CAR ADVICE

The celebrity chef is ready to serve up his classic Ford Capri after spending big bucks on the two-door sports car. A classic Ford Capri sports car belonging to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is due to go under the hammer later this month in the UK. Listed on ClassicCarAuctions.co.uk , the 1970 Ford Capri 3000 GT Mark I is believed to be one of only 31 remaining on UK (United Kingdom) roads. It is said to have been in Oliver’s hands for more than a decade, in which time he has reportedly spent more than £20,000 ($AU39,000) restoring it to its current condition. The car appeared on screen during the Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast TV show on multiple occasions and is one of three vehicles the chef is sending to auction – the others being a 1955 Fiat 1100 and a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle 1500 Convertible. The Ford Capri 3000 GT – the number referring to the model’s 103kW 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine – was a performance model with the largest, most powerful engine in the line-up

The tough off-roader gets even tougher with a body kit and custom wheels from the famed Japanese tuning house. The 2025 Toyota LandCruiser Prado is due in Australia by the end of 2024, but has already been beefed up by famed Japanese car customiser Wald International. The latest release from Wald International – the Osaka, Japan-based makers of custom body kits and aftermarket wheels – is a wildly modified Prado, known as the Toyota LandCruiser 250 Series in Japan and the United States. What appears to be a computer-generated image of the front of the package has been posted on the company’s Instagram profile, revealing a comprehensive set of changes for the Toyota SUV. While the factory version brings bold, confident styling, Wald has taken the Prado to another level with almost every panel given some sort of upgrade. View this post on Instagram A post shared by WALD_international (@official_waldintl) That sees custom li

Workhorse utes and electric vehicle technology are currently at odds with one another, according to a senior Mitsubishi executive. 2024 Mitsubishi Triton Mitsubishi Australia believes electric vehicle (EV) technology has not matured to the point of utilising it on a workhorse ute like its Triton , despite models like the BYD Shark and Ford Ranger soon to offer hybrid power. Speaking to Drive , Mitsubishi Australia boss Shaun Westcott said the shortcomings of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) contradict the use case for utes that include hauling, towing, and off-roading. “Our core product is ‘what Australia needs to keep the wheels turning’ and that is pick-up, utes,” he said. “A significant share of our business, a significant portion of our sales, is into small business and into business. “And the reality is that the [electrification] technology is not quite there yet [for these business applications]. “We’ll get there in t

Isuzu is set to join the hero off-road ute market with a D-Max tuned by former high-performance Holden specialists Walkinshaw. Here’s what we know so far. After years of sitting on the sidelines, Isuzu is preparing to join the Australian-engineered off-road ute market with what is provisionally known as the 2025 Isuzu D-Max Blade . The Japanese car maker has previously dipped its toe in the water with various special editions – including the current D-Max X-Terrain flagship – but Isuzu is preparing to dive in with Walkinshaw , the engineering firm formerly behind Holden Special Vehicles . Isuzu will be the latest car maker to recruit the Victorian-based outfit, which has lent its expertise to the Volkswagen Amarok W580 series and Mitsubishi Triton Xtreme , as well as the HSV Colorado SportsCat prior to Holden’s demise in 2020. Arrival timing for the Walkinshaw-tuned D-Max is yet to be announced, but Australian government documents filed in recent months have laid bare

The heritage-listed Walter Taylor Bridge – connecting Indooroopilly to Chelmer across the Brisbane River – has been closed for essential maintenance work until 30 September 2024. A bridge in Brisbane connecting the suburbs of Indooroopilly and Chelmer in the city’s inner south-west has been closed until Monday 30 September 2024 for essential maintenance work. The heritage-listed Walter Taylor Bridge was closed to all traffic from 9:00pm on Friday 13 September 2024 for the works, which are required approximately every 10 years and include a full removal and replacement of the road asphalt, line-marking, bridge deck concrete repairs, and steel node maintenance. It is the longest time the bridge has been closed since a 17-day maintenance period in 1993, with a closure in 2013 for two days a time and night works spanning five months, and a four-night closure in May 2024. Constructed in 1936, the Walter Taylor Bridge is a critical link across the Brisbane River for more than 35,0

GWM is considering bringing the 2025 Ora Sport to Australia and asked Drive what we think. Here’s our honest take… It’s not uncommon for a manufacturer to ship a pre-production or left-hand drive variant of a new vehicle to Australia for what the industry calls ‘evaluation purposes’. Exactly how far into the process of the vehicle actually going on sale is, at that point in the process, is often difficult to determine. However, it’s also a chance for Australian media to take a closer look at what you might be driving in 12 to 18 months time, ahead of it going on sale. RELATED: GWM Ora Sport quick drive review Over the years, plenty of pre-production models have never made it to our market, but some have gone on to be in our most popular segments. One of your most common questions is, ‘should I buy car X now or wait for car Y to arrive?’. An early assessment can help us better answer that question. We had a look at the left-hand drive versions of the GWM Tank 500 PHEV and

It’s some time away from Australia, but the reborn Renault 5 electric car has gone on sale in Europe. How would the Drive team order one? Customisation is in vogue at the moment, but too much choice can be confusing. In our configurator challenge,  Drive  team members scroll through a manufacturer’s website to create their ideal combination for a certain model. This week, it’s the reborn Renault 5 electric car in the limelight, about 12 months ahead of the soonest it could arrive in Australian showrooms. We’re allowing our participants to choose between the standard Renault 5, and its Alpine A290 high-performance sibling. Would you buy a Renault 5 or Alpine A290, and how would you specify it? Tell us in the comments below (build your Renault here, and Alpine here), and what you’d like us to configure next. James Ward, Director of Content If you’re going to get about town in an electric French hatch, you might as well enjoy it, so I’ve opted for the Alpine A290

California-based electric car maker Lucid will start producing a rival to the Tesla Model Y in late 2026 with a $US50,000 starting price. Lucid Motors has teased a new electric midsize SUV ahead of its launch in the United States in late 2026. The California-based electric car maker – which currently sells the Tesla Model S -rivalling Air sedan and Tesla Model X -rivalling Gravity SUV – said the new midsize SUV, a competitor to the popular Tesla Model Y , will use a newly-developed platform intended for smaller vehicles. Lucid says the starting price of its new car will be targeted at under $US50,000 ($AU75,000), with the Model Y currently priced from $US44,990 ($AU67,000) in the United States. “The new crossover will use the efficiency and cost advantages enabled by Lucid technology to deliver the same range as competitors while using a smaller battery,” said Lucid in a media release. The first Lucid vehicle – the Air sedan – rolled off its assembly line in Arizona

Jeep boss says he’s not afraid to postpone its first global battery-electric SUV if it fails to meet higher build quality standards. The boss of Jeep says the car maker will delay introducing its first electric SUV to US showrooms – ahead of a planned 2026 Australian launch – if it fails to meet newly introduced higher quality standards. The 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S is the brand’s first global SUV – and will be the first electric Jeep sold in North America – with production planned before the end of 2024 before hitting US (United States) showrooms around April 2025. Speaking to Automotive News, Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa – who became CEO of the car maker in November 2023 – said the importance of the brand’s first electric model in the US means he’s happy to push back launch timing if there are any doubts surrounding quality. “I want perfect quality, and I know that we are close, but close is not good enough,” the Jeep boss said. “No launch if the quality isn’t perfect,” he add