Holden Hands Over A Present

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday March 8, 2008

BRENT DAVISON

The automotive world fires its biggest guns at the national motor shows and the Melbourne expo was no exception. BRENT DAVISON wraps it up.

Holden marks 60 years of local production and we get the gift.

That seemed to be the way of things when the wraps came off the company's Coupe 60 at the Melbourne International Motor Show.

Just as it did with the Monaro concept in Sydney some years ago Holden showed there are plenty of surprises left in life and one of them is a two-door, pillarless coupe based loosely on the Commodore with a bunch of motor racing influences thrown in and a 6.0-litre V8 tuned to run on E85 ethanol-petrol fuel.

The stunning coupe comes complete with its leather and suede-trimmed racing bucket seats, flat underbelly and race-style rear difusser.

Holden Special Vehicles brought along the W427, paying homage to the original VL Commodore-based Group A SS.

This car, with its 7.0-litre (427cubic inch, hence the name), Chevrolet Corvette-derived engine, is every schoolboy's dream but its limited edition exclusivity when it arrives on the market late in the year ensures only a handful of enthusiasts will ever get one.

And when they do get it? Try 370kW and 640Nm of torque to play with as part of a high performance package that includes six-piston front brake calipers, magnetic shock absorbers and a complete suite of unique interior and exterior enhancements.

Nowhere near as rare as the W427 but also having its global launch in Melbourne was Peugeot's 308 station wagon variant, the Touring, which will go on sale here in the third quarter of the year.

What will we get? Three engine choices (125kW and 147kW petrol and 103kW diesel), six-speed manual and automatic transmissions, 4Motion all-wheel-drive and a park assist function that steers itself into parking spaces.

Mazda was also into SUVs with its Hakaze concept unveiled in Melbourne but the real centre of attention on its stand was the limited edition 40th Anniversary RX-8 coupe, built to celebrate 40 years of Mazda rotary engines.

German car maker BMW hit Melbourne with a "top and tail" approach, revealing two new cars at either end of its model spectrum.

At one end, the small 1-Series convertible, a handsome drop-top variant of the 1-Series coupe (itself a derivative of the 1-series hatchback) and due to arrive later this year with 2.0-litre four-cylinder, 2.5-litre and 3.0-litre six-cylinder engines.

At the other end of the scale is the X6, effectively a four-door sports coupe designed for the rugged stuff.

This all-wheel-drive manages to blur even more the line between luxury sedan and off-roader, a car that will come here in August with twin-turbo petrol and diesel engines and pricing between $111,000 and $118,000.

As always Melbourne tossed up a mixture of something for everyone from the budget buyer to the high-end dreamer.

We won't get a chance to do that again until Sydney's Australian International Motor Show rolls around in October.