Articles by Graham Smith

Graham Smith
Contributing Journalist

With a passion for cars dating back to his childhood and having a qualification in mechanical engineering, Graham couldn’t believe his good fortune when he was offered a job in the Engineering Department at General Motors-Holden’s in the late-1960s when the Kingswood was king and Toyota was an upstart newcomer. It was a dream come true.

Over the next 20 years Graham worked in a range of test and development roles within GMH’s Experimental Engineering Department, at the Lang Lang Proving Ground, and the Engine Development Group where he predominantly worked on the six-cylinder and V8 engines.

If working for Holden wasn’t exciting enough he also spent two years studying General Motors Institute in America, with work stints with the Chassis Engineering section at Pontiac, and later took up the post of Holden’s liaison engineer at Opel in Germany.

But the lure of working in the media saw him become a fulltime motorsport reporter and photographer in the late-1980s following the Grand Prix trail around the world and covering major world motor racing events from bases first in Germany and then London.

After returning home to Australia in the late-1980s Graham worked on numerous motoring magazines and newspapers writing about new and used cars, and issues concerning car owners. These days, Graham is CarsGuide's longest standing contributor.

Australian road signs for dummies
By Graham Smith · 12 May 2017
Road signs are used to bring order to our roads so that we can go about our business in relative safety with minimum delay.
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Used Toyota Corolla review: 1994-1999
By Graham Smith · 05 May 2017
Local car production was in full swing as the 1990s began. So strong was it that Toyota expanded its local manufacturing capacity with a new plant at Altona, in Melbourne's south-west.
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Used Toyota Corolla review: 1999-2001
By Graham Smith · 24 Mar 2017
The end of the 1990s was a time of change for the Corolla in Australia. Toyota had been building it locally, but in 1999 it stopped local production and began importing it instead.
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Used Toyota Corolla review: 2001-2007
By Graham Smith · 17 Mar 2017
Graham Smith reviews the 2001-2007 Toyota Corolla as a used buy. The 9th generation Toyota Corolla arrived late in 2001. It was an all-new model, but followed closely in the wheel tracks of its predecessors. A conventional front-wheel drive small car, the Corolla was available as a four door sedan, a five door hatch,
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Used Toyota Corolla review: 2007-2012
By Graham Smith · 03 Mar 2017
Graham Smith reviews the 2007-2012 Toyota Corolla as a used buy. The 10th generation Toyota Corolla, which arrived in 2007, was a conventional front-wheel drive small car that was available as a four door sedan or five door hatch. With a wide choice of models there was one to suit just about every small car buyer's
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Used Ford Kuga review: 2013-2014
By Graham Smith · 09 Dec 2016
Graham Smith reviews the 2013 and 2014 Ford Kuga as a used buy. Revised compact SUV is a prospect for solid service. New Ford was so keen to replace its ageing Escape that it released the first-generation Kuga in 2012 even though it was about to be replaced by a new model. Within a year that Kuga was gone and the
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Used Land Rover Freelander 2 review: 2007-2014
By Graham Smith · 02 Dec 2016
Graham Smith road tests and reviews the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Land Rover Freelander 2 as a used buy.
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Used Subaru XV review: 2011-2014
By Graham Smith · 25 Nov 2016
Graham Smith reviews the 2011, 2012,2013 and 2014 Subaru XV as a used buy.
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Used Ford Territory review: 2011-2014
By Graham Smith · 18 Nov 2016
The diesel variant for Ford's SUV was the last piece in the jigsaw. New After watching families shift from sedans to SUVs, Ford reacted by designing one of its own based on the components in the Falcon parts bin. The Territory was the result and Ford hoped to stem the flow of red ink by enticing buyers to buy its big
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Used Mitsubishi Lancer review: 2007-2014
By Graham Smith · 11 Nov 2016
Graham Smith reviews the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Mitsubishi Lancer as a used buy.
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