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2010 Australian International Motor Show
This year’s Sydney Motor Show (AIMS), rotating biannually with Melbourne is currently a great success. The press saw many fantastic openings and unveilings of 44 new and improved vehicles.
I think the rotation of locations has been good for the manufactures that are laden with overseas pressures and agenda. One annual Australian Motor Show has let companies like Ford bring out the big guns with a massive display like those seen in Frankfurt and Detroit Shows.
This year’s Motor Show seemed to take on a fantastical approach with great numbers of concept, new model, very special and the insane on display for us mere mortals to dribble over and make those childish sounds of desire that we can’t explain or avoid. It is a glamorous and sexy event to say the least.
Surprisingly, given that it is two years since the last Sydney Motor Show and two years until the next one, there are a few notable absentees. BMW being the stand out. Why they would not appear in the largest show hosted in the largest market in Australia, when their competitors, Audi, Mercedes, VW and Porsche, are all there astounds me.
Also missing are the Ateco stable with Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Ferrari, Fiat and Great Wall all giving the show a miss.
For me the stand out new car reveal was the Range Rover Evoque. This is a great looking car and if it launches around the suggested $60K mark, there will be a very large waiting list very quickly. Other head turners are the Kia Optima. Kia’s version of the Hyundai i45 is a stunner and should sell well when launched early next year.
Renault has a lot of new cars on display as they try to resurrect the brand in Australia and I must say that the new Megane and Clio are great looking cars.
There is also a big electric and hybrid theme with the Mitsubishi iMeiv proudly on display, including a ‘sports version’, Lexus with the new hybrid only, CT200H and the new Civic Hybrid.
It is also a Ute Fest this year with the new Australian designed Ford Ranger taking pride of place on a fantastic Ford stand and the same car on the Mazda stand as the new BT50. The new VW Amarok, due next year is a real head turner and I am sure will do very well for VW.
All in all the show is well worth a visit. It will be 2012 until we see it again.
Car Dealer Slang
If you’ve ever spent much time in a car yard in Australia, you may well have noticed that it’s like car dealers peak another language! Especially when they’re talking to each other.
We thought we’d put together a list of all the car dealer slang we could come up with. But, before you read on, see if you can make sense of the fllolowing video (without the captions)
Then come back here and check out (or add to) our complete dealer glossary!
The Language of Car Yards
Describing a Car
‘dunny door’ – Holden Commodore
‘got form’ – been in previous accident
‘pair of 2’s’ – worth $22K
‘povo pack’ – base model
‘low on ticket’ – running low on registration
‘fast glass’ – power windows
‘bump & hook’ – bullbar & towbar
‘stop’ – abs brakes
‘DC red’ – bright red
‘safety yellow’ – bright yellow
‘double oh, double oh’ – 2000 build, 2000 complied
‘Dolly Partons’ – airbags
a bit leggy – high mileage
‘dollar car’ – a low value trade-in
“puff and blow” – airbags & aircon
‘ncv’ – no commercial value
‘needs boots’ – tyres are worn
‘no humphrey’ – no air conditionaing (Humphrey B Bear – Air)
‘more hits than Elvis’ – panel damage
‘top of the wazza’ – top of the range
‘all the bells and whistles’ – fully optioned
Selling Slang
‘head on the yard’ – potential client outside
‘dudder’ – client can’t get finance
‘tyre kickers’ – time wasting ‘buyers’
‘full lick’ – selling a car at full price
‘wood duck’ – sucker customer
‘upside down’ – negative equity
‘in traffic’ – car is sold & delivered
‘low ball’ – an offer way below what is reasonable
‘gorilla/monkey for the hurt’ – $1,000, $500 to spend
‘ducks on the pond’ – customers outside
‘ghosts’ – clients that won’t go away
‘on the drip’ – weekly payments
‘for a bradman a week’ – $100/week payments
‘on the murray cod’ – on the nod
’90 day beige’ – old stock, can’t sell, nobody wants, bad resale
‘ping the mrs’ – direct the sales tactics towards the female in a couple
Lastly, RIP to John Clarke, the renowned satirist. Here he is many years ago showing the argot over the ditch
So What's Original?
Have you seen the latest Toyota commercials for the new RAV 4?
They claim it is ‘the original SUV’, the one that started it all.
Hrrmph, haven’t they forgotten the Range Rover? This was introduced in 1969 and created a completely new market segment- a four wheel drive vehicle that serves as well on or off the road. 
Now that’s the concept of an SUV so it’s very cheeky to claim the RAV4 as the first, seeing as the RAnge Rover preceeded it by some twenty five years. But then do you believe everything you see in an ad?
Sydney Welcomes Concours D'Elegance
The first truly International standard Concours D’Elegance in Sydney took place last week in the magnificent grounds of St Patrick’s Estate in Manly, with the Northern Beaches and Pacific Ocean providing the perfect backdrop for a display of over $100m of exotic cars, fashion, wine tasting and entertainment.
It kicked off with a cocktail party on the Saturday night for Sydney’s glitterati in the grounds and alongside Bugattis, Rolls Royces, Lagondas and more…and this was just a foretaste of things to come when the public came on Sunday.
The whole of St Patrick’s Estate was littered with magnificent autos from all over the World, many of them worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and some worth millions!
Over 40 of the very best cars were entered in the Concours D’Elegance contest, and the car of the show was won by an outstanding, very rare and very valuable Hispano Suiza owned by Sydney businessman Jorge Fernandez.
But the day was not just for car buffs. The crowds were entertained by a Fashion Show from Charlie Brown, music from Glenn Shorrock singing some of his hits from his days with Little River Band, an exhibition of over $1m of jewellery from J.Farren-Price, wine tasting and fine food. Even the motorcycle enthusiast was catered for with a stunning show of motor cycles spanning the last hundred years.
It truly was a stunning day, never seen in Sydney before, and it was attended by ten lucky prizewinners from our competition last month. Now if you also went to this show we’d love to hear what you thought about it.
Of course Melbournites will not be outdone! They are putting on their own Concours D’Elegance on 23/24th October called ‘MotorClassica’ and another ten winners will be attending this with the compliments of the organizers and Private Fleet.
Level 2, 9 Help Street