Greatest Australian Cars

[johnh875]

Keeping with the other lists we have seen from the UK AOL website, I thought I would (finally) come up with a list of the greatest and/or most significant Australian cars.

Rather than try and put them in order (coming up with a proper list of 20 is enough work) I thought I would list them from oldest to newest.

Need I say that this is my opinion only, and there are half a dozen cars that are on the shortlist of those that missed the cut - I would be interested to read your thoughts.

1 1896 Shearer steam car
This was built at Mannum on the Murray River in South Australia by David Shearer who was a blacksmith and agricultural machinery manufacturer. This was a side project for David Shearer who wanted to build a steam car. After commencing work on the car in 1885, it was first driven in 1896 and is powered by a two cylinder 20 horsepower steam engine. It also features a type of rack and pinion steering and a differential, de rigeur today but not 111 years ago! The vehicle is currently in the National Motor Museum at Birdwood and was operational until the boiler was removed for restoration in recent times.

http://www.abc.net.au/adelaide/stories/s1266363.htm

2 1913 Caldwell Vale
This is the one I dropped a hint on in the German list thread. Caldwell Vale started off building trucks & tractors (also called road tractors), that were simply astonishing for 1907. They featured both four-wheel drive and steering – the steering was in fact power assisted, as turning the wheel engaged a clutch that drove the steering mechanism. They had 80hp, which is really quite a lot for 1907, at only 800rpm from a 4 cylinder 11.25L (!) engine (6” bore x 6” stroke) – this was needed as they would be used to pull loads of 50 tons. One truck featured the first known use of a tipping tray. They built the best part of a hundred of these trucks & tractors, and in 1913 built a car. It was tested successfully on the sand dunes at Botany Bay, but unfortunately the company went out of business because of legal costs incurred in a lawsuit – ahead of their time in that regard too… The car was sold and eventually used on a Queensland sheep station until the 1960s – I wonder what has happened to it?
http://images.fotopic.net/yrer9f.jpg
http://www.4wdonline.com/ClassicTruc...dwellVale.html

3 1919 Australian Six
Over 30 manufacturers were introduced between 1900 and 1920, but the most serious attempt to establish an indigenous car manufacturer was the Australian Six. This was the work of Frederick Gordon who after consultation with Louis Chevrolet (who by that time was not with the company bearing his name), bought in the main mechanical components from the same suppliers as Chevrolet, and built a large, strong six-cylinder car of the type which had been proven to be very popular in the Australian market in the boom following the Great War. Over time, local content was increased to 60%, but with the small scale of production the cars were never profitable and regular problems such as supply delays forced the price of the cars to gradually rise to 50% above the initial level. Despite the cars themselves being perfectly sound and proving to be reliable, only 900 vehicles in total were built with the last batch of 20 in 1930. As many as 16 vehicles survive today. It is said that one million pounds was lost over the course of the venture, and it should be noted that at this time the government did not see fit to provide any protection or assistance to the local industry.

The other major attempt to establish an automobile manufacturer was the Lincoln which was produced by George Innes – the American manufacturer of the same name started a year later. Despite this, legal action was undertaken by Ford after purchasing the US Lincoln company in 1922 to prevent the use of the name. Innes won the case, but Ford threatened and rather than spend yet more money on legal fees Innes changed the name to Lincoln Pioneer. Over five years 200 cars were made before the inevitable occurred, and only one is known to survive.
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/coll...&images=&c=&s=

[johnh875]

4 1934 Ford Coupe Utility
This is the truly Australian car. The genesis was a letter from the wife of a Gippsland pig farmer who wrote to Ford asking them to build a car that they could use to drive to church on Sunday, and take the pigs to market on Monday. In 1932 banks would lend a farmer money for a working vehicle only, so it also had to double as family transport if required. The “church on Sunday” part of the “brief” is easy to underestimate from today’s perspective – in those times in small rural communities the Sunday church service was one of the main social events and you wore your “Sunday best” – turning up in a truck Beverly Hillbilly style would be demeaning.

Ford put designer Lewis Brandt on the task, and he looked at the existing buckboard (poor comfort & weather protection without a solid roof) and pickup (with separate cabin and tray) vehicles which were too unrefined and workmanlike. The coupe utility was based on the Ford passenger car, with a third roof pillar behind the doors providing additional body strength at the join between the cabin and tray, and a stylish appearance. When Brandt was asked what it was on a trip to Ford head office in Detroit, he said it was a “kangaroo chaser”.

This started off a continuous line of vehicles, including Mainlines, Zephyrs and Falcons to the current day where their comfort and performance advantages over the more basic pick-up opposition is still appreciated.
http://www.fastlane.com.au/Features/First_ute.htm

5 1948 Holden 48-215
The right car at the right time, the Holden struck the ideal balance between the small, economical British cars and the large, powerful American cars that were available on the market. With a rugged yet light body that had enough room to cram in six passengers, a 138ci (2.3L) 6cyl engine that gave strong performance and remarkable economy the car was not particularly technically advanced but this only helped make it cheap to run.

Established in 1857 as a leather goods manufacturer, and later branching into coach and then truck body building, Holden was building 20,000 car bodies per year when it was contracted by GM to body all of its imports. In 1932 the effects of the great Depression led GM’s local arm to merge with Holden Motor Body Builders to form General Motors - Holden's. The Holden car’s genesis was in the Australian federal government’s request for submissions for the manufacture of an Australian car. Ford also submitted a proposal for a V8-powered car to be produced in a range of bodystyles but Holden’s proposal of a more economic sedan was successful.
http://www.fxfjholden.com/models.htm
http://www.ehholden.com.au/infhis2.htm

6 1962 Chrysler Valiant
The Valiant had a real impact on the local market, offering something that was distinctly different from the fairly basic alternatives, yet was much more accessible than the next level of larger, more expensive luxury cars. It had style, performance and a certain amount of prestige. The contrast is illustrated most vividly by a simple comparison of horsepower – 145hp for the Chrysler against 75 for Holden and 100 if you went for the larger engine in the Ford.

As with many local versions of overseas-originating vehicles, the Valiant adapted and evolved to its new environment with subsequent models. The 1963 AP5 was the first to be fully manufactured rather than assembled from CKD kits, and it had some changes from the US model. It took years for Ford and in particular GM to respond effectively, for although they introduced larger engines and more luxurious trim, Chrysler yet again got the jump in 1965 by introducing a V8 before the opposition.
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au...er_valiant.htm
http://www.valiant.org/ausval.html

[johnh875]

7 1968 Nota Fang
If Bolwell was the Ginetta of the Australian industry then Nota is its Marcos. (NB – this was written after the following car) Established by aircraft engineer Guy Buckingham in 1952, Nota has been around off-and-on more or less continuously, and like the Marcos GT the Nota Fang has been a constantly evolving presence. The fundamentals of the Fang are quite straightforward – essentially it is a mid-engined evolution of the traditional Lotus 7 style Clubman car. As per standard practice it used the powertrain of a standard bread-and-butter vehicle, in this case it is the Mini that donates its subframe-mounted engine to be installed behind the seats. When the Mini ended local production, Lancia power was chosen to take over.

The Nota Fang is still available to purchase, with a Honda or Toyota drivetrain, and it has been joined by a couple of new models – the story continues.
http://www.notasportscars.com/

8 1969 Bolwell Nagari
Australia’s answer to Lotus, TVR or perhaps more accurately Ginetta – as three brothers combined to produce an evolving series of sports cars from 1960 using readily-available production mechanicals. The Mark IV saw significant sales as a kit car with 4cyl engines, and two subsequent models were evolutions switching to the ubiquitous Holden 6cyl engine.

The Nagari was a significant evolution, switching to the Ford 302 V8 and sold as a fully-built car instead of a kit. Styling had cues from Lotus, Ferrari and Lamborghini. There were plans for exports to the US, however new Australian Design Rule car regulations really bit hard – with no allowances given for a 100 unit-per-annum manufacturer against requirements designed for a 100,000 unit-per-annum multinational, the cost of things like crash testing (and facilities required) combined with the oil crisis affecting sales to bring a temporary end to Bolwell Cars after only 140 Nagaris had been built. Variations included a 351 engine option - staggering performance in a 920kg car! – and a rare convertible.

Bolwell would return years later with the VW Golf-powered Ikara, and is working on yet another comeback with a Toyota-powered sports car.
http://www.bolwellcarcompany.com/
http://www.bolwellcarclub.com.au/index2.htm

9 1970 Morris 1500 Nomad
Not all “British” cars sold in Australia were simply facsimiles of their UK source vehicles. Perhaps the best example of the unique local versions, the Nomad had a couple of features the original Morris/Austin 1100 did not, and which took its specification to as modern as you could want in 1970 – namely an overhead cam engine, a hatchback and a 5 speed gearbox. Interestingly, in 1966 BMC imported the first Renault 16 hatch into Australia – they even loaned it to local Renault executives!
http://www.elevenhundred.com/morris1500/

[johnh875]

10 1972 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase IV
I have chosen this to represent the zenith of the Australian muscle car era which flourished briefly in the late 60s and early 70s. In 1972 an article in the Sydney newspaper by Evan Green titled “160mph Supercars” created an enormous controversy, highlighting the homologation requirements that saw 300 Bathurst race cars (aka “bullets on wheels” in the article) have to be sold to the public. Within days several state governments were threatening to boycott fleet purchases from the manufacturers, and ban registrations of “super cars”, and the quickly manufacturers folded and abandoned the Bathurst specials they were working on. This was complemented by a change in touring car regulations to avoid the requirement for homologation specials.

The GTHO Phase III is celebrated for its dominant 1971 Bathurst victory (taking the first 6 places) and being the fastest four-door car in the world at the time, and these days fetching near million-dollar pricetags, yet the Phase IV would have eclipsed it. All areas were improved, including the engine, aerodynamics and handling, and it had a top speed of 170mph as confirmed by the owner of one of the three surviving cars. Only four cars were built, three by the race team and one that went down the production line.
http://www.bowdensown.com.au/cars/phase4.html

11 1972 Holden Torana GTR XU-1
The giant-killer, and a truly versatile competition car, the XU-1’s highlight was its performance balance. With components taken from larger cars and development by Harry Firth, it had fantastic handling with brakes and tyres also well-matched to its weight and speed. It won on the race track and in the forests. The Supercar Scare mentioned above saw the end of a V8 “XU-2” replacement, of which a few prototypes had been constructed and one was even raced.
http://www.toranagtrxu-1.com/index.shtml

12 1972 Chrysler Charger R/T E49
The third member of the “Bathurst special” triumvirate was the Weber-fed, straight six powered Charger. With the celebrated Weber carburetor setup had been perfected in Italy giving 302 bhp from the 4.3L (265ci) engine. In acceleration the E49 posted faster times for the quarter mile and 0-100mph (14.4 sec) than the much more powerful GTHO (mainly courtesy of lower gearing).

Chrysler always operated on a lower budget than its GM and Ford counterparts, and this was reflected in its race team. The E49 iteration of the Charger R/T finally had a fourth gear in its box, but the non power-assisted brakes were said to have cost 5 sec per lap around Bathurst. Despite this, the Charger had the performance to land on the podium twice, with a heartbreaking “if only” tale that might have seen victory. The factory team had realised fuel economy could be an advantage, and with the E49’s 35 gallon () tank managed to do the entire 500 mile race on one pit stop. Unfortunately the spanner in the works was attempting to attach the new set of tyres with a new set of wheel nuts – the cold wheel nuts would not go on the hot studs, and ultimately the car was sent back out on the old set of tyres, having squandered crucial, agonising minutes, to finish two laps down in 3rd place.
http://www.valiant.org/charger.html

[johnh875]

13 1973 Ilinga AF-2
This was intended to be a true Grand Touring car, powered by a 220hp version of the 4.4L Leyland P76 engine and featuring comfortable seating and good luggage capacity. It featured fully-integrated air conditioning, a self-seeking radio/cassette player, digital clock, anti-lift windshield wipers, remote-control door locks, electric windows, quartz-halogen quad headlights under electrically-operated flaps. and a delay switch which automatically extinguished the lights and locked the car if the driver forgot to. Top speed was over 135mph. The project was badly affected by supply problems with the BW auto transmission, as well as the fuel crisis and a general lack of willing partners – only two cars were built.
http://www.geocities.com/conceptcarc...er/ilinga.html

14 1974 Leyland P76 Targa Florio
This was car treads the fine line between woeful and wonderful. This was a native project of BMC Australia, and lead the way in so many areas compared with its rivals. Helped by having an enlarged version (4.4L) of the aluminium 3.5L Rover V8, the P76 was very light for its size, and gave good performance combined with economy that bettered its 6cyl rivals. McPherson struts, standard front disc brakes and flush-mounted windscreen were some of the up-to-date features that forced the other local manufacturers to have a serious look at what they were doing. The woeful side of things is represented by the car being built on a production line originally set up for far narrower cars, leading to a ridiculously high number of cars needing repair before they left the factory...

The Targa Florio was a special edition of the car released to commemorate the stage win on the 1974 World Cup Rally by Evan Green and John Bryson. The car shared the highest number of stage wins.
http://www.leylandp76.com/

15 Holden Overlander
Like the AMC Eagle, this was the first “crossover” vehicle, preceding the current trend by a good 25 years. However this vehicle was a conversion by engineer Arthur Hayward who ran Vehicle Engineering & Modifications Pty Ltd in Launceston, Tasmania, and demonstrated true Australian ingenuity. In an era when 4x4s had folded metal interiors and bone-shaking rides, this was comfortable, powerful and smooth – and actually had very decent off-road ability due to good clearance, wide track width and a low centre of gravity. By building a subframe to convert the wishbone front end into a leaf-sprung Dana axle sourced from a Chev Blazer, and running a complementary rear axle and Dana transfer case mated to the original Holden V8 and TH400 auto (the only option available). To give an idea of the thoroughness of the conversion, the purchaser was supplied with spare axles as otherwise they would be hard to obtain in Australia Over 120 vehicles were converted including utes, wagons, panelvans, cab chassis and two sedans (using the top of the line luxury Statesman model!).
http://www.australianmusclecarsales....le_view/102598

[johnh875]

16 Holden Sandman
Something that was perhaps a unique Australian phenomenon was the panel van and its 1970s moment in the sun. This was when a strong youth culture adopted the humble tradesmans mobile workshop/toolbox to take it to the beach or the drive-in. The Australian iteration of the panelvan was, like the ute it was based on, a step apart from similar vehicles available overseas – these were not solely the domain of fleets and tool-of-trade buyers. With the rear compartment decked out with a mattress, surfboard or even velvet and mirrors, the vehicle became a “Shaggin’ Wagon” (cruder terms also existed!) that struck fear into the hearts of parents of teenage daughters. The stickers say it all – “If the van’s rocking, don’t bother knocking” and “Don’t laugh, your daughter could be inside”.
http://www.sandmanowners.com/sandmaninfo.htm

17 1978 Holden Torana A9X
The last hurrah for the Australian muscle car, the Torana A9X was the result of touring car racing’s homologation requirements although in theory the need to build special vehicles had been removed back in 1972 with the new “Group C” regulations. Modifications were then allowed to production vehicles for racing – but the key point was it had to be production-based. With the 1974 introduction of the LH model Torana, which featured an unprecedented range of 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines, Holden’s motorsport weapon of choice became the 5L V8 SL/R 5000. V8 power and slick racing tyre grip levels soon exposed weaknesses in areas such as the rear axle – hardly surprising as it had its origins in the original Opel unit designed for a 4 cylinder. So the car evolved, with larger wheels under large fibreglass bolt-on wheel arches with the L34 “option pack” and then a stronger axle with the A9X. This option pack also featured the deletion of rubber rubbing strips in the bumper bar, which sounds strange until you find out this was to ease the installation of sponsor’s signage on race cars!

Like the earlier XU-1, the A9X was a very well-balanced race car. Much lighter than its Ford Falcon opposition, its smaller engine was more than compensated for in being allowed to run similar size tyres. It should not be a surprise that Australian touring car racing almost became “Formula Torana” for a few years. The highlight was Peter Brock’s 1979 Bathurst 1000 victory by a triumphant 6 laps – even setting a new lap record on the final lap to underscore his dominance.
http://www.a9xclub.org.au/abouta9x.html
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au...ana_lx_a9x.htm

18 1989 Giocattolo Group B
Yet another Australian sports car that never quite made it, the Giocattolo was the work of Paul Halstead, who had earlier been the Australian agent for De Tomaso cars and former F1 designer Barry Lock. The car was a modified Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint bodyshell with a mid-mounted engine – originally this was intended to be powered by the Alfa V6 but changed to a Group A version of the Holden 5L V8 – not only did this give substantially more performance but it was also much cheaper! The car was more sophisticated than it may first appear – body panels were made from Kevlar, and the suspension was completely redesigned.

The Giocattolo was also severely affected by inflexible government regulations geared only at the large manufacturers. Import duty designed to protect local industry meant the ZF transaxle cost $35,000 per unit – of course there was no local alternative, yet no exceptions could be made to assist a local manufacturer… A highly ambitious follow up vehicle was on the drawing boards in 1989 when the operation wound up in the face of the recession, featuring a carbon fibre body worthy of a true supercar as the Alfasud origins of the Group B’s body did it no favours.
http://www.giocattolo.com.au/

[johnh875]

19 2003 Ford Territory
An instant success, the Territory was the right vehicle at the right time for Ford Australia. With the market rejecting MPV-style vehicles in favour of lumbering 7-seat 4x4s, the time was right for a more car-like alternative when the Territory was introduced in 2003. It was designed to encompass the best attributes of a sedan, people-mover and 4x4, and really hit the mark, winning numerous awards including sales leadership.

Without visual cues you would not realise you are driving a sedan, it feels agile and light on its feet, is quiet and supremely smooth. The Territory is truly a world-class vehicle - the new front suspension for the current BMW X5 is very similar to the Territory. The inline 4.0L 6cyl engine provides excellent performance with strong low-rpm torque and quite reasonable fuel economy. There is also a turbocharged version available if you are in a hurry – with a few modifications it will run the quarter mile in the 11 second bracket, which is not hanging around for a 2 tonne, 7 seater!
http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_101280/newsarticle.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8qj7j9jNy8

20 2004 HSV Coupe 4
This 360hp V8 all-wheel drive coupe was the most extraordinary product of Holden’s golden period early this decade under the leadership of General Manager Peter Hanenberger. The success of the 1997 VT Commodore and its influence within GM empire brought Holden the resources to really open up with an astonishing, if ultimately unsustainable, number of variants on the Commodore platform.

The mere 100 examples of the Coupe4 produced is representative – it encompassed both the mix-and-match body and mechanicals that were a feature of the range, yet like other variants there was no way the development costs could be recouped even with its towering $90,000 price tag, 50% more than a “normal” Monaro’s $60k.

A surprise coupe concept car at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show led to the production of the Monaro, which found success with exports overseas, in particular to the US as the Pontiac GTO. The Adventra crossover SUV was the source for the AWD driveline used in the Coupe4, although modifications were needed for the lower ride height. The Coupe4 was based on the Pontiac GTO body with the revised fuel tank location, incorporated the Adventra front floorpan to accommodate the AWD hardware, and featured some hand-worked modifications to the wheel arches to accept the flares needed to cover the large wheels and tyres.
Launch: http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring...sv-coupe-4.htm
Used car review: http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...rticleID=43724

[John Turner]

A great piece of work, John. Well done!

[Chatters]

Regarding the 1896 steam car John; I believe it's now operational again. I'll double check tomorrow.

[johnh875]

Fair enough Chatters, the last time I was at the museum was 2 1/2 years ago I think so I was only going off what I could find on the web.

[Amaroo Park]

This tread has really got me thinking as too what are some of the greatest. You have got most of them list above I dont think there could be much argument with those.

But what about these,

HDT VH Group 3 Commodore. At the time there was all this talk in the motoring mags that it was the fastest 4 door sedan since the Falcon GTHO phase III. Prices on these have gone up incredibly in the last 12 months for obvious reasons.

Holden VN Commodore, Ok so it wasnt the most well built or the prettiest car ever seen, but in 1988 when Holden were techanically banckrupt and it was a matter of mere millions weather GM would save it or close it down the VN contributed to saving Holden as an Australian Manufacturer so for that alone it must be concidered one of the greatest.

[275 GTB-4]

BMC introduced a revolutionary range of people cars in this country...and started a flurry of manufacturing commencing with Morris Majors...they probably rate a mention

[Amaroo Park]

Well if thats the case so too would the JB Holden Camira

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by colinbond

Well if thats the case so too would the JB Holden Camira

Oh do be nice Colin!!...otherwise I won't buy my next roll bar off you

Greatest does not necessarily mean shear grunt (?)....hey lets talk single spinner fords, very capable in their day...but I digress...if you had said VB Commodore as a completey new concept to family cars in Oz, well I mighta agreed

We need a ruling on greatest...does it equal performance cars (like the Mini Cooper S ) or what??

[Amaroo Park]

Yeah but was the VB that significant as a Greatest Car? Yes it was different, not a particulary good car.

Before the cars where delivered to customers they had 4 A4 pages of recalls/reworks to be carried out on them. A lot to do with suspension issues.

So as you say how do you define the Greatest Australian car ever? This sort of thing will always be a very subjective thing.

[johnh875]

Colin – good point, I probably didn’t give enough consideration to the Brockmobiles, they really started the “special vehicles” thing as an evolution of the Falcon GT & Torana SL/R days. A key thing is there were some models that did not exist purely for homologation purposes. I’m not sure though whether the Group 3 as the ultimate Group C car or getting the first VC car or the Group A car to happen (or perhaps even the final “Polarizer” car??) would be the one to include in the list.

Can’t agree with the VN Commodore being anywhere near the list though – while it may be a minor miracle that it actually happened, the actual cars were terrible. Flimsy, ill-handling junk in my opinion – just look at the changes that came with the VR to “fix” it. The original VB Commodore is an interesting case, while it certainly had its good points, it was arguably also the car that nearly killed GM-H. Just too small & retaining the hoary old red motors was a missed opportunity. The old story though – not enough resources to change everything at once.

275 – I had the Morris Nomad in there as a representative of BMC. I don’t know huge amounts about the earlier BMC Aust cars but that one stood out to me.

Definition of greatest – well that is somewhat a rubbery concept, but that actually helps as it allows you to include cars on the basis of being the best, the most significant or the most influential. At least that is the way I have treated it.

[Amaroo Park]

What about the 1972 HQ Holden. Still one of the most popular models has ever produced. And when you think in the model they produced, Monaro, Statesman, One Tonner, Sandman (As mentioned before) & of course the mighty Kingswood.

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by johnh875

275 – I had the Morris Nomad in there as a representative of BMC. I don’t know huge amounts about the earlier BMC Aust cars but that one stood out to me.

Definition of greatest – well that is somewhat a rubbery concept, but that actually helps as it allows you to include cars on the basis of being the best, the most significant or the most influential. At least that is the way I have treated it.

Gawd!!! I can just hear the aussie Clarkson equivalent (Sam Newman? ) now...this is Nomad is utter rubbish!! (cable operated gear change etc)

The Mini had a big impact here...a much better choice IMHO...and if it must be performance related, well nine first across the line at Bathurst in 1966 ain't to shabby.

[Amaroo Park]

Originally Posted by 275 GTB-4

Gawd!!! I can just hear the aussie Clarkson equivalent (Sam Newman? ) now...this is Nomad is utter rubbish!! (cable operated gear change etc)

But i bet Clarksons wife doesnt run him over and break his legs (although the thought would have had to run through her mind)

[Amaroo Park]

Ok what about the Holden GTR-X now that would cetainly have to be a contaontender. Ok it never went into full production I hear you say, and your right but the lengend of the thing is increadible. Imagine if it did go into full production how much a second hand one would be worth today......

[Amaroo Park]

Or how about the JB Camira now there is definatly a candidate, as it was car of the year in 1982.

[johnh875]

That's just taking the you know what surely? I know they are not that bad in theory (my cousin had a JE wagon for a few years) but I think there would have to be at least 50 cars ahead of it for a top 20 list position!

[Amaroo Park]

Originally Posted by johnh875

That's just taking the you know what surely? I know they are not that bad in theory (my cousin had a JE wagon for a few years) but I think there would have to be at least 50 cars ahead of it for a top 20 list position!

Yep I am taking the wee wee hehehehe

[johnh875]

With the "Greatest British" thread having popped back up, and some significant cars having been launched in the year since I did this, I thought I'd give this one a bump too.

Probably too early to have much hindsight, but I'd think the HSV W427 and FG model FPV Typhoon will be pressing for inclusion in a list such as this in the future. Who knows if anything like the W427 will be seen again, and with the dropping of the local inline 6cyl engine will spell a big change for Ford too, and I think the current turbo models will be highly prized in the future.

[Amaroo Park]

Hmmm Toyota Aurion.................