Holden's classic concepts

Holden probably had a lot more talent in its engineering pool than its budget ever allowed it to exploit.

Over the years, there’s been some amazing vehicles come out of Holden’s local design studios, though not all of these made it to the production line.

So what better way to mark the demise of its engineering team than to take a look back at a few of the highlights of Holden’s imaginative concepts.

Hurricane
Arguably the best-known of all Holden’s concept models, the Hurricane was its very first concept car. The futuristic model was an experiment aimed at studying "future design trends, propulsion systems and other long-range developments".

Codenamed RD 001, the Hurricane was unveiled at the 1969 Melbourne motor show and featured such dazzling technologies as digital instrumentation, station-seeking radio, climate-control, a rear-view camera and an automated route finder system known as 'Pathfinder' (think of it as primative sat nav).

The show car was powered by an experimental 4.2-litre (253 cubic-inch) V8, which entered production in later in 1969 in HT-series Belmont, Kingswood, Premier and Monaro models.

This wedge-shaped concept was designed during the LC-series Torana era, and very nearly made it to production in the early 1970s.

Like the Hurricane, the GTR-X featured a fibreglass body over a steel chassis but underneath were six-cylinder mechanicals shared with the GTR XU-1.

The Torana GTR-X concept looked very similar to many iconic sportscars of the 1970s, such as the Ferrari 308 GT4, Lotus Esprit and the Mazda RX-7. It weighed in at 1043kg and was said to boast a top speed of 210km/h.

Were it to have made production, the Torana GTR-X would have been the first Holden car to wear factory-issue four-wheel disc brakes.

The model was ultimately scrapped before it made the production line as Holden was ultimately unable to justify the high cost of production given the size of the Australian population at the time... Sound familiar?

After the success of the two-door V2 Monaro, Holden built a convertible version codenamed ‘Marilyn’ in conjunction with TWR Engineering and Edscha in 2002.

The one-off concept car was conservatively valued at $25 million and was a surprise guest at a Melbourne event Holden used to highlight more than a dozen concept cars from its past.

Like the GTR-X before it, Marilyn was considered too expensive for production. The changes required to the platform included new A-pillars, rear-quarter panels, boot lid, and frameless doors.

Underbody reinforcement and a fully lined and insulated soft-top, which was automatically operated, were all considered too expensive given the numbers the vehicle was likely to sell.

The radical Efijy concept probably needs no introduction. The star of the 2005 Australian International Motor Show, Efijy drew much of its stylised design from the 1953 FJ Holden.

The curvaceous pillarless body, finished in Soprano Purple, was underpinned by a Chevrolet Corvette chassis. The design concept was never intended for production, but did showcase a number of technologies which later found their way into Holden’s mainstream production models.

Highlights of the Efijy included a 480kW supercharged 6.0-litre petrol V8, air-adjustable dampers, a touch-screen LCD display and fan-cooled LED headlamps.

Like many of Holden’s concepts, Efijy now greets visitors at GMH’s Fishermen’s Bend headquarters.

The revival of the Monaro nameplate went so well Holden attempted a second effort with the Torana... sufficed to say it didn’t end as well. But the Torana TT36 concept was not entirely without merit.

Debuting at the Australian International Motor Show in 2004, the Torana TT36 concept drew on GM’s global resources to build an experimental 280kW/480Nm twin-turbo (TT) 3.6-litre (36) V6-powered sports hatch which transferred power via a six-speed transmission.

Holden said the hand-built four-seat coupe was used to demonstrate how quickly it could react to customer demand, and that the concept was made to pay homage to Holden's Bathurst-winning icon car of the seventies, the Torana A9X.

It was originally codenamed XP54 in recognition of Holden's so-called Studio 54 design workshop in the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Coupe 60
Holden's VE Commodore-based Coupe 60 two-door concept wowed crowds at the 2008 Australian International Motor Show, but never made production. Painted 'diamond silver' to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Holden, the sleek coupe was 60mm shorter than a VE sedan and was powered by a 6.0-litre E85-compatible V8.

The Coupe 60, which rode on 21-inch Steeley wheels shod with Kumho semi-slicks and was stopped by Brembo brakes, featured side-exiting exhausts, one-piece carbon-fibre seats, lots of suede, a flat-bottom steering wheel and an LCD instruments cluster. 

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