Where are you?
Sth Gippy coast.
Why do you ask, sweetie?
I got one of the very early ones and I don’t recall it was marketed that way in the beginning.
I do remember the first night driving home a couple of drunk teammates. One was going to spew, so stuck his head out the window. Cricket cap lost along Booran Rd, half the spew ended up inside the car. Thanks…mate!
You might catch a glimpse of Booran Rd today watching the races. That’s where most of the Caulfield stables are.
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Ah Booran Rd, know it well. That’s about 200m from where I killed my first Holden, a HG sedan, by sticking it into a light pole. Not my finest moment
Heh. I remember my mates HG wagon. We went camping on the Murray one week - in the days when you could takes guns and shoot things and it didn’t feel wrong. My mate was lying on top of his roof-rack - one of those big black real ones, and we were shooting at this fishing float we strung up from a branch over the river, with .22’s. Until…he shot and hit his farking roof rack about 3’ in front of his face and got the fright of his life.
Haha fun times.
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I’ll keep an eye out.
Sounds fancy.
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Always GM, took over Holden who were coachbuilders and made bodies for rolling chassis or CKD’s.
I am the proud owner of a 2000 Holden Vectra, it’s effectively just a rebadged Vauxhall or Opel. It’s got heaps of birdshit on it, cobwebs on the side mirrors, the left one lost its cover, so I’ve used duct tape to cover it up but it goes and goes and keeps going. I use it once a week to get shopping done or go to cricket with the big kit bag. Perhaps the odd drive to the sticks but that’s it for me.
Car ownership today is for the ■■■■■■■ birds, it’s expensive, douchebag P platers tailgating, we get taken to the cleaners for some petty fines (but also many legitimate) and I don’t particularly enjoy driving on Melbourne’s busy roads where being inconsiderate and a prick is not unusual but without being the wet blanket here, I can appreciate those who genuinely love their cars, aspects of car culture in general or even being in Rye at Xmas with all the Greek families and Pt Nepean Road hilariously bumper to bumper with souped up Calais and an arm out the driver window. For all my disdain towards the idea of them, they give you some awesome memories. Like when I was 16, my late friend who with his brother, used to duck by my parents house in his zippy Torana and drive us down to the surf. We decided one night to stay and get hammered. Without accommodation, we snuck into the Angelsea caravan park and tried to sleep in our surfboard covers. I was sat in the driver’s seat, in the Torie and the autumn morning was absolutely freezing. This was at least better than being soaked out in the rain. It’s rare to see a Torie these days but when I do I think of my mate who is no longer with us.
The night in the caravan park was the mid 90’s, I miss all those 70’s era vehicles and while there were some horrific accidents, safety issues and leaded petrol, Melbourne’s roads however from memory were a lot more relaxed.
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My first car was a Cortina 240, and it was a decent unit, but the ring gear had a bad habit of sticking.
l also had an HR with the smaller, non standard 141 motor. I bought in between a couple of MGB’s. It had been rust proofed with fish oil, and there was not a speck of rust on it. It cost me a $1000. l bought it from a teaching colleague, and when l bought my second MGB, l sold it to a student. The car was sound and pretty basic, reliable as anything. It didn’t like to go too fast however, so the 75 max speed limit around town suited it perfectly for cruising. It is probably still running today
I know a bloke with a 1963 EH that’s he’s owned since new.
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Still running?
The EH or the bloke?
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Well, both.
Lol.
Dad had an EH auto wagon. the last car he ever bought. We should have kept it after he passed on and restored or customized it. It finally got passed out of the family years after he died. A genuine one owner, and the upholstery was still in excellent nick. had never been dinged and free of rust. l think we got peanuts for it in the end. He had an FC before that.
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Not ford Aus’ decision, at all.
I think ( and a few people who should know also think) the territory was really the ticket for Ford Aus. It was the last big winner for Australian car industry. Big export potential, competitive with similar platforms from overseas.
If Ford (US) wanted Ford (Aus) to survive, they would’ve invested in another generation of the Territory. Soft roaders/ SUVs are the only big car people want these days.
They didn’t.
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Why would GM or Ford tip in billions to develop a car out here to compete against themselves (Mondeo/Vectra etc) ?
And nz silver ferns.
But I don’t get why they wouldn’t build them here.
I drove a Vauxhall in UK and an Opel in Germany, and had a Commodore here back about ten years ago. They were basically the same or similar design and size, except the Vauxhall and Opel had a turbo charged 2 litre engine that got great fuel economy and still had me speeding along at 150 on the autobahn.
A World Car doesn’t mean it has to be built in one factory.