SUBSCRIBE TO THE
MAGAZINE NOW
Facebook-f Instagram

LaFerrari on display at the Australian Motoring Festival

27 March, 2015

If you’re looking for a place to see more than $30 million worth of sports cars, and you just so happen to be in Melbourne over the weekend of March 28—29, then the Australian Motoring Festival at then Melbourne Showgrounds may just be the place to be.

But if you’re like us and can’t quite make it over the ditch, then have a look at what the centrepiece of the 2000-square-metre Ferrari exhibition is. Yes, that’s the $3 million, limited-production, hybrid supercar — the LaFerrari. 

It’s known as Ferrari’s most ambitious project ever, and will be located amidst a huge range of Ferrari engineering and design in the no-expense-spared display.

The CEO of Ferarri Australasia, Herbert Appleroth, says, “Surrounding LaFerrari will be a uniquely Ferrari experience featuring 30 years of Ferrari supercar history, [and] a stunning Ferrari showroom with the latest range of Ferrari road cars.”

The festival started on March 26 and will run through to March 29.

More to the point

6 March, 2026

This Daimler SP252 is so rare, few people know it exists. It’s one of a kind. It’s the only surviving, in fact the only SP252 ever completed; the would-be successor to the SP250 Daimler Dart. It is also the last sports car to have been designed by Jaguar’s legendary founder, Sir William Lyons.
Perhaps one of the original Dart’s biggest problems was it’s somewhat-divisive looks. It certainly went well enough to win fans, although Sir William wasn’t among them. It crushed the opposition in the Bathurst six-hour race, finishing five laps ahead of anyone else, and it was snapped up by police forces in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, as it was the fastest thing on the road.
So you’d think a stunning new body with the magic Lyons touch would have been a surefire success. Why this car never made it into production is still something of a mystery, as the official explanations barely stack up.

Polishing to perfection

26 February, 2026

The secret to a show-stopping finish is colour sanding, no matter which paint system you use. Even a good painter, no matter how experienced or talented — like my mate Bruce Haye, CEO at Ace Panel and Paint in Whitianga — can’t shoot to a perfect mirror finish. To get that level of perfection, you need to colour sand.
It used to be called ‘rubbing out’ or ‘cutting’, and it was done with pastes that came in cans. They worked — sort of — but the compounds really just rounded off imperfections instead of eliminating them, and they removed a lot of paint in the process. But now your new finish can be made flawless, thanks to microfine sandpapers that come in 1000, 1500, 2000, and even 2500 grit ranges, and Farecla G3 polish — available from automotive paint suppliers.