Back in 1985 Unique Cars started as a cheap and happy classifieds catalogue, offering some bargain collectible cars, the odd boat, a few motorcycles and even an aircraft or two. If you could step back in time, you’d happily buy any of them.

We’ve moved on.

The original classified-only print monster morphed into a pukka muscle and classic car industry ‘bible’, where you could get advice, inspiration and market trends, alongside some serious wallet-tempting buys.

It’s become a multi-platform read: Magazine, website at tradeuniquecars.com.au and the ever-growing social media browse through Facebook/Meta, YouTube and Instagram.

Along the way, the magazine has developed an exceptional pool of market intelligence and, out of that, produces four annual must-have market guides: Australian and American Muscle Cars; Australian Family Cars, European and British Classics; and Japanese Classics.

All four are compiled using real-world values and are the only accurate guides to national market trends.

Every single contributor to Unique Cars lives and breathes the dream. How they do it varies. Some have one or two toys in the shed they dote over. Others have a worryingly large fleet that costs them a bomb and tests their sanity, while a few change cars like most people change underwear – but for them the cars are far more personal.

When you scan what they own and love, it covers a broad base: Muscle cars, classics, cheap and cheerful builds. It could be a Chrysler, Triumph, BMW, Ford, Holden, Citroen, Toyota, with anything from two to 12 cylinders hidden under the paint.

Backing that up is real industry knowledge. It could be a history working for a brand importer in decades past, as an engineer for some of the biggest auto names in existence, a concours judge, a race driver, magazine road-tester across the decades, market analyst for the insurance industry and even as a PR wallah. Or a second-generation real-world mechanic with his own workshop.

The breadth and depth of experience is exceptional.

What we’re about is talking with, rather than at, unique car owners. Experience counts for nothing unless you’re willing to listen to the stories of owners and learn more.

At every turn, we find surprises. That rare model variant which has been hidden in a shed for decades, the industry player who was involved in a project and had an insight that no-one ever heard of until now, or that family story where a gem has been loved and passed across the generations. Or the first-hand account of an epic restoration.

To us, that is gold. The discussion, the discovery and honouring those memories.