1968 Triumph Spitfire Reviews

That's the case for Queenslander Graham Copeland, who is lining up for his 10th crack at Australia's ultimate tarmac rally next month.Copeland has won his Classic class at Targa once and has finished on the podium in the overall Classic category four times, driving a variety of vehicles.He has driven Triumph TR4s and TR8s, and more recently moved to Datsuns, but this year sees a different challenge emerging.“I was hoping to drive my 1938 Dodge Speedster but that will now have to wait until 2009,” he said.“I'll be co-driving this year in a rare Bizzarini GT America.”Copeland will be sitting beside successful circuit racing star, Wayne Park, who has won numerous Queensland and Australian championships, and has also driven at the Bathurst 1000 four times, with a fifth place his best result.“I find Targa is quite addictive,” Copeland said.“I'm really looking forward to teaming up with him Wayne this year. Targa is like no other event.“The roads are unbelievable, the organisers do a terrific job and the public are really supportive of the event. Targa is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.”The 1967 Bizzarini is a valuable piece of machinery that is certain to create enormous spectator interest.With upgraded shock absorbers and a bit of sorting and tuning by Park's Brisbane automotive business, the car is now a real contender in the Classic class.“The Bizzarini GT America is a very rare car and it is even rarer to see one competing in full competition in events like Targa,” Copeland said.“But the car's owner, Rob Sherrard, believes in using them as they were meant to be used, not wrapped in cloth in some museum.”The 17th Targa Tasmania, featuring dozens of exotic cars, starts on April 15, taking the record-breaking field of 305 entries along some of the best rally roads in the country, before the grand finish at Wrest Point on April 20. 

The new Triumph 675cc Street Triple will be launched in Austria on June 30 and arrive in Australian showrooms in November, but there is no local release date yet for the touring version of the 2.3 litre Rocket III. Street Triple is architecturally and stylistically based on the 1050cc Speed Triple naked streetfighter with a detuned version of the Daytona 675 Supersport engine. It will cost $11,990, a substantial reduction in price from the Daytona ($14,890) and Speed Triple ($15,990). The touring version of its 2.3 litre Rocket III will feature new bodywork, suspension and chassis. It has fixed panniers, a front screen, reshaped fuel tank and a single headlight rather than the Rocket's twin lights. Suspension revisions include right-way-up forks, new rear shock springs to cope with the extra weight of the panniers and pillion passenger, and new wheels. The frame is lengthened at the front and features extra bracing to stiffen it to cope with the extra weight. The current Rocket III costs $24,990 and $25,990 for the Classic.

Michael Schumacher retired with seven world championships, but 007 is up to 21 movies — with six different macho men in the role — and still going hard.During the past quarter-century and in 21 official films, Bond has been the target of more bad guys on wheels than anyone else in cinema history, yet he has always managed to escape without a scratch.And he has often pulled a nifty U-turn on the opposition with some sort of car trickery, from concealed machine guns on a 1960s Aston Martin to an '80s Lotus Esprit that morphed into a submarine — and even a remote-controlled BMW 7 Series in the '90s.Now he's back for the noughties, and doing it again in the remake of Casino Royale, which opened in cinemas just before Christmas. And he's back in an Aston Martin, just like the early days.The hype for the new 007 movie got me thinking not only about Bond's wheelwork in the latest British supercar, but also the dream car of my childhood: a scale model of the Aston Martin DB5 Bond drove in the 1960s.It came with all the Bond gear — revolving number plates, concealed machine guns, tyre-slashers, a bulletproof rear shield and even an ejector seat.In 1965, Corgi released its scale model of the gadget-laden DB5, and by 1968 nearly four million copies had been sold.It remains Corgi's best-known model, and I couldn't afford it.The release of the 21st-century Casino Royale has triggered a lot of talk about 007 and cars and movies.The model-making machine is already rolling again, with scaled-down copies of the DBS and even re-done — but de-gadgeted — replicas of the original DB5. And this time, there was a tiny Aston in my Christmas stocking.It's worth looking at what Bond cameos have done for car companies.BMW experienced plenty of benefit when it signed a multi-movie deal that began with its baby Z3 convertible. The world saw the car first when it was driven on the big screen by Bond. That deal continued with the Z8 convertible and the controversially styled 7, and even a BMW motorcycle.But then Britain bounced back for the last of Pierce Brosnan's appearances as Bond, when he slid back into an Aston and the baddies strapped into a rocket-equipped Jaguar.This time around, Agent 007 is driving a gorgeous new DBS, and there's even a special appearance by an original DB5.A poll has been conducted for the television series Top Gear on the most popular car chase in Bond movie history. And the winner is ... no, not the Aston. Not a Jaguar, nor the Lotus, nor even one of the BMWs.First choice was a crazy little Citroen 2CV that suffered all sorts of punishment — including being cut in half — when it was driven by Roger Moore in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. The four-wheeled co-stars:Dr No (1962): Sunbeam Alpine, Chevrolet Bel AirconvertibleFrom Russia With Love (1963): Bentley Mark IVGoldfinger (1964): Aston Martin DB5, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes 190SL, Lincoln Continental, Ford Mustang convertible, Rolls-Royce Phantom IIIThunderball (1965): Aston Martin DB5, Ford Mustang convertible, BSA Lightning motorcycle, gyrocopter1967 You Only Live Twice: Toyota 2000 GT, BMW CSOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): Aston Martin DBS, Mercury Cougar, Bentley S2 Continental, Rolls-Royce CornicheDiamonds Are Forever (1971): Ford Mustang Mach 1, Triumph Stag, moon buggyLive And Let Die (1973): double-decker London bus, Chevrolet Impala convertible, MiniMokeThe Man With The Golden Gun (1974): AMC Hornet and Matador, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977): Lotus Esprit, Wetbike concept, Ford Cortina Ghia, Mini MokeMoonraker (1979): Bentley Mark IV, Rolls-Royce SilverWraithFor Your Eyes Only (1981): Citroen 2CV, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Rolls-Royce Silver WraithOctopussy (1983): Mercedes-Benz 250 SE, BMW 5 Series, Alfa Romeo GTVA View To A Kill (1985): Renault taxi, Ford LTD, Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, Chevrolet Corvette C4The Living Daylights (1987): Aston Martin DBS and V8 Vantage, Audi 200 QuattroLicence To Kill (1989): Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Kenworth petrol tankerGoldenEye (1995): BMW Z3, Aston Martin DB5, Russian tank, Ferrari 355Tomorrow Never Dies (1997): Aston Martin DB5, BMW 750iL, BMW R1200C motorcycleThe World Is Not Enough (1999): BMW Z8, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowDie Another Day (2002): Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar XKR, Ford Thunderbird convertibleCasino Royale (2006): Aston Martin DBS and DB5, Jaguar E-type roadster, Fiat Panda 4x4, Ford Transit, Ford Mondeo