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Down Under
Aussie concept car hot rod of the year
2006-10-30
AN Australian concept car produced as a tribute to the iconic FJ Holden has been named hot rod of the year by a leading United States motoring magazine.

The EFIJY was produced by Holden's design team for the 2005 Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. The radical pillarless coupe featured a supercharged 6.0 litre V8 engine resting on a Chevrolet Corvette underbody.

The US Hot Rod magazine described the car as probably the most beautiful concept car ever to come from an automotive manufacturer. Editor Rob Kinnan said concept cars produced by car companies normally carried implied messages that they might, one day, become production models. "It was obvious here, however, that this was a pure hot rod built by true gearheads who just happened to work for a new car company," he said.

Holden's chief designer, Richard Ferlazzo, who led the EFIJY project, said: "The car has created quite a bit of interest in the states, which is great recognition for our team.

"It's not immediately obvious, but this sort of interest also helps to promote the capabilities of the GM Holden organisation in a wider field."
Posted by:Oztralian

#26  1969 Mach I Mustang, my heart goes all pitter patter.:)
Posted by: djohn66   2006-10-30 23:09  

#25  I should have mentioned that I worked on the parts line (rear axles) at GMH-Port Melbourne, for 3 months. I also worked at GMH's Salmon Street foundry (sucked). The company didn't put out anything that you might want to modify. The company cafeteria had calf-brains on the menu. Didn't like that or Vegemite, a product that I discovered when I worked at Kraft, Downunder.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550   2006-10-30 19:15  

#24  MIke, I know, but i can still dream, can't i? and yes i know today's cars not only are faster but also handle better than the mid 60s brutes, but just looking at a big block (anything) crammed under the hood and knowing that you could walk into your local dealer and buy that very same thing spins my prop a whole lot more than the majority of today's front wheel drive rice burners. yeah some automakers are getting it, but "3 deuces and a 4 speed" gives this ole motorhead a woodie...
Posted by: USN, ret.   2006-10-30 17:54  

#23  Jeez, who's driving, the Green Hornet?
Posted by: Greasing Spatulae7589   2006-10-30 17:43  

#22  Sweet Jebus, that's gorgeous!

http://www.cartype.com/page.cfm?id=1186&alph=ALL&dec=ALL
Posted by: Parabellum   2006-10-30 17:31  

#21  Nah, this car just doesn't do it for me. I'm an E-type Jag man, myself. For my money that was the most beautiful (and capable) real production car ever made.
Posted by: mac   2006-10-30 16:59  

#20  USN,
No revival for the Road Runner - Plymouth has gone to that great auto graveyard in the sky. But we ARE getting the Challenger back in 08, and by all accounts it will be even more of a screamer than the original was - and friends at my local DC/D dealer are telling me that MSRP, with the big Hemi and all the trimmings, will be under 30K (although some people have already put down as much as 60K to insure they get the first ones). meanwhile, GM's Camaro revival will have a six cylinder engine at best and will START at about 35-40K.
And GM wonders why they're in trouble...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2006-10-30 14:35  

#19  Now all they need is John Mellencamp to write up some catchy little commercial for them that they can play 100 or 200 or 300 times during the football games and you'll want to firebomb the Holden EFIJY as much as the first Chevy Silverado that you see on the street...
Posted by: tu3031   2006-10-30 14:16  

#18  and there goes the HTML tag neighborhood, lol.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-30 14:04  

#17  '67 GTO 2-dr convertible, 389 with triple dueces. One of the best cars I ever owned. Sigh. You could see> the gas gauge needle move when you floored it, lol.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-30 14:04  

#16  The reborn GTO was originally based on the Aussie platform, but GM US toned it down to go-fast stripes AND a big price tag. how many are now gathering dust at your friendly Mr. GoodWrench dealer while the boys down @ Henry's place can't keep the way cool Mustangs in stock????
Now if Mopar would just bring back the Original Road Runner with only the Hemi as an option....(car pOrn. love it) 'scuse me while i blow out(some carbon)
Posted by: USN, ret.   2006-10-30 14:01  

#15  Oooooh, car pr0n. I vote for this as a semi-regular feature.
Posted by: xbalanke   2006-10-30 12:32  

#14  Needs fender skirts. I'll check the Warchowski catalog.
Posted by: Phineter Thraviger1073   2006-10-30 10:36  

#13  Purdy close, Cheddarhead - gotta agree. I'm kinda thinking everything that has four wheels and an occupant cab in the middle might qualify if it looks like a suppository, er, looks aerodynamic...

Good catch. Still, fast + cool+ magnet = rocks... credit wherever due.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-30 10:26  

#12  This is art at every level. If it goes to market down under, the body's will be available here in kit form. Two quick points:

1. Take a car and put it on a frame, not unibody, and the body variants are unlimited. This is on a vette frame. GM should take note that the unibody should go away.

2. GM is headed the way Dodge went a few years ago. They will either allow the youth to take the helm in markiting decisions or they will fail.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-10-30 10:21  

#11  Looks like a rip-off Billy Gibbons Cadzilla built by Boyd Coddington IMO
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2006-10-30 10:14  

#10  Looks mega-cool. Goes extra-fast. Super chick-magnet. What's not to like? Rocks.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-30 09:34  

#9  GM is already in the gutter. It's just a matter of time.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan   2006-10-30 09:33  

#8  IIRC, the V8 Interceptor never made it to the USA because it could only be driven by crazed ex-paramilitary policemen bent on revenge, and the US market was just not mature enough.

I thought that was a big demographic group here?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman   2006-10-30 09:29  

#7  This one is just brilliant styling. You don't know whether it's 50's futurism or ultra modern retro.
Posted by: Grunter   2006-10-30 09:21  

#6  Lots of US Commodores were made in Adelaide, South Australia.
Posted by: Grunter   2006-10-30 09:18  

#5  From what Mike says, maybe GM deserves to fall into the gutter, the arrogant jerks.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-10-30 08:34  

#4  Looks like a '53 Hudson Coupe.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-10-30 08:19  

#3  The Pontiac G6 was also to a great extent a Holden product that was 'dumbed down' for the US market.

IIRC, the V8 Interceptor never made it to the USA because it could only be driven by crazed ex-paramilitary policemen bent on revenge, and the US market was just not mature enough.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-10-30 08:12  

#2  Snease,
A gentleman of my acquaintance works for Holden, and from some of the things he's said, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you, tho not for the reasons you might suspect. Holden has come up with some pretty amazing cars - but according to my contact GM has been adamant in not allowing them to get to production in their original form for fear that they'll upset projects underway here in the states. There's one right now - IIRC the Commodore or Commander - if you put a Chevy badge on it and called it the Impala, you couldn't get enough of them to the states if you chartered every auto carrier available. But the GM plan says they have to use the platform that's been designed by committee here in the States... and that's the end of the discussion as far as they're concerned. The Pontiac G6 was also to a great extent a Holden product that was 'dumbed down' for the US market.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2006-10-30 07:39  

#1  Nice car. But actual GM Holdens were and are variants of defunct Oldsmobile line. Nothing against Olds, but other than the Cutlass they never put out anything to cruise with.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550   2006-10-30 05:03  

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