In November 2019 I met John Mann at the Island Magic meeting at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in southern Victoria. John has a long and illustrious career in motorsport so it was great to have a chat.

John, who is now eighty and despite a battle with cancer, is still racing.

In the chat John covered

• His first car, an open wheeler, he made himself

• The many cars he raced

• He nursed about eight of the current supercar drivers when they were babies. Craig Lowndes’ father was his pit crew manager.

• As a young mechanic and he made a mistake that costs a world champion bike rider the race. He had to escape and hide out for a while

• His Friendship with Barry Sheene and his own fight with cancer

An edited version of the interview appeared in the Overdrive radio program first broadcast on 7 December 2019.

http://drivenmedia.com.au/wp/overdrive-machine-the-movie-artificial-intelligence-automated-cars-classic-cars-and-democracy/

We also produced a video of several other characters who were racing at the meeting “Reflections from Phillip Island”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDAngSR5EMw

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that ponders the particulars of motoring and transport.

News

1. Audi S4 and S5 (1:50)

2. New Toyota Fortuner (2:53)

3. New Toyota Hilux (2:53)

4. Jaguar teaches driverless cars how to reduce motion sickness (2:51)

5. Active Driving Assistance Systems Do Less to Assist Drivers and More to Interfere (2:59)

Interviews

We spent a couple of days driving some new Audis through the picturesque areas near and up in the highlands sound west of Sydney.

1. Our resident mechanical engineer Fred Brain gives his driving impressions of the Audi Allroad and A5s (7:06)

2. And Testing cars is not just about their features and performance. It is about how well you travel and what you see when you get to a destination. We talk to Betty Villy about her historical research in Picton (18:49)

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So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 15 October 2020

Testing cars is not just about their features and performance. It is about how well you travel in them and what you can do when you get to a destination.

On a trip to the Highlands for the launch of some new Audis, we passed through Picton.

We sat in a park just near St Marks Anglican Church and Pioneer Cemetery.

One tombstone hints at the tragedy of Janet Robinson's life. Born in Scotland and died in Australia in 1903 aged just 31. It would be nice to know some more details.

While more details of her life are not available, beside 12 graves there are little plaques with a QR reader symbol on each one individually. You point your phone at it and you can hear a short recording of some historical details of the person or persons buried there.

The stories behind twelve of the graves have been researched, compiled and written by Elizabeth Villy know to all as Betty, whom we managed to catch up with and have a chat.

Betty covered a range of subjects including:

• The story behind the lives of Mary Horton and her son Claude Stafford

• Claude's father died when he was 5, his mother died when he was 12. When he was about 18 he died in Mt Kembla Mine disaster of 1902 along with three cousins and along with 92 other men and boys.

• The horrendous working conditions in the mines in 1902

• Why she is researching a range of people not just the rich and well connected

• Modern research systems let to search through old records for keywords, but the old methods mean you look at not only the story but the whole newspaper page, including the ads, and thus get a sense of the times in which the person lived.

• Betty also did some research on the old Razorback Road.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that looks at the purpose of and the passion for trains, planes and automobiles.

News

1. VFacts Cars sales figures show a slight relapse (1:34)

2. Audi have announced their new A4 and A5 (2:36)

3. Audi is researching bidirectional charging technology (3:41)

4. Nissan accepting electricity as payment for parking (4:40)

5. Ventilation in buses help reduce infection – London goes the whole way (5:50)

Interviews

1. Motoring and Marketing expert Paul Murrell discusses whether the new Suzuki Ignis can learn something from the first Minis (6:53)

2. And a few of the Overdrive team reflect on the Suzuki Swift especially the looks (16:21)

Quirky news

1. And in Quirky news – Brian Smith and I cover the Canadian story of speed cameras the size of a moose being stolen. (24:59)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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Originally broadcast 8 October 2020

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that puts a magnifying glass to the role of cars and transport in our society and ends up burning a hole in it.

News

1. Hyundai develops new air-conditioning technologies (1:45)

2. Jaguar Land Rover’s touchscreen you don’t have to touch to fight bacteria and viruses (2:44)

3. Suzuki Baleno – priced to succeed (3:48)

4. The new Audi R8 Coupé and Spyder arrive in Australia (4:45)

5. Bugatti’s Baby (5:50)

Interviews

Alan Zurvas gives a personal reflection on paying up to $95,000 for a scaled-down Bugatti which is ideal as a child’s Christmas present (7:07)

Rob Fraser and I discuss Suzuki, particularly their Baleno which is going gangbusters in the sales (12:09)

Quirky news

1. And in quirky news, Brian Smith and I discuss cheating in virtual reality car racing (20:32)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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Welcome to Overdrive, a motoring and transport program where facts are important but so is passion and opinion.

News

1. VW – to make electric classics (1:32)

2. 3-D printing makes manufacturing complex or limited number of parts possible (2:43)

3. Nissan Pathfinder (3:45)

4. Electric charging standard – Nissan goes for the common approach (4:44)

5. Establishes ‘purple m’ start-up to accelerate EV mobility services (5:52)

Interview

1. Rob Fraser chats about the Nissan Pathfinder (6:56)

2. Will Hagon gives a tribute to Tauranac who was Sir Jack Brabham’s partner in making world championship race cars. Rion has just passed away at the age of 95. (13:53)

Quirky news

1. And in quirky news Brian Smith and I discuss the unusual case of the garage that got sawn in half. (24:46)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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Originally broadcast 25 July 2020

A few years before his death, I spoke to Sir Jack Brabham.

The obvious start was to get him reminiscing about the old days.

To my surprise he almost immediately said “you should speak to Ron Tauranac”.

Ron had a long friendship with Brabham and Ron helped him no matter which team he was in and then held the official position of the design expert behind the cars that carried the Brabham name.

Sir Jack’s reference wasn’t just a passing comment; a polite thank you, thrown into a speech about himself in the style you often see at the Oscars. It wasn’t even a formal recommendation to broaden the research.

Sir Jack’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm, it seemed clear to me that Brabham felt that any discussion of his career needed to consider his mate and his mate deserved a large amount of credit.

Ron Tauranac passed away recently at the age of 95.

Someone who is close to motor racing and to the characters behind the events is celebrated motoring journalist Will Hagon.

In this interview with Will he covers

• How Ron was a partner, an integral part, of Brabham’s success

• The beginning of Ron’s fascination with cars

• How he and Jack went in the 1953 Redex trial

• How Ron became the biggest builder of racing cars in the world

• The role Ron played in the career of Larry Perkins

• How Ron helped jack even before he was on his team

• Talking with Ron in his later years, attending his 90th birthday and taking a picture of Ron beside a painting of a famous Brabham racing car.

Ron Tauranac and Sir Jack Brabham had a friendship, a collaboration, a mateship that stood the test of time including the extremely difficult, complex and political environment of Formula 1 motor racing.

Ron was one of the special Australia’s who pioneered creative and successful technology but sadly remains less well known that Jack Brabham and many others know that he deserves.

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that pontificates on the issues of motoring and transport

News

1. Nissan introduces the Ariya, a 100% electric crossover (1:48)

2. Audi TT Coupe 45 TFSI quattro S tronic (2:41)

3. Expanded Hino 300 series provides solutions for a growing market (3:46)

4. Kia Stinger 3.3l GT (4:46)

5. Subaru XV 2.0Is AWD vs Kia Seltos GT Line (5:46)

Interview

1. Alan Zurvas runs through his feelings about four cars on the market (6:52)

Quirky news

1. Brian Smith is away but fortunately I pre-recorded an interview with him before I got this dreaded lurgi. Its about musicians that have made some special cars. (16:00)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 18 July 2020

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that ponders on the issues of motoring and transport

News

1. Car Sales Figures for June 2020 bounce back a bit (1:30)

2. Nissan leaf industry-first vehicle-to-grid charging technology launched in Australia (2:26)

3. World’s first fuel cell heavy-duty truck, xcient fuel cell, heads to Europe for commercial use (3:25)

4. Go electric or go off road: customers choose with Jaguar land rover and pivotal subscription (4:31)

5. Volkswagen's Touareg V8 is the premium performance choice (5:26)

Interviews

1. Alan Zurvas and I review Volkswagen’s Large SUV – the Touareg (6:43)

2. And Last week we heard from Chris about preparing is classic Jag for his daughter’s wedding. This week we hear from the daughter about what it was like growing up with a father who had a passion for old Jaguars. (12:59)

Quirky news

• And Brian Smith and I discuss the unusual transport impacts of COVID-19 (22:04)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 11 July 2020

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that probes deeply into the issues of motoring and transport

News

1. National Walk Safely to School Day Rescheduled for Friday 11 September (1:43)

2. UK trialling e-scooters on public roads (2:41)

3. Ford will allow some new customers to return vehicles if they lose their job (3:39)

4. Jaguar i-pace electric taxis on world’s first wireless high-powered charging rank (4:36)

5. Ford debuts F-150 (5:43)

6. An historic celebration: 110 years of alfa Romeo (6:43)

Interviews

We talk to our Melbourne Correspondent Chris Leadbeatter about the love and affection (and the need to have a vehicle for his daughter’s wedding) in restoring a Mk 1 Jaguar (7:49)

Adrian Feeney is the chairman and CEO of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He has some strong words about our potential for car manufacturing in the Australia. (14:20)

Quirky news

• And in sort of quirky news we again catch up with Brian Smith to talk about an assessment of how well Tesla autopilot vehicles interpret road signs that have been mischievously modified. (22:17)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

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Originally broadcast 4 July 2020