Australia has a rich heritage of vehicle manufacturing, but nothing compares to the Giocattolo. Cooler than a lounge suit and white Ray Bans in the 80s. Made on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast the Giocattolo was quick enough to pants a Ferrari at a fraction of the price and was so Aussie, the tool kit included a bottle of Bundy Rum.
If you’ve never heard the story of the Giocattolo (Italian for Toy), it’s a tale of 1980s gusto mixed with more hurdles than an Olympic decathlon.
Built in Caloundra the Giocattolo was the brainchild of Aussie businessman Paul Halstead. Early in his career, he worked in IT in the UK, and story has it he wrangled himself a DeTomaso as a company car. Punting the that car around the UK stirred a passion in Paul for mid-engine maniac supercars. On his return to Oz, Halstead bailed on the lucrative IT industry and turned his business nouse and enthusiasm to the automotive industry. He quickly established an Alfa Romeo dealership and acquired the distribution rights for DeTomaso vehicles. Eventually, he was selling DeTomasos
