Articles by Bryce Levido

Muscle cars from all over Sydney roared in to share the experience.  This premiere did not feature star presence or a red carpet, just the passion of those who came to see it.   Simultaneous screenings at the Sydney Blacktown Drive-In and Melbourne Coburg Drive-In allowed die-hard revheads to check out the movie in the comfort of their own beast.  The event was a real family affair. All around the grounds you could see panel vans with the kids rugged up in the boot, couples snuggled up on the back seat of ’69 Mustangs, all surrounded by the aroma of exhaust fumes and hot chips.“It’s the partners, friends and so forth that I’m trying to reach out to with this film,” Bana has said about the film.  “I was fairly confident that guys and car lovers would probably really like it.  But I would not have made the film if I felt like that was the only audience it was for and I don’t think my wife would have let me make the film either.”After hearing this, I was driven to bring my parents and wife along to the screening.  A genuine family night out at the flicks!  Being my first drive-in (a fact met with an incredulous “what the…” by my co-workers) and the first visit to a drive in for 45 years for my parents, the night was a real experience bringing car lovers back to an era where drive-ins out numbered drive-throughs.  My parents were quite surprised to see that there were no burnouts, or “hoon like behaviour” that they were expecting at the venue.  Just passionate and dedicated enthusiasts coming together to appreciate each others’ cars and a movie that was to bring their collective interest to an audience who might not have ever grasped what it is all about.  The movie really hit the nail squarely on the head, with my Mum even having a bit of a cry at the loss of Eric’s Beast at the end of the film.  “Eric was mourning the end of an era, rather than the death of the car,” she says. She compares the building of the car to the sewing of her own clothes.  The difference between built and bought -- and the feeling you get experiencing the final product of all your blood, sweat and tears.  Though as my Dad put it, working on your passion is never-ending in reality.  There is always something else to tinker with, or perfect.  But after all, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. 

Panel Shop 1, Revesby - Honda CRX Respray After a small accident and on advice from several friends, I convinced my wife that this shop was the way to go for a re-spray on her CRX. We took the car in and negotiated to totally re-spray the car in factory white and colour-code the side skirts. Basic stuff. We were told it would be a four week turnaround and quoted $2000 plus the insurance claim payout. All good. Four weeks later, the promises started. If I could get them on the phone, they would say “pick it up tomorrow” then cancel the next day. Same thing happened daily for the next week. Finally we pick up the car a week late, after waiting around for half a day till they get it clean and ready. Then driving the car out reveals the plugs are full of water. From there, it gets worse. We list a full page of imperfections from masking tape lines and dents to a misaligned bumper. Basically, points that should be picked up in the process of a respray. Another two weeks of being stuffed around, we are told that it is finally ready. On picking it up, there are still two dents that haven’t been fixed. Finally get the car back and still not happy. But at least there’s no chance I’ll ever deal with them again. Some compensation was offered but it was really too late in proceedings. Panel Shop 2, Homebush - Skyline Aftermarket Front Bar Install After the above mess, my wife says we are only going to a smaller outfit from now on. This place is not cheap and I had to accept that the premium cost quoted to paint and install would be worth it, based on my wife’s feelings about the company. Eerk! So we dropped off my R34, with the front bar still in the original box. The owner, Joe, went through the options I had on installing the bumper and what he would be doing to it. All included in the original quote so there were no surprises. A week later as promised, I headed to the shop, to be greeted by a clean-as-a-whistle R34 with fitted and painted Impul front bar. No bumps, imperfections, issues, or anything else to complain about. The finish is excellent and the colour-matching is flawless. The bumper was mounted to all the factory holes and Joe personally mounted the front number plate on the spot to my specification. The morals of the story are: - you get what you pay for - your mates are not always right - just because places have a big name, they are not always the best - and – most important of all — listen to you wife!  

...almost as much as that surrounding Top Gear Australia’s launch. I am not going to directly compare the two but there is no denying the similarity. A UK formula, tweaked for the Australian audience, to mixed reviews. The live event gave a great run through the pattern this high-octane show has established on it's way to becoming a television juggernaut -- with a studio audience waiting list of 19 years. And 'show' is the pertinent word. TG Live was stuffed full of fanfare including the product placement for GPS systems and reasonably priced cars involving pyrotechnics and precision driving right from the start. Massive screens gave the audience a great view of Clarkson, Hammond and their super toys as well as the token Australian presenter Steve Pizzati. The Colonial ring-in was -- rightly so -- the brunt of Clarkson's jokes, and vehicular torture techniques right from the start. A fitting punishment for Top Gear Australia’s first season, perhaps. Some of the most successful and entertaining segments of the small-screen TG are combined in the live version ... a few quite horribly, including the virtual helicopter gunship. But some were amazingly successful, such as the Soccer In A Reasonably Priced Car. It was stunning seeing both Hammond and Pizzati manage to keep their cars generally unscathed in a match that went 6-5 to the UK team. Putting aside the UK vs Australia rivalry jokes through the night, the performance left thefans on a high. The combination of audience interaction, showmanship and supercars made it a great night out. Better than they do it on the telly though? Not quite.

This Bathurst-winning beast was at its time the most high-tech and amazing car on the planet and I was hooked, line and sinker.Two years ago I finally got to the point where I could afford one -- and the insurance costs that came with owning a one-time supercar. I got myself a 1993 GTR.The happiness was instant but short-lived. With the engine blowing within a few months of owning it and a looming $12K rebuild cost, I threw in the towel and sold it off as is.Needing another car I weighed up looking for another GTR, 200SX etc. After much import car-yard hunting and weighing up options, I stumbled on a stock R34 GTT Coupe. Now I finally have a great Skyline to call my own. Not an ‘open the wallet and strip me bare’ GTR, but an affordable and easy-driving GTT with a 2.5-litre turbo to boot!Unlike the GTR, the body and motor were in perfect condition. Since then I have not looked back and love the car more every day. This blog will give you an insight into a 'take your time' build-up of the car into a well-sorted modified street car for Time Attack. Stay tuned…

...with many experienced trainers urging that all learners to be put through Advanced Driver Training in a safe off-street environment that allows them to develop car control skills under adverse conditions, especially in the wet. Due to the costs involved, most people are not willing to invest the money to attend such training when they start out driving, instead focusing on `passing the test’. My wife and I recently decided to attend the "Stage 2" Advanced Driver Training Course at Eastern Creek Driver Training School in Western Sydney. We have both been driving for over 10 years, but on arrival we learnt that it would have been better to attend the Stage 1 Defensive Driving Course first. The Defensive Course gives a higher focus to braking and driving techniques that really are lacking even in so-called experienced drivers. But despite this gap, we plunged into the Advanced training. First up we were run through the plan for the day with our three instructors. Then it was off to the skid pan. They took us through a braking test that taught us about avoiding collisions during ABS or hard braking, keeping your eyes up and ahead looking where you want to be rather than what you worried about hitting. Such wisdom! This focus on vision, braking and throttle control techniques are what differentiates these advanced courses from the regular driver training courses offered to most learners. Next up we learnt how to control the car at speeds while cornering around a wide circle of witches hats. This allows us to feel both under-steer and over-steer in our own cars. This feeling is something most drivers would only ever feel in an emergency situation while they simply panic and slam on the brakes. Throughout the day there was a focus on the driver aids that were included in most cars, with a display of traction control in the on and off state and ABS braking. After lunch there was more of the same, with the day finishing with a combination of all the skills we had learnt with a witches hat course with hard braking, alternation of direction combined with the wet surface. Overall, the day was a lot of fun and is an excellent way to see how your car really performs while building driving skills that could possibly save your life. For more information, contact Eastern Creek Raceway on 02 9672 1000 or log on to www.eastern-creek-raceway.com/driver_training