The Log Book - Car Culture
We spend a lot of time looking at cars. Not just the obvious stuff, either. Grilles, dashboards, engines, wheel arches, race tracks, model changes and the little details that make one generation instantly recognisable from another. That comes with drawing automotive artwork for a living. Car Culture is where we put some of that obsession into words — the stories behind interesting cars, engines and motorsport, why particular models matter to enthusiasts, and the details we notice when we're turning them into artwork.
We're starting with one of the biggest parts of Australian car culture: the Toyota LandCruiser. Why the 40 Series and 70 Series LandCruisers Matter in Australia Few vehicles are as closely tied to Australian rural life, touring and four-wheel-driving as the LandCruiser. We look at how the early LandCruisers earned their reputation here, why the 40 Series became such an icon, how the 70 Series carried the workhorse idea forward, and why models such as the FJ40, FJ45 and FJ75 still mean so much to owners today.
As this section grows, we'll be covering the cars and subjects that already appear throughout Petrol Threads:
4WD & Australian Touring: LandCruisers, Patrols, Defenders and the vehicles built to keep going when the road doesn't. JDM & Japanese Cars: GT-Rs, Silvias, rotaries, WRXs and the engineering and culture behind them. Australian Cars & Motorsport: Holdens, Fords, Bathurst, Mount Panorama and the cars tied to Australian motoring history. Engines & Engineering: RB26s, rotaries and the mechanical ideas that gave particular cars their character.
We're not interested in filling this section with generic car articles simply because somebody might search for them. If we write about something, it should be because there's an interesting story to tell.
