Articles by Iain Kelly

Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist

A love of classic American and European cars drove Iain Kelly to motoring journalism straight out of high school, via the ownership of a tired 1975 HJ Holden Monaro. 

For nearly 20 years he has worked on magazines and websites catering to modified late model high-performance Japanese and European tuner cars, as well as traditional hot rods, muscle cars and street machines. Some of these titles include Auto Salon, LSX Tuner, MOTOR, Forged, Freestyle Rides, Roadkill, SPEED, and Street Machine. He counts his trip to the USA to help build Mighty Car Mods’ “Subarute” along with co-authoring their recent book, The Cars of Mighty Car Mods, among his career highlights. 

Iain lends his expertise to CarsGuide for a variety of advice projects, along with legitimising his automotive obsession with regular OverSteer contributions.

Although his practical skills working on cars is nearly all self-taught, he still loves nothing more than spending quality time in the shed working on his project car, a 1964 Pontiac. He also admits to also having an addiction to E30 BMWs and Subaru Liberty RS Turbos, both of which he has had multiple examples of. With car choices like that, at least his mum thinks he is cool.

Ferrari threatens to sue customer over his Instagram posts
By Iain Kelly · 05 Aug 2019
German fashion designer Philipp Plein has found himself in hot water with his favourite car brand, Ferrari.
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Grand Prix circuit could be yours for under $100,000
By Iain Kelly · 23 Jul 2019
Building race tracks is brutally expensive, so would you jump on an opportunity to buy a race circuit with genuine historical significance for the princely sum of $80,000?Harcourts Wine Country are the listing agents for the property at S2134 Olson Road, Port Wakefield, South Australia, which was the site of the 1955 Australian Grand Prix – the first to be run on a closed road course.The ‘55 Aussie GP is notable as it was won by Jack Brabham in a Cooper-Bristol, and while the track is but a faint shadow on the 32 acre property it represents a significant piece of Australian motorsport history.
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Reimagining history with the most beautiful British car of all time
By Iain Kelly · 23 Jul 2019
Jaguar arguably owned the Le Mans 24 Hour in the mid 1950s, with their C- and D-type racers blasting a hole through sports car racing the world over.What some don't know is the famed English manufacturer eyed a return to that world in the mid-1960s with the XJ13, a stillborn mid-engined V12 rocket that was quietly shelved in 1966 and destroyed in a testing accident later.While recreations have kept coachbuilders busy, 25 lucky punters will get a chance to own a brand new, improved XJ13. Built to order they are being offered by Ecurie Ecosse, the legendary Scottish race team who helped Jaguar to so much of their success. Reimagined as a 'what if' project the XJ13 LM69 creates a fantasy where Ecurie Ecosse saved the XJ13 programme in 1966, developed it over two years, and then entered the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hour - a race many consider the end of the Golden Era of sports car racing.Lighter, faster, slipperier and (arguably) better built than the original only 25 of these LM69s will be built, being shown off in public for the first time this September. And, if you have to ask the price...
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The mid-engined Corvette's roots date back 60 years
By Iain Kelly · 19 Jul 2019
Today the Internet burns as Chevrolet unveils the new, eighth-generation Corvette. The mid-engined C8 is a departure from the classic FR-layout sports car Chevy debuted back in 1953, but fans of America's Sports Car are well aware of the history the automaker has with mid-engined V8 concept cars.
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Burnout fiend hoon methed up his Holden with a leaf-blower supercharger
By Iain Kelly · 19 Jul 2019
Many of us will have seen the videos of guys supercharging cars using leaf blowers. While both Roadkill and Mighty Car Mods did their videos tongue-in-cheek one man in Western Sydney wasn't laughing.Police discovered his home-grown "supercharger" fitted to the airbox of his V6 Holden Commodore this week during a traffic stop. It must work well, considering it was wired into the car's electrical system, and due to the bald and non-legal rear tyres.Of slightly more concern was the unnamed man testing positive to methamphetamines both roadside and later at the police station. If the drugs made him fit the leaf blower to his car, this just reaffirms the old bumper sticker: meth, not even once.
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Final C7 Vette sells for USD$2.7 million
By Iain Kelly · 15 Jul 2019
With the impending launch of the new, mid-engined eighth-generation Corvette collectors have gone crazy to buy the the last example of the previous C7 Corvette for USD$2,700,000.
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SpeedKore is the place celebrities shop for the most insane muscle car builds
By Iain Kelly · 11 Jul 2019
It takes a lot to stand out in Hollywood, and celebrities often turn to custom car builders to help them do this.
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Kevin Hart's birthday present to himself is this ex-Fast & Furious 700hp carbon fibre 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda
By Iain Kelly · 11 Jul 2019
Hollywood A-list stars often spend their hard-earned on cool cars, and Kevin Hart is no exception picking up an epic 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda known as "Menace".
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This '67 Pontiac GTO is the craziest muscle car build thanks to all-wheel-drive, custom chassis, and mid-mounted twin-turbo 9.3L Chevy V8
By Iain Kelly · 08 Jul 2019
People who love mid-engined supercars and exotics don't tend to go for old American muscle cars as the pushrod beasts tended to go around corners as well as a wheel barrow full of wet cement.
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