Best opinion pieces of 2016

Ford Focus RS: Why the Nanny State is out of control

People like to tar all media with the same brush, so it’s little embarrassing when our colleagues at other media outlets come up with stories such this effort slamming the Ford Focus’s Drift Mode as “illegal” and encouraging hoons. Stephen Corby was a little more incensed than embarrassed when he bashed out this rant at those members of the media, who he deems to be in cahoots with “officers of the Nanny State”.

Keeping your licence on Australian roads is a matter of luck

Corby maintained the rage in this piece where he explained how if you drive like a normal person, you’re basically hanging on to that precious piece of plastic in your wallet by the thinnest of threads – particularly if you live in Victoria.

Australia’s motoring future is bleak

The final Ford Falcon rolling off the Broadmeadows production gave us a glimpse of our motoring life in Australia once local vehicle manufacturing finishes by the end of 2017. And, according to Toby Hagon, it’s not pretty.

Why Ford’s closure date is a fail

Glenn Butler questioned Ford Australia’s diary-keeping abilities and canned the company for scheduling the closure of its local manufacturing on the same weekend as the Bathurst 1000 – a sacred date for die-hard fans of Aussie cars.

Why scrapping unrestricted speed limits in the Northern Territory is a stupid decision

Corby could have simply written “because it’s stupid”, but instead provided a thoughtful lament on how rare it is when governments get things right, only to have their good work undone by the “Nanny Staters”.

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