The $1.6 Million Australian Coupe Built for the Driven
Hand-built in Melbourne and limited to just 10 cars a year, the Zeigler/Bailey Z/B 4.4 is reshaping what a modern collector car can be.
2 min
In a quiet workshop in inner city Melbourne, one of the most ambitious performance cars in Australia is being built by hand.
Limited to just 10 cars a year and priced at $1.6 million, the Zeigler/Bailey Z/B 4.4 is not designed to chase mass appeal.
It is built for a very specific kind of driver. One who wants feel over flash, engineering over hype, and a car with soul as well as speed.
The Z/B 4.4 takes visual cues from the classic air-cooled Porsche era of the late 1970s and 80s, but beneath the familiar silhouette sits an entirely new platform.
Rather than restoring or lightly modifying an old chassis, the team has replaced the floor and structure with a clean-sheet, motorsport-bred tub, engineered to modern Australian safety standards and designed to work in both right- and left-hand drive.
The result is a car that looks nostalgic, but behaves like a thoroughly modern performance machine.
Power comes from a bespoke 4.4-litre air-cooled flat-six engine, designed and assembled in-house and machined from solid aluminium billet.
With 300 kilowatts of power and 500 Newton-metres of torque, its output slightly surpasses that of today’s Porsche 911 Carrera, while retaining the raw sound and character of classic air-cooled engineering.
Much of the car’s suspension architecture is inspired by Le Mans prototype racing, with push-rod actuated dampers and a multi-link rear system designed to deliver both comfort and precision.
The electronics have also been built from scratch, using a solid-state CAN-bus architecture that allows for digital instrumentation, remote diagnostics and ongoing software updates.
Every Z/B 4.4 begins life as a donor Porsche 911 from the 1975 to 1989 G-series era. From there, almost everything mechanical, structural and electronic is reimagined. More than 3,500 bespoke parts go into each finished car.
Despite the engineering depth, this is not a track-only machine.
Owners are involved in the personalisation of colour, trim and finishes, with many choosing to take part in selected phases of the build itself. Seating, ride settings, digital displays and even engine tuning can all be adjusted to suit the driver.
Behind the project are entrepreneur and Porsche collector John Zeigler Jr and automotive engineer Greg Bailey.
Together, they have created not just a car, but a global low-volume manufacturing model, using advanced CNC machining and 3D printing to produce parts that would once have been impossible to fabricate locally.
The business now employs a specialised team of designers, engineers and assemblers, and has plans to scale internationally through engines, components and licensed assembly.
For collectors, the appeal is as much about rarity as performance. Only 10 cars a year will be built for the Australian market. Six are already sold. Delivery from order is about 12 months.
In a world where hypercars increasingly blur into one another, the Z/B 4.4 stands apart as something deeply personal and proudly Australian. It is not designed to dominate social media feeds or sit under velvet ropes. It is designed to be driven.
As the creators like to say, you do not buy cool. You build it.
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Built up over more than a decade, Ravensdale Farm and Retreat blends luxury living, resort-style amenities and productive farmland across almost 50 hectares.
2 min
When an estate has been carefully curated by its wealthy owners for more than a decade, the next custodian knows they’re in for a treat of a retreat.
Food-packaging entrepreneur Ted Nathan and his wife, Jenny, purchased the original 25ha Ravensdale Farm in Yarramalong Valley for $1.35 million 12 years ago according to title records.
Since then, the pair have reportedly invested more than $5.5 million to acquire several neighbouring parcels in order to create a contemporary compound now measuring more than 49ha.
Today’s Ravensdale Farm and Retreat, about 24kms from Wyong, is now a dual-estate 12-bedroom, 11-bathroom luxury landholding.
The property is expected to sell for about $30 million via an expressions of interest campaign with Cullen & Royle agents Deborah Cullen and Richard Royle.
Alongside the modern three-storey five-bedroom farmhouse, there is a long list of “must have” resort-style amenities and productive farmland primed to produce a passive income.
Framed by a 4m wraparound veranda, the sophisticated main residence has several outdoor spaces for homeowners and their guests to soak up the bucolic backdrop, lush paddocks and established gardens.
Inside, the homestead features multiple living spaces for grand scale entertaining inside and out, a library, a home office, private cinema, games room and accommodation designed for large families or a steady stream of weekend guests.
Custom made for hosting year round, the expansive estate also includes a sports bar with a commercial-grade kitchen, a championship size tennis court which can be transformed into an alfresco cinema when the mood strikes.
Additional spaces designed for fun include a sunken fire pit, a hidden garden with a European-inspired pétanque court, a pickle ball court and a private paddock dedicated to major events and functions.
There is also a separate second residence, Ravensdale Retreat, devoted to guest stays or potential short-term accommodation.
The bonus residence is set up to provide a fully self-contained experience outside of the main home when needed. It has a choice of bedrooms, a spacious living area, an outdoor pavilion, pizza deck, and its own pool.
Beyond its weekender credentials, Ravensdale Farm lives up to its name. A working farm, the estate has cattle infrastructure, fertile pastures featuring Kikuyu and Rhodes grasses complemented by high end irrigation and water systems, as well as land management systems designed for efficiency and long-term resilience.
The land can comfortably support cattle and horses – currently home to approximately 40 cows and calves, plus horses – and has productive fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, a chicken coop and a restored century-old barn.
Surrounded by the rolling green hills of the Yarramalong Valley, Ravensdale Farm and Retreat is approximately a 25-minute drive from Wyong and around 90 minutes from Sydney with coastal hotspots like Terrigal and The Entrance are within easy reach.
Ravensdale Farm and Retreat is on the market with a price guide of $30m via an expressions of interest campaign with Cullen Royle.
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