Trade Unique Cars

Australia's leading hub for muscle cars, classic vehicles, collectibles, and high-performance automobiles.

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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

2 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

4 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.
Pontiac GTO 1964-72 - Market Watch

1 week ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Alex Catalano

Pontiac’s Tempest was launched in 1961 as affordable transport for Middle America. Few were sold and those that did were ignored by the market’s surging numbers of younger buyers. Then, along came GM executive John De Lorean who, in conjunction with ad-man Jim Wangers, concocted a performance package that would reposition the Tempest in a way that captured those younger guns, their parents and uncles as well. First on the Must Have list was a name.
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?
Induction ceremony - 1974 BMW 2002 Turbo

1 week ago | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Iain Curry

The striking bright decals hit you first. Those famous BMW Motorsport colours unashamedly sweep along this little 2002 Turbo’s flanks, as do the ’70s heaven of reverse script with fluoro red, blue and violet bands coating a glass-fibre front spoiler. Over a Chamonix white body, this is excess and fun from the dawning of turbocharged road cars. Half a century ago, these BMW 2002 Turbos were the right car at the wrong time.
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.
Go Westy - 1965 Volkswagen Westfalia Kombi

Mar 4, 2025 | tradeuniquecars.com.au | Iain Curry

Has a socially significant cult car ever had such a dull name? Volkswagen dubbed it the Type 2, but history’s added far more colour to the model we Aussies affectionately call the Kombi. Since its 1950 launch, the air-cooled rear-engine Transporter has been nicknamed the Splitty, Hippie Bus, Ganja Bus, Campervan and Shaggin’ Wagon, although the latter’s seemingly applied to any vehicle that fits a mattress. These Kombi Fun Buses are as woven into Australian beach culture as surfboards and suntans.
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.