New year, new Commodore: Farewelling Australian manufacturing

2017 is over. It’s time for sunshine and rose-tinted reflection on the year gone by. But here at CarAdvice, we aren’t taking our foot off the pedal just yet – instead, we’re taking the chance to look back at a huge part of the Australian motoring landscape: Holden.

With a new year comes a fresh beginning for Holden. September 26 saw the closure of the Lion Brand’s plant in Elizabeth, South Australia and, by extension, the end of Australian car manufacturing.

Rather than letting the big, rear-drive Aussie sedan fade quietly into the night, we pulled out all the stops to celebrate what was great about the Commodore.

Things we’ll miss: The V8 ute

The ute is a uniquely Australian creation. Although the body-style was initially developed by Ford, it was Holden which decided to make the breed handle, go and stop like a proper performance car.

In its final iteration, the Commodore SS-V Redline ute combined a 6.2-litre LS3 V8 engine with an independent rear suspension, making it the perfect tyre-frying whip for tradies with attitude.

Things we’ll miss: A spacious, muscular wagon

The automotive landscape is skewed toward SUVs, but wagons are a big part of the Australian landscape. The first Commodore-based wagon launched in 1979, just one year after the first locally-produced Commodore, and we’ve seen fast ones, slow ones and special ones since.

With lots of space in the back, they’re perfect for family road trips, journeys to the drive-in or, if you’re really lucky, intimate encounters.

Things we’ll miss: The big Aussie sedan

Of course, the quintessential Commodore is the sedan. Once the go-to for families, the rear-wheel drive sedan has fallen out of favour with buyers lately, spelling the end of both the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore.

To farewell the breed, we took an SS-V Redline and Falcon XR6 Sprint to the drag strip for a final face-off.

Retrospective: Looking back at 161 years of local production

Holden is best known for the Commodore but, like countless other car manufacturers, it started off as something entirely different. Founded in 1856 by James Alexander Holden, the company initially specialised in saddles and other leather goods.

Some 49 years later, motorcycle sidecars and body-shells were added to the production floor, while Melbourne tram cars followed in the ’20s. In 1924, the company became the sole supplier of GM cars in Australia, before the companies merged in 1931.

As you probably know, the 48-215 (FX) rolled forth from Fisherman’s Bend in 1948, with a price equivalent to almost two years salary for the average worker. The first Commodore arrived in 1978, while the most successful model was the VT, selling more than 300,000 examples in just three years.

For the full rundown, and an explanation of why the Commodore eventually died, check out the full Paul Maric story. It’s a fitting tribute to an icon.

What are you going to miss about big, locally-built cars like the Commodore? 

MORE: Holden Commodore news, reviews, comparisons and video
MORE: Everything Holden

Komentar

Posting Komentar

Postingan populer dari blog ini

Teacher accused of using rented Toyota Supra for land-speed record attempt

Gambar
A high-school teacher in the US could be more than $6000 out of pocket if he is found to have violated the terms of use of a rented Toyota Supra driven to a top speed record. A US high school teacher is facing legal action – and $US4000 ($AU6000) in costs – after being accused of renting a turbocharged Toyota Supra performance coupe from a car-sharing service and used the vehicle in a racing competition without the owner’s knowledge. The high-school teacher from Indiana – and his team of female mechanic students – were on their way to compete in the 2023 U.S. Mile land-speed trials in Texas last month. The girls and their teacher had built a high-performance Chevrolet S10 pick-up for the ‘Texas Mile’ – a competition which sees vehicles try to achieve the highest possible speed from a standing start within one-mile (1.6km) on a runway. However, the 1997 Chevrolet S-10 ute suffered a mechanical failure on the way to the event. Due to the hard work put in to make the 1800km j...
Baca selengkapnya

2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport imagined with this artist impression

Gambar
The new flagship of the Toyota HiLux range was caught on camera in Thailand late last year wearing little disguise. Now we have created an artist impression of what it could look like. Last month we got our first look at a camouflaged version of the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport , the flagship ute set to replace the range-topping Toyota HiLux Rugged X in Australian showrooms later this year. Now we have an artist impression of the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport (pictured above) that aims to remove some of the camouflage of the test vehicle caught on camera in Thailand mid-December 2022. As previously reported, although other versions of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport have been launched in Europe, South Africa and Japan over the past year or so, the 2023 edition appears to be the most aggressive yet. The latest Toyota HiLux GR Sport is set to come to Australia for the first time, though timing of the international unveiling and showroom arrivals are yet to be announced. A series ...
Baca selengkapnya

2024 Tesla Model Y facelift due mid next year – report

Gambar
A major update for the world’s best-selling new car is around the corner, with “more obvious” exterior and interior upgrades. What the updated Model Y could look like, illustrated by Theottle. A facelift for the 2024 Tesla Model Y electric SUV may be less than nine months away – after a similar update to the related Model 3 sedan earlier this year – according to a new report. News agency Bloomberg reports Tesla has begun “preparation work” to ready its Shanghai, China factory for a “more obvious” exterior and interior update to the Model Y . Production “may start as soon as mid-2024”, according to the outlet – which could translate to Australian showroom arrivals by the end of next year, if the arrival timeline of the recent Model 3 update is a guide. It is sooner than the October 2024 estimate published in a report by news agency Reuters earlier this year. MORE: 2024 Tesla Model Y facelift due next year with exterior, interior upgrades – report Citing insider so...
Baca selengkapnya