Articles by David Morley

David Morley

Contributing Journalist

Morley’s attentions turned to cars and motoring fairly early on in his life. The realisation that the most complex motor vehicle was easier to both understand and control than the simplest human-being, set his career in motion. Growing up in the country gave the young Morley a form of motoring freedom unmatched these days, as well as many trees to dodge. With a background in newspapers, the move to motoring journalism was no less logical than Clive Palmer’s move into politics, and at times, at least as funny.

The story behind the Ford Mustang name

By David Morley · 30 May 2020

There are nuances depending on which dictionary you refer to, but broadly speaking the original Ford Mustang of 1964 was named after a wild (some say, feral) horse found in the USA.Interestingly, the rest of the definition of the equine Mustang described

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Best way to buy a cheap car

By David Morley · 28 May 2020

Social distancing is here for a long, long time. Even after COVID-19 has been controlled and – hopefully – beaten, many of us will still be leery about gathering in large groups, or even in small groups, in any sort of confined space. Welcome to the new normal.

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Who made the first dual-cab ute?

By David Morley · 23 May 2020

It’s fair to say the dual-cab ute has changed the local motoring landscape in a big way

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How did the Jimny get its name?

By David Morley · 16 May 2020

Jimny is another one of those weird car names that makes you wonder how the heck it was decided upon.The Japanese seem particularly good at this, and it's generally thought that a lot of Japanese car names are the result of mispronunciations or clumsy cul

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Why ditching a V8 isn’t always a good idea

By David Morley · 10 May 2020

Toyota's decision to move from the 200-Series' turbo-diesel V8 to a different powerplant (probably a turbocharged V6 diesel) for the forthcoming 300-Series has already been met with a rash of buyers snapping up the V8 model.And while the search for effici

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Used Holden Trax review: 2013-2020

By David Morley · 05 May 2020

While Holden had the larger end of the SUV market covered by the start of this decade, it didn't have a fair dinkum contender at the bite-sized end.Enter the Trax, a high-riding wagon with the usual SUV touches including the wheelarch extensions and big alloy wheels.The catch was that the Trax you really wanted was the more expensive version with the superior engine.Nothing has changed there.

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Beware the hail-damaged car

By David Morley · 03 May 2020

Recent massive hailstorms in NSW and the ACT have sent a rash of hail-damaged cars onto the used-car market

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The story behind the Toyota Corolla’s name

By David Morley · 02 May 2020

The Toyota Corolla is up there with the VW Beetle and the Ford Model T when it comes to global recognition

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Why dual-cab utes get broken chassis

By David Morley · 26 Apr 2020

Type `dual-cab broken chassis’ into a search engine and you’ll be bombarded with horrific photos and heart-wrenching stories of just that; dual-cab utes more or less broken in two. And now there’s a fresh theory on what might be happening

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Holden Captiva used review: 2006-2017

By David Morley · 24 Apr 2020

Holden came to the SUV party quite late and, without a home-brewed SUV of its own, it gave us the Captiva, a rebadged Daewoo.The Captiva’s formula has always been a simple one: Lots of car (and seats) for the money.Earlier versions could be had with a five-seat layout, but in the very last of them, Holden was offering just the seven-seat layout as acknowledgement that this was a pragmatic family purchase in the majority of cases.You also got lots of choice with two or four-wheel-drive and petrol or turbo-diesel power.

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