Cliff Chambers

Australia

Contributor at Motoring (Australia)

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Articles

A trio of twelves - Jaguar Trio

2 days ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

It is hard to know what inspired Jaguar engineering chief Claude Baily to start work on a 12-cylinder engine, but the sound of Ferraris howling through the darkness at Le Mans maybe played a role. Development of a V12-powered Jaguar reportedly began shortly after the C-Type’s 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour victory and with the brand’s greatest achievements still to be recorded by D-Types with straight-six power units.
Status symbols of the 1960s

3 days ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

Reaching the heights of social status during the 1960s meant living in an exclusive suburb, joining the right clubs, owning a boat with permanent mooring and driving a car that instantly defined your success. Cars that made a statement were rarely cheap and never nondescript. British celebrities might have got away with customised Minis, but that would never work here.
Volkswagen Beetle 1954-76 - Market Watch

5 days ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

More than 15 million ‘Beetles’ were built during a life-span of 60 years. Nearly half of those arrived before 1967 when the car’s only significant restyle occurred. With the notable exception of early Minis, cars that challenged the Beetle during the 1960s have failed to survive it. Even once prolific Japanese models like the early Corolla, Mazda 800 and Datsun 1000 that cut deeply into Australian VW sales are effectively extinct, yet early Volkswagens remain easy to find.
Summertime Blues - Market Watch

1 week ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

First up (or under) was North Queensland, then a fortnight later the destruction moved to the South Eastern corner and parts of Northern NSW. Again. People with cars needing protection from cyclonic winds were given plenty of notice, but moving something that is in bits or under restoration isn’t always possible. And where would it be truly safe anyway?
Every decade has its special design classic

1 week ago | nationalcollisionrepairer.com.au | Cliff Chambers

IT TOOK the automotive industry half a century to make significant advances in design, but once models like the Volkswagen Beetle, BMC Mini and Citroen DS appeared, the quest for change was on in earnest. From the 1950s until the 1990s, we saw new models that trampled over established boundaries, finding them in all genres of the automotive world. Sedans, performance cars, economy cars and off-road models all delivered improvements to engineering, style and efficiency.
Where did all the 1980s fun cars go? - Market Watch

1 month ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

Australian roads in the 1980s were devilishly interesting places. Yes, there were speed limits and rudimentary speed cameras, but if you turned off the highway on to a backroad heading to a picturesque beach there were ample opportunities for enjoyment. The roads were still fun and the cars interesting as well, even if they no longer had the rumbling V8s that once enchanted many Australians.
Porsche 924-944-968 1976-1995

1 month ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

Bob Dylan’s depressingly accurate lyric ‘He not busy being born is busy dying’ could well apply to the battle within Porsche to replace its 911 with something more modern and less confronting. By 1976 Porsche was so desperate to wave its rear-engined mainstay goodbye that it rushed into production two models it hoped would accomplish the task. The front-engined 924 appeared first, followed a year later by the V8-powered 928.
Buying a used Mazda CX-5 KF Series (2017-21)

1 month ago | carsales.com.au | Cliff Chambers

Being a benchmark is tough work, but since its arrival in 2012 the Mazda CX-5 has set an ultra-high standard in the competitive medium SUV marketMazda’s history as a supplier of roomy and practical family all-wheel drives dates back to the 1990s and its cooperative effort with Ford that brought us the shared-design Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute.
Family fare from another era

1 month ago | nationalcollisionrepairer.com.au | Cliff Chambers

NEXT TIME you trawl the Internet for nothing in particular, find a photo of 1950s Sydney or Melbourne traffic. Motoring expert Cliff Chambers shares his insight into some fifties classics, at a time when many Australians were contemplating their first car for the family.
Lost Icons - Market Watch

Mar 2, 2025 | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Cliff Chambers

If Australians would broaden their view of automotive desirability and start buying iconic cars again, our display days and club runs would again be populated by some truly fabulous motor vehicles. Look back 60 to 70 years to a time when D-Type Jaguars, Maseratis and Ferraris raced competitively and Ron Thorp’s fearsome Cobra was setting hill climb records instead of sitting in a shed surrounded by other rarely seen gems.