Nostalgear

21/07/2026

Franco Sbarro looked at a Ferrari 308 and decided it needed to be shorter, stranger and shaped like an angry shoebox.

So he built this one.

Ferrari 2.9-litre V8. Five-speed manual. Rear-wheel drive. Just 3.15 metres long.

It even had Opel Ascona taillights, because apparently the Ferrari parts weren’t strange enough.

Only one was made: Sbarro Super Eight.

So, Ferrari 308 or Super Eight?

One key. Choose wisely.

Photos:

20/07/2026

Audi arrived with four-wheel drive, enormous resources and the smug certainty that physics had already chosen the winner.

Lancia brought rear-wheel drive, a supercharger and several Italians who clearly hadn’t read the memo.

In 1983, the 037 beat Audi to the Manufacturers’ Championship, becoming the last rear-wheel-drive car to win a WRC title.

Lighter. Prettier. Completely unhinged.

Car by

037 or Quattro. Choose wisely.

18/07/2026

510 hp. A naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8. And the silhouette of an airport shuttle.

This is what happened when AMG engineers were left completely unsupervised.

Unnecessary. Absurd. Magnificent. We miss this Mercedes.

Mercedes R-Klasse AMG

Would you daily it or are you a coward?

17/07/2026

YOU GET ONE PHONE CALL.
WHICH CAR ARE YOU BUYING?
NAME IT BELOW.

12/07/2026

A very Australian answer to a question nobody else was brave enough to ask:

what if your everyday car could also carry half your life in the back?

3.6 litre V6.
285 hp.
Launch colour.
A hidden compartment for the tonneau cover.
A tailgate handle that goes back to the 1950s.
And tray divider slots apparently sized around an Australian beer crate.

Because of course they were.

Part car.
Part ute.
Part national identity crisis in bright green.

One of the last truly Australian Holdens, and honestly, one of the coolest things we have seen in a while.

Holden Ute SV6.

CarCulture Nostalgear

10/07/2026

Anything but your grandma’s Clio.

3.0 litre V6.
255 hp.
Rear wheel drive, with the engine right behind the seats.
It became one of the wildest hot hatches ever made.

That huge rear end hiding a V6 where your shopping should be.

The Phase 2 was an evolution of the Phase 1, now sharper, faster and more refined than the original.
Only 1,309 Phase 2 cars were produced.

What a car.

Renault Clio V6 Phase 2.

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07/07/2026

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition: an undercover rally car.

Built to celebrate Tommi Mäkinen’s fourth consecutive WRC drivers’ title, this was Mitsubishi at the peak of its rally era.

2.0 litre turbocharged 4G63.
All wheel drive.
Active Yaw Control.
Ralliart details everywhere.

On paper, 280 PS.
On the road, well let’s just say that 280 was still part of the gentlemen’s agreement between the automakers.

The Evo VI TME was about aggression, grip, turbo noise and the kind of confidence that made bigger, cleaner, more expensive cars look a little soft, a little weak.

Basically a rally car you could go grocery shopping with.

Would you take this over a Subaru Impreza 22B?

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06/07/2026

Acura NSX.

Or Honda NSX, depending on which side of the world raised you properly.

This was Japan looking at the supercar rulebook and calmly deciding it could be improved.

Mid engine.
VTEC V6.
Manual gearbox.
Aluminium chassis.
Everyday visibility.
Actual reliability.

A strange idea in a world where supercars were supposed to be dramatic, difficult and slightly terrifying.

Then Ayrton Senna got involved, and the whole thing became sharper.

That is why the NSX still feels so special.

It came from a company known for making sensible cars, and somehow became one of the smartest supercars ever built.

No need to shout.
No need to scare you at walking speed.

Just balance, precision and the quiet confidence of a car that knows exactly what it is doing.

So, where does it sit for you?

NSX, Ferrari 348, Porsche 964 Turbo or Lotus Esprit?

03/07/2026