The Holden Hurricane

I always wondered how such a unique arm of GM managed to survive so long in such a small market as Aus and NZ.

Shame though, its as Aussie as Crocodile Dundee.

great concept car by the way.

 

Very cool. I've always been jealous of some of the cool stuff they get down there.

 

Very cool indeed!

 

I completed my automotive apprenticeship with General Motors Holden and they have always been a large part of Australian life. It will be a shame to see them go, they are a world class operation. The new Camaro (which shared its platform with the Holden midsize car) had a huge amount of it's development carried out downunder. Many of their cars were exported to Asia, The middle east and the U.S. (the Pontiac GTO is ours re-badged). There was talk of us supplying dedicated law enforcement vehicles on a large scale but I think that fell through.
Back to the Hurricane for its day it was cutting edge, slippery shape, a kooky navigation system and a screen in the dash for rear vision coz you could not see out the back.. Amazing
For an even more incredible bit of in house engineering Google Holden EFIGY. It's a modern concept of one of the first cars Holden made

 

The Efigy is gorgeous, and so cool!

 

I went to high school in Aus in the 80s, the brand rivalry between Ford and Holden was incredible back then. You were either one or the other with matching jackets just like rival soccer supporters here in the UK. Being a car nut I had never seen such high level interest in cars in a school environment, it was very tribal to a significant degree.

 

The Holden EFIGY is great... but it had a predecessor some 60 years earlier... I'd call plagarism, but it's the same company.


Look at GM's Buick Y-Job by Harley Earl... done in the 30's! Amazing.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Y-Job

 

I agree there are some styling cues there but not sure if intentional, I was still involved with Holden (went to launch event and it seems most people, besides me, got a very valuable die cast Efigy model) and don't recall any mention of Harley Earls design.
If you google the FJ Holden you can se where the design came from for EFIGY (which was an efigy to FJ)

 

I agree totally.
Now all grown up I need a work vehicle (four door, diesel, auto, stylish ute) and it will probably be a Ford. Having been a Holden and Chevy man, many of my friends are horrified!!
Another thing I always found amazing a limited numbers built car in the U.S. Could still be many thousands, but because of our much smaller population a limited car here could be only a hundred or less!