A new book about the Australian automotive scene in the 1960s takes us back to a time when most of the cars we bought we either built or assembled in this country.
The motoring industry in Australian in the ‘60s is the subject of a new book by AMC contributing writer Gavin Farmer. The Cars of the 60s follows on from Farmer’s earlier Cars of the 50s book, and will form part of a trilogy with a similar book covering the ‘70s to be released in coming months.
The book is a comprehensive history of the cars that were manufactured and assembled in Australia in the ‘60s. It’s a reminder too of what’s been lost, because in the ‘60s the local manufacturers and assemblers included not simply Holden, Ford and Chrysler, but also VW, BMC, AMI (Rambler and Toyota) Nissan-Datsun, Citroen, Renault, Studebaker and more.
While today, every new car sold has been imported to Australia, back then local manufacture and assembly of cars was so prolific that imported new cars were actually in the minority.
One of the great strengths of this highly detailed book are the specification and comparison charts. These include full production numbers and registration figures for all marques, price and spec comparisons between competing models and so much more.
The Cars of the 60s is published by New Holland Publishers RRP is $59.99. It’s available from major book retailers or online: www.newhollandpublishers.com.
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