Chrysler Valiant 1973 News

How can they not, when the Japanese hero is now the world's all-time favourite with a production total that has just topped 40 million cars. Based on those numbers, the Corolla is nearly twice as popular as the Volkswagen Beetle with 21.5 million sales and even further ahead of the T-Model Ford at 16.5 million, although it has had the advantage of selling at a time when far more people everywhere in the world own and drive cars.My first experience of the Corolla was in the 1960s, soon after the original cars landed in Australia. By the standard of the times, and we're talking here about Falcons and Kingswoods and Valiants, it was tiny and tinny but also solid, sensible and smartly priced. I was only a rider and not a driver at the time, but it also had a fun factor that was missing from other cars of my acquaintance - and you have to remember that an Austin Freeway cringed in our suburban Sydney driveway.The original Corolla helped ignite a small-car revolution and laid the firm foundation that now sees Toyota rampaging along as Australia's favourite carmaker, with annual sales that trump the combined efforts of Holden and Mazda in the other podium places.In America, the Corolla - along with the Honda Civic - is credited with the relatively recent bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler. Looking back to the USA in the sixties, it became the 'second' car in many American households and won over women and youngsters driving for the first time. They went Japanese and never came back. Does that sound familiar?Since the late 1970s I've driven every new Corolla model and had some fantastic fun on the side, including flat-out track laps in pursuit of an Australian racing championship and several forest fights in the Australian Rally Championship. And a Corolla has never let me down.And that gets me thinking about the Honda 750 four. You see, the Honda stalwart from the seventies was tagged as the Universal Japanese Motorcycle because it could do anything, from high-speed pursuit duties with the Highway Patrol police to daily commutes to touring the world in the days before long-distance motorcyclists switched to BMWs.In the same way, the Corolla should be known as the Universal Japanese Car. It's as sensible as an accountant, as dependable as a bullet train, and as predictable as a new tech toy from Apple.  It's also a bankable investment on the secondhand scene and will never offend or annoy. It doesn't have the attitude of an Alfa, or the performance of a Porsche, but a UJC is just fine and we have 40 million signatures to prove it.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Bands bicker over what holds tracks together: guitars or drums. We find out which rules a different kind of track. The coffee-heads over at Ice Break thought a drag race was the only way to settle the deep-rooted guitars vs drums battle for supremacy.Facebook fans were along for the ride and helped customise two classic Australian muscle cars to represent the two camps – and which will be the prizes in a coming competition. The guitarists were championed by a 1973 VJ E44 Valiant Charger 318 V8, modified to take two in-built Marshall amps in place of the back seats, a custom guitar holder in the trunk, a wah-wah pedal accelerator and a colour-shifting Harlequin paint finish.Drummers were represented by a 1970 XY Ford GT Replica 351 V8, with a snare drum air intake built into the bonnet, a Zildjian cymbal steering wheel, a fully adjustable drum hardware roll cage, and a bass drum beater gear shift.Sydney’s Eastern Creek Dragway was the battleground, with the winner supposedly settling once and for all who holds the track. Aussie muscle car fans have the chance to win the two cars – plus two more that will fight a future battle. Log on to Facebook/com/icebreak for more details. 

Retired smelter worker Roger Graber, 62, bought his 1973 Valiant VJ Charger 15 years ago for $2000. "It's worth about $30,000-$35,000 now to an enthusiast," he says. "I wouldn't get rid of it, though. My son and grandson will probably fight over it when I fall off the perch." However, the money-making tale ends there."I did have three of these," he says. "One was a drag (racing) project with a Ford 351 engine in it and the other was stripped down. When I moved I didn't  have anywhere to put them so I sold them. I only got $2500 for the drag car and $1500 for the stripper. I regret getting rid of them now."When Graber bought his current Charger it was in "a terrible state", the 265 (4.3-litre) Hemi six-cylinder engine was "knackered" and the car had been off the road for years. "I spent about two years restoring it for the road, not as a show car," he says. "It cost about $5000 for the restoration."Graber claims to be a self-taught mechanic and did all the mechanical, paint and body work on the car. "I'm mechanically minded and can turn my hands to anything," he says. "I rebuilt the engine myself to make sure it was right."However, he put in a non-standard 600 Holly carburettor. "Otherwise the engine is standard," he says. "It has heaps of grunt without having to do much to them. If I checked the economy I wouldn't drive it so much. It gets about five kilometres to the litre (20 litres per 100km) because the carby is too big for it. I have a 350 which I'll put in it and then I might get about 7km/L (14.2L/100km)."Graber totally renovated the front suspension right down to the rubbers, but has done nothing to the rear except replace the brake shoes. The car features a four-speed Borg Warner gearbox with synchro in all but first. "You can't break them and it's as smooth as," he says. "It's 1970s driving. You have to be careful because the back can break out easily.""It's hard to drive, there's so much power you can easily spin the wheels. You have to drive it smoothly. But it's very reliable. I always keep a good check on the engine and recently changed the engine oil, gearbox oil and back axle oil so it's running really smooth now."If it stays in good condition, Graber plans to show it at the MotorMania show and shine at Rockhampton Showgrounds on July 25. The show is part of a 10-day Central Queensland MotorMania festival of motoring that includes cars, karts, drag racers, motorcycles and more."There's a big concentration of petrolheads up here, maybe because it's an industrial town and people have a bit of money," he says. "Our club (Curtis Coast Cruiser Club) has more than 60 members. A lot have joined because they can get concessional rego and it's a lot cheaper, especially for the guys with V8s."