AutoNews Australia
The latest news and reviews from around the globe for Australian car enthusiasts. A small publishing firm based in the Festival State and the little Island of Tasmania.
Turbo Tabloid
What's the exotic car scene like in Australia?
On January 7, 2021 January 9, 2021 By AutoNews AustraliaIn Articles
Our editors took a peek through the exotic car dealerships of Sydney and Melbourne to show the world what supercars reside in the land down under.
With a population of only 25 million people and a land mass thats 70% arid, we often get asked the question – does Australia have nice cars?
To answer your questions from overseas, we'd like to present you with a small 'visual guide' per se as to what exotic car dealerships you should visit in Australia, and what you may find if you wander said dealerships.
Dutton Garage
We'll start off with Melbourne's biggest and most exclusive used car dealer, Dutton Garage. Located in the affulent suburb of Richmond just east of the city, Dutton is critically acclaimed for it's quality, range and quantity of exotic cars. From high-end super saloons to modern, classic supercars and incredibly rare hypercars, Dutton seems to have it all.
Whilst our editors were having a stroll around, some of the most notable cars that were on display comprised of a Porsche 918, McLaren Senna, Ferrari F40 & F50, Jaguar XJ220, two Lexus LFAs etc, along with some rare classics like the Lancia Delta EVO 1, Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer and Lamborghini Diablo.
Likely the rarest car on display however was a Maserati branded, rebodied Ferrari Enzo – one of just fifty Maserati MC12s ever made. We've heard it's quite a unique car to see in person.
Currently on Dutton Garage's website, they also have cars such as the Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Carrera GT, Bugatti Veyron, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari available for sale in the modern section.
For the classics, some notable cars listed include the Porsche 959, 993 GT2, Lamborghini Miura and Mercedes-Benz 300SL – and recently sold examples include an Aston Martin DB5, Ford RS200, Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution and BMW 3.0 CSL.
Lorbek Luxury Cars
Located in the heart of Port Melbourne, Lorbek Luxury Cars is Australia's newly opened home of Koenigsegg, and although there were no scrambled 'eggs on the showroom floor at the time of visiting, there certainly were some interesting stuff around.
Going straight for the supercars and hypercars aisle – aside from the usual Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, Lorbek boasted a McLaren Senna, Aston Martin Vantage GT12, Lamborghini Murcielago SV, Diablo VT Roadster, along with a rare and unique Citroen SM and Australia's own 474kW LS9 powered Holden Special Vehicles GTS-R W1 – the toughest, fastest and most expensive Holden ever made.
Classic Throttle Shop
If you happen to find yourself in North Sydney with some time to kill, wander through Sydney's famous Classic Throttle Shop and you won't be disappointed (unless you're our editors, because the shop was closed).
Anyhow, a glance in the window at the very least makes it clear as day that there are some incredible cars around. Among the luxuries in the showroom sat a Ferrari 599 GTO and a Koenigsegg CCR – the latter of which has just been sold and moved interstate.
From their website, just some of the notable cars that have been sold recently include a Lexus LFA, Porsche 911 R, HSV GTS-R W1, Ferrari F12Berlinetta & Lamborghini Espada amongst many other rare classic sports cars and modern supercars.
At the time of writing, you do have the opportunity to pick up clean examples of the Mercedes 300SL, Aston Martin Lagonda, McLaren 650S Can-Am if you are interested.
Scuderia Graziani
Located just east of Sydney's city centre, luxury dealer Scuderia Graziani never lacks a vibrant show on display. During the visit, our editors saw yet another Ferrari F40 and Porsche Carrera GT, as well as higher end modern offerings from Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini and Mercedes-Benz.
There's an upstairs section too for classic and more affordable cars too, so don't feel too obliged to spend six digit figures while you're there. Looking around is free, and the dealers are generally nice towards those that lack the funds but aspire to own an exotic one day.
Zagame Automotive Group
Zagame might just be Australia's largest supplier of new supercars, and we'll start off by talking about their Ferrari and Maserati wing. Some incredible cars in their Melbourne showroom range from 'textbook' GranTurismos, California Ts and 488s to 599 GTOs and yet another F40. A popular vendor for exotics, Zagame managed to offload 16 brand new Ferraris in Australia in December of 2020 – which when you compare to a European mean monthly sales figure of 270, it's on the high side of sales per capita.
Of course, it wouldn't be the largest dealer without owning the rights to sell other supercar brands – so the dealership doesn't just end at Ferrari and Maserati. Their McLaren and Lamborghini dealers are pretty much right next door, and at the time of visiting, the floor showcased a pretty incredible lineup containing a Senna, Huracan EVO and Aventador Miura Homage. There was also what looks to be an Aventador SVJ hiding under the covers – but for the sake of it being under wraps – we can't say we're certain.
More brands owned by Zagame include Aston Martin & Rolls-Royce – and in the combined showroom sat cars such as the DB11, DBS Superleggera, and Dawn Black Badge. Zagame's ring doesn't end there however, as they also own the retail stores for Fiat & Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Caterham, Lotus, Morgan and one more – which you'll hear about just below.
Last but not least, Zagame's trump card, the Pagani dealership – and inside sits an absolutely stunning Huayra. The official launch of Pagani Australia was showcased in March of 2018, and with it came seven Paganis from overseas, dropping the jaws of every pedestrian and motorist in the streets of Melbourne. We unfortunately didn't get to witness any of that, but damn that would have been a sight to behold.
Various other dealers & on the street
Our editors didn't spend a lot of time roaming the streets, but we'll go ahead and be braggadocious about our country punching above its weight in exotic car ownership. From Ubering in Sydney to driving around Melbourne, our editors spent just a day and a half in each city, bumping into modern exotics such as the Ferrari 488 Pista, 458 Speciale, Aston Martin Vantage AMR and Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni, as well as rare classics including a 300SL Roadster in Bondi and an Audi RS2 on Melbourne's Lygon Street restaurant strip.
Look, there are too many interesting car spots for us to name, so to close, we'll just say – if you're ever in Australia or are planning to visit Australia and you enjoy tracking down exotic cars, we hope we've given you an insight into what you might just see and some of the places you might want to visit.
The Aspark Owl is going global
The first Regera to ever appear at a public auction is up for grabs in Arizona
The FCA and Groupe PSA merger has been completed
GTSR W1 Maloo projected to sell for over $1 million AUD
BMW dubbed a Lamborghini V10 sound over an M2 advert and the internet went wild
A secret roadster that Porsche denied was ever made
Copyright © 2015-2020 AutoNews Australia
Contact Us: autonewsaustralia@gmail.com
Ferrari: non solo au… on Ferrari has no plans to ditch…
liuzhaoli on Six reasons you need a Lexus…
sun on Six reasons you need a Lexus…
JackyZ on Exploring Tasmania's Sou…