially one over thirty years on from conception. Every time you turn that key in the morning and stare at the gauges, it is akin to watching the reels of a gambling machine spin uncontrollably for a few seconds before choosing your fate. Is it going to be triple sevens? Or a couple of cherries? A new oil leak or a fire? Ok fires are pretty rare but you have to bear in mind that the future of cars looks to be riding atop of explosive lithium cells and we’re also going to have enough wind farms to blow the UK closer to Europe. Things could be worse.

When a recent diagnostics was run on my 944 and then test driven, the owner of the garage described my Porsche as “Charming”. Like an ex celebrity from the TV show gladiators, her prime might have been many moons ago but everyone has to respect the impact she made at the time and lasting impression on people who watched and admired.

And that’s it, my personal retro car journey thus far, from my first love to my new lust. Next month I’ll be writing about either something from my wish list, or it could be a surprise!

The 80’s ended long ago, leaving in its wake some of the greatest cars of all time, the best cartoons and TV series, the last genres of music to ever be created along with some rad clothing. Today all we see is rehashing of the music, the films, the clothes and the cars but we’ll never truly get it back. The 90’s bathed in the majesty of the glory days, polishing some of the designs and remixing the music but everyone needed a lot of drugs to get over it. Driving an 80’s classic car does however, bring you a little closer to the magic.

Having completely fallen in love with the design of the Fairlady Z, I wanted to explore more into why this series had become legendary. Nissan kicked off the 1980’s with marketing slogans as cheesy as film tag lines and the Nissan 300zx Z31. With that iconic Z style long bonnet, housing a new V6 turbo charged block, gorgeously angular lines and of course, pop up lights. The Nissan/Datsun Z series had brought many a driver thousands of smiles per hour in the past, a useable, heavily modifiable car, the home grown Japanese tuners love them. Search for “Modified Nissan Z31” and you’ll see anything from murdered out stealth wagons to a Z that resembles a spaceship.

The famed 280zx which came before, had been immortalised as “Streak” from the cartoon series Transformers, confirming its place in the automotive hall of fame. It was time to showcase what Nissan were really capable of.

At the top of the tree would have to be the Shiro special, at the time this was the fastest car out of Japan, clocked at a genuine 153mph by Motor Trend with the limiter off. There was no digital dash as with other high end models but it certainly had more grunt. The three stage moon glow pearl paint and graphite trim is a sight to behold. For you avid retro gamers out there, you’ll recognise the rear end from some of the Chase HQ style titles and later on, it was featured in some Playstation era releases like Gran Turismo. My car in particular was the three litre turbo manual, in a gorgeous metallic blue with matching interior.

I felt at home once again in the soft velour interior, the mixed blue tones complimented the orange glow of the analogue style dash. Night driving was always a pleasure in a Z, looking over at the warm glowing gauges and down to the pop up lights. It was love at first sight and reminiscent of those eccentric, exotic designs caricatured in the Manga films I used to watch as a kid. Nissan had been perfecting the DNA of the Z for some time and what they had achieved here was something exceptional.

You felt sure footed with the five transmission, although sat in the traditional lower position, rather than the slightly raised drivers position in the later Z32, it was perfect for the rest of the cockpit and felt on point. The V6 was as smooth as silk, even coupled with the single Garrett turbo, it was difficult not to open it up and enjoy the pull and the gentle hiss from the front end. But you don’t have to be fast with looks like these, the 300zx has always been a head turner and with its targa roof and long sloping front end, it was difficult not to look twice.

Top of the range and anniversary models had more tricks up its sleeve than Uri Geller. The suspension was adjustable three ways, there was cruise control, air con, fully electric seats, digital dash, voice warnings, G-force, compass readouts and more.

The car overall is heavy but that only serves to give a much smoother ride than some lighter sports GT’s of the time. I think what you have to admire about Nissan is their boldness with the Z series, unlike Porsche who just make their cars wider and quicker. Nissan have expressed a confidence unmatched by many manufacturers with the Fairlady. The Z31 to Z owners of the past probably wouldn’t be blown away by the performance until the the awesome Z32 from ‘89 but attend a classic car show and you’ll probably have the only Z31, it really feels as though it’s in a class of it’s own.

Who would have thought that the movie Turbo Kid would be the most accurate representation of our future world, where by people will have to cycle everywhere in search of supplies. It all makes sense now, once they’ve cut off the supply of fossil fuels and we transition to the silent electric transport of the future, they have control of the juice on a switch. Game over guys, you better go buy the best BMX you can find, you’re gonna need it.

Again I had been seduced by speed. The BMW 520i was a solid car, reliable, cheap to run but i’m late for everything and so, i needed a faster car.

As my passion for anything with wheels from the 80’s grew, I found myself expanding my knowledge of parts and maintenance and decided to take on something a little more exotic.

I looked to some of my childhood memories for inspiration. I recalled how much I adored the Chase HQ series of video games, my first experience of this genre however was Battle Out Run on the SEGA Master System. Simply put, in this title, you drive the renowned Ferrari Testarossa at high speed across the states and literally ram criminals cars until they give up or die. Strangely Mr.T made an appearance in a what looked like a Porsche 911.

This genre became very popular as you can imagine. The lineup of cars were always the coolest picks from the era and for me, the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo from the Chase HQ series was one of the coolest cars of all time.

The 300zx had proven itself in Japan, actually Z cars had proven themselves time and time again. Initially taking inspiration from the US, they created a sleek series of sports cars reminiscent of some of America’s greats. The Datsun/Nissan designs had huge front ends which was an American tradition, presumably a handy design intent for throwing all sorts of engines in and still having room for things you might have forgotten in the first place.

With the arrival of the Fairlady 300ZX (Z32), Nissan utilised the Cray-II supercomputer and with it, they designed a car that actually housed engine and running gear with only inches to spare. Proportionality near perfect design and aerodynamics that would make a mustang look like a Volvo, Nissan had produced a world beater. My particular Z was the naturally aspirated form and the only thing that remained unchanged from the previous generation 300ZX is the 3.0-liter V6 engine, now with dual overhead camshafts (DOHC), variable valve timing (VVT) and producing a rated 222 hp and 198 lb·ft of torque. This was more than enough for me because with any less MPG I’d be choosing between food or fuel.

The twin turbo model was good for 300 hp along with 283 lb·ft of torque. 0-60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds and it had a governed top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h).

Driving the Z today you can never quite get over just how well it sits on the road, in a word, planted. With a wide wheelbase, low centre of gravity with a silky smooth engine and box, it’s a bit of a time machine. Controls inside are all centred around the driver, everything you need at your fingertips, a bit like an arcade machine. Super car like dials, electric bucket seats and aesthetically pleasing controls finish off the low and well balanced interior.

The Fairlady has a great presence on the road and it should seeing as though it was virtually used to chase criminals. Ironically my Z was used in a scene for the upcoming feature of Retro Grade Future which I can, hand on heart, say will be on par with a one off Baywatch/Knight Rider crossover where Pamela Anderson and the David Hasslehoff hunt sharks off the coast of California using KITT’s laser beam.

To quote from Wikipedia; “Nissan aired a commercial during Super Bowl XXIV in 1990 advertising the new Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. The 60-second commercial was directed by Ridley Scott and only aired once. Executives at Nissan pulled the commercial after the initial airing when they became concerned the commercial would promote street racing since the commercial features the 300ZX being faster than a sport bike, a formula one car and a fighter jet”

I’m sure Americans wouldn’t believe the Fairlady was capable of mach one…would they? If you wanted a commercial with a little more realism, perhaps one of the greatest Sci-Fi directors of our time wasn’t exactly the ideal option. Mind you I’ve seen older commercials of American cars cornering at high speed, so they are no strangers to fiction.

One day I would love to experience the twin turbo version of the Z and it’s four wheel steering, I’ve been told that battling on the highways of Japan, the 300zx was something you didn’t want to see in your rearview mirror. At high speed, the 300zx can change lanes like a Tron bike, making over takes on the narrow sections of Tokyo’s finest, a walk in the park. Having said that, once it’s past you it’s a good job the back end looks so good because you’ll probably spend a lot of time looking at it.

I personally believe the Nissan Fairlady 300zx Z32 is without doubt one of the best looking cars ever built. Long before a tuner trend kicked off when Paul Walker ruined a Toyota Supra and beat a car from the 70’s, I was firing a Bazooka out of the targa top roof of the 300zx, saving damsels in distress.

It was certainly a pleasure to own and drive one of Japan’s finest road warriors, my curiosity deepened about the Z’s legacy, which will continue in next month’s instalment here at NRW.