Back in 1969 Holden was unveiling its first concept car - the Hurricane. It was a a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat sports car incorporating a remarkable array of innovative features and technology, much of it years ahead of its time. Now the company has restored that concept as an experiment "to study design trend, propulsion systems and other long-range developments".
The restoration process has begun back in 2006 and is now finally ready for a first display to the public at the Motorclassica, car show at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building from October 21-23.
"The entire team has done a fantastic job in bringing this beautiful concept back to life,” Paul Clarke, Holden’s manager for Creative Hard Modelling said. "The Hurricane plays a crucial role in Holden’s story and the company has such a great sense of history and heritage that it was very important to bring RD 001 back to life. It’s been a challenging but incredibly rewarding process."
Hit the jump to read more about the 1969 Holden Hurricane Concept.
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Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) has unveiled the special edition "SV Black Edition" based on either ClubSport R8, ClubSport Tourer R8, or Maloo R8 models at the Melbourne Auto Show. This special edition will be offered in both manual and automatic transmissions and will go on sale in September.
The "SV Black Edition" will be offered with matte black detailing, a Vector hood scoop and fender gills, HSV’s bi-modal exhaust system, and 20-inch forged alloy wheels. For the interior, the Black Edition models will add a unique dash treatment, leather seats, and a leather-bound steering wheel, on top of the already generous E3 equipment list. A special Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) system that will offer details on power, torque, manifold pressure, fuel, elevation, voltage, oil and air temperature will also be available.
The standard equipment list includes a reversing camera, park assist, and satellite navigation. There will only be 225 units built and, despite the "Black Edition" name, this special edition will be offered in Sting Red, Heron White, Alto Grey, Nitrate Silver, and Phantom (black).
Details after the jump
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Any Australians anxiously awaiting the return of the Thunder can now breathe a tremendous sigh of relief; it seems that Holden will be bringing back the special edition Thunder nameplate to the VE Series II Ute line-up. The special edition has been launched as a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the original 1951 Ute and will be based on the popular SV6 and SS Ute models. The SV6 will be powered by a 3.6l SIDI V6 and the SS Ute will come with the standard V8. Both models will come standard with a six-speed manual transmission and optional six-speed automatic.
The special edition Holden Thunder Ute will be available in 10 exterior colors and will be distinguished by unique 19-inch five spoke charcoal alloy wheels. Thunder badges will also be visible on the side and rear of the exterior, while the interior gets sports seats with leather bolsters and Touch-screen Holden-iQ system with Satellite Navigation.
"Over 60 years of production, the Holden ute has evolved from typical tradesman’s transport to two-door sports machine with a practical edge - that’s epitomized by the Thunder range," Holden Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales John Elsworth said. "It is a really bold, tough looking ute which we think will appeal to many of our traditional sports ute buyers. We’re expecting it to be an absolute winner in our showrooms."
Americans always says that Canadians are “just like us.” They talk (almost) the same, look slightly paler, and they just happen to use those funny little kilometers per hour instead of the proper miles per hour. After much thought though, it’s the Australians that are most like Americans– especially when it comes down to the shared passion of muscle cars.
The Holden Commodore last made its appearance on our shores in 2009 as the Pontiac G8. It was a big, full-size, four door sedan, complete with an equally big Corvette-sourced V8 engine. What’s not to love about it?
Unfortunately for us, the G8 left our market with the demise of Pontiac in 2010 and we’ve been without our fair share of Australian cars since then. But alas some good news: according to GM Inside News, the Holden Commodore has been confirmed to return to the United States as a 2014 Chevrolet SS Sedan.
Even better news follows. GM Inside News also reports that General Motors is considering bringing the Holden Commodore Ute and Commodore SportWagon to our shores as well, as the Chevy El Camino and SportWagon. If these rumors hold any water, we’d expect to see the El Camino the same time we see the SS Sedan and the Sport Wagon released soon thereafter.
For the record, this isn’t the first time these rumors have popped up. Some of you may even remember that we were supposed to get the Commodore Ute back in 2009 as the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck before the economy tanked and it was cancelled. Also in July of the same year, Bob Lutz said that the G8 would be saved and become the Chevrolet Caprice. That also turned out to be untrue although the Commodore’s big brother, the Statesman went on to become the new Caprice PPV.
While there is hope for these awesome Aussies on our shores, we’ll have to wait to believe it when we see it.
Take a good first look at this car and you may just sit there for a few minutes with absolutely no words. Official Chevrolet Camaros come in the classic coupe and convertible forms, but unofficially things can get a little, shall we say, eccentric. For example, some tuners feel that a car should be taken to that next level just on the other side of normalcy. A coupe and convertible Camaro? Boring! How about a completely inappropriate muscle car turned truck? Apparently, that’s what Luke Bromidge from Victoria thinks is fitting of a vehicle tuned to look like a classic and beautiful Chevrolet Camaro and pick-up truck. All around the world muscle cars are weeping over their fallen brethren.
While we never imagined something like this was even possible, Luke Bromidge from Victoria has spent moths in customizing a front end that will transform any Holden VE Commodore into a Camaro. While we admit the VE Commodore owners will be very happy with the new and more aggressive look, we really can’t imagine what a Camaro owner will think when it sees something that is supposed to be a muscle car carrying all kinds of cargo in its newly opened rear trunk.
The worst part of this whole conversion is that it is extremely simple. All Bromidge has to do is take the front end kit, install it, and paint it. Ta-da! Did anyone order a Camaro pick-up?
