Mamprot Blog Desperado: Holden

Monday, December 12, 2011

Holden Rumored to Decide on the Future of the Commodore by the End of December

Once a production hub, Australia's motoring industry is now facing the prospect of losing one of its most acclaimed model series, the Holden Commodore (and apparently, its Caprice derivatives) after the upcoming redesign, which is scheduled for 2013.

While production of the 2013 Commodore VF will endure at least until 2017, The Sydney Morning Herald (via its Drive car site) is reporting today that Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux confirmed that the brand will decide on its local manufacturing future beyond 2018 before the end of December.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Holden Torana TT36

The Holden Torana is a car which was produced by General Motors–Holden's (GM-H), the Australian subsidiary of General Motors (GM) from 1967 to 1980. The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly". The first Torana (HB series) appeared in 1967 and was a four cylinder compact vehicle that had its origins in the British Vauxhall Vivas of the mid 1960s. Whilst 1969-73 (LC and LJ) models included more popular, longer wheel base six cylinder versions; and 1974-77 (LH and LX) eight cylinder versions the four-cylinder versions continued for the entire production life of the Torana and were known as the Holden Sunbird from 1976.

In 2004, Holden released a sporty five-door concept car called the Torana TT36 (TT = Twin Turbo; 36 = 3.6 litre V6). The model was said to debut a new platform for General Motors and previews the look of the 2006 VE Commodore. In terms of size, it was marginally bigger than the BMW 3 Series on the outside, though considerably roomier inside with BMW 5 Series rivaling interior space. The TT36 was painted in Magenta and has a clear roof. The prototype visited the National Motor Museum at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills in early 2008.