Alex Unleashed on Cars

You may have noticed that I haven't really discussed Formula 1 much on this blog. I have mentioned where necessary but never done anything specific to it. The reason for that is there are people with far more knowledge, insider info and insight than I have, folks like Bring Back V10s, Aiden Millward and AutoSport could probably do a much better job than I could. But there was 1 area I could discuss, and that was my favourite seasons, not the best, but the ones I like most: close racing, crazy winners and point scorers and the genuinely unexpected, for a sport than can be incredibly predictable and dull, it also has the capability of being the exact opposite. 1982 Drivers Champion: Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford) Runners Up:  Didier Peroni (Ferrari) John Watson (McLaren Ford) Alain Prost (Renault) Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford) Constructors Champion: Ferrari  Runners Up: McLaren, Renault, Williams, Brabham Favourite Race: Monaco GP 1982 will probably go down as the season that seemingl...

Vauxhall isn't really up to much these days. The last time Vauxhall did something exciting was probably the 2010 Astra. But 20 or so years ago, Vauxhall was cooking with gas. We had the VX220, Zafira mk2, Astra mk5, Signum, Insignia and the whole VXR range of cars that had a whiff of in your face attitude that could give even the Vectra a dose of excitement. But, i'm not here talk about them, as today's spotlight is the Monaro. The Monaro started as a Holden over in Australia since GM owned both Holden/HSV and Vauxhall/Opel at the time, the Monaro was later sold as the Pontiac GTO in the States. The Monaro is essentially a coupe version of the HSV GTS-R, which was briefly sold here until 2002, that car had effectively been a cut price BMW M5 with racing pedigree as a competitor in the V8 Supercars series, HSV had also sold the bigger Grange saloon which could be seen as a V8 Vauxhall Omega. The Monaro also serves as the basis for the HSV Maloo as well. Under the bonnet of t...