I'm built for the bends at Burthst and the Aussie bogan looking to burn some rubber - what am I? If you answered "Holden Torana", you'd be bang on.

From humble beginnings, the Torana grew to become one of the most collectible Australian cars of all time - largely thanks to Brockie's legendary exploits at Bathurst.

The Torana is more than just a compact classic, it's a working-class hero that stands as an emblem of Australia's proud automotive history, a golden era of Australian motoring on the road and on the racetrack.

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The Magna was the other other Australian-made family favourite from the late 1980s, a car that says "I have kids, a job, a dog, and I value practicality over performance". It was good but not iconic, sophisticated but never cool, forever in the shadow of Falcons and Commodores.

It was, however, the thinking person's alternative, popular with those who happily cut against the grain. And while it was clearly third of The Big Three, that's still a podium finish... so should we remember the Magna more magnanimously?

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The 1970s, often dubbed the "decade that style forgot", when Australia's automotive and suburban landscapes shared similar levels of austerity. Our locally made gas-guzzlers were overshadowed by the growing popularity of cheap, reliable, fuel-efficient imports from Japan.

The cars were as boring as they were brown... but we lapped them up. The Datsun 180B was an unpretentious suburban stalwart and lays claim to being the 'best of the boring'. Hear how the Datto came to define the decade and laugh at the time Merrick & Rosso tried to buy one from a questionable character...

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It was the stylish and sporty Australian-made, Italian-designed soft-top set to conquer the world - what could possibly go wrong? A lot, it turns out, and the Ford Capri's bold ambitions were dealt one bruising reality check after another.

There was poor timing, poor build quality, and worst of all, poor comparisons to its direct rival: the Mazda MX5. The Capri revved up for the ultimate showdown but in the end, it was a case of a Legend vs a Lemon. And yet, in typical Aussie fashion, plenty of fans still barrack for the underdog...

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When Australia said "Hi to Hyundai", we welcomed a car that changed the game. While others were affordable, the Excel was cheap, giving more people the chance to buy a brand-new set of wheels than ever before.

In this episode, hear from the colourful businessmen who took a punt that paid off as Aussies everyone snapped up a new car from a new country at a new low price, drive away, no more to pay... 

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A famous TV ad had us screaming out "Hey, Charger!" for decades but the enduring appeal of this classic 70s muscle car runs deeper than a memorable hand sign and a catchy slogan.

Hear about the "Hey, Charger!" on-set hijinks from the Hollywood director who cut his teeth on this iconic ad campaign, find out why rock stars prefer to take a ride in a charger over a limo, and learn why - after all these years - we still lust after classic muscle cars...

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It's the colossal, designed-and-made-in-Australia family sedan with a boot big enough to hold a 44-gallon drum. Revolutionary in design, it won the coveted Wheels Car Of The Year award in 1973.

It's also Australia's most infamous lemon, a badly built butt of many jokes, a victim of bad timing on top of its own ambition.

Despite its status as one of the most maligned cars we've ever made, there are scores of loyal fans who defend the Leyland P76 and its legacy, warts and all. 

In this episode, hear how the P76 came to life, came apart, and came to be endearingly remembered as a loveable lemon, a car that lives up to its claim of being anything but average...

And hey, if it really was as bad as they said it was, why did Merrick and Rosso buy two of them? 

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Emerging out of the fuel crisis of the 70s as a more economical replacement for the famed Kingswood, the Holden Commodore is an undeniable icon - making and breaking records on and off the race track and in production for almost 40 years before the last locally made model rolled off the production line in 2017.

In this episode, you'll hear the story of these beloved Aussies as well as the people who drove, owned and loved them, including the last one ever made...   

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