I admit to feeling a strange fondness for the Torana because it sounds roughly like how locals pronounce “Toronto” ( and also, it’s smallish hatchback with a V8).

The greatest if you view a ute as a 2-door sports car with a lot of luggage space… HSV GTS Maloo, 576 bhp worth of LSA, huge brakes etc

The design has a very strange “droopy masculinity”-thing going on. The could have been that wasn’t.

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 1965 Chrysler Valiant AP5
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

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

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/