Five iconic Holden concepts

Monday, 24 February 2020

Last week started badly for fans of the Lion badge, as news broke on Monday of Holden being removed entirely from General Motors' roster. As such, we decided to look at some of Holden's coolest concept cars to celebrate the company's rich history.

1. Hurricane

The Hurricane was the first concept to come out of Holden's skunkworks and was one of the most advanced vehicles of its time. It stood at 990mm tall and was powered by a mid-mounted 4.2-litre Holden V8 engine producing 193kW.

Doors were too conventional, with ingress and egress instead allowed by a hydraulically powered canopy which swung forwards over the front wheels while the seats rose up and tilted forward.

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The design is gorgeous even today, with the panels covering the headlights dropping flat to reveal the quarter of bulbs behind.

It even featured an in-car navigation system, rear-view camera, climate control and sequential indicators, space-age tech for the time!

2. Torana GTR-X

The third-generation Torana was a success on the track, particularly in A9X trim, but it nearly arrived as the beautiful wedge-shaped GTR-X instead of the staunch LH and LX version we know and love. If it had gone into production, it would have been the first Holden to come as standard with four-wheel disc brakes.

Power again came from a 4.2-litre V8 and, thanks to a claimed weight of 1043kg, the GTR-X had a top speed of 210km/h.

Holden was quite serious about putting the concept into production and even produced brochures, photography and promotional films, but was ultimately unable to justify the high cost of production given the size of the Australian population then. Sad for us.

3. Efijy

Despite the slightly clunky name, the Efijy was a seriously cool concept car. It debuted at the 2005 Australian International Motor Show and was inspired by the original Holden FJ.

It looks like something a Cruella de Vil would drive, or perhaps the titular villain from Stephen King's From a Buick 8.

The Efijy is actually based on a lengthened Corvette floor plan and uses a supercharged 6.0-litre LS2 V8 producing 480kW. Power is sent through a four-speed automatic to the rear wheels.

Air suspension holds the car up while moving and drops it down when it's stopped. How supervillain is that?

The Efijy was even named the United States concept car of the year for 2007, despite it being an Australian creation.

The Hurricane was the first concept Holden built and features in-car navigation, a reversing camera and a mid-mounted V8 engine.

4. ECOmmodore

The ECOmmodore was a VT Commodore modified in 2000 to include a hybrid powertrain. It used a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine combined with an electric motor running on lead-acid batteries.

The Coupe concept of 1998 was received so well that Holden was all but forced into building it, reviving the Monaro badge in the process.

The ECOmmodore was, as you might guess, a hybrid Commodore built in 2000. Needless to say, the idea didn't catch on at Holden HQ.

The Efijy looks like something Cruella de Vil would drive. Bet it sounds like it too.

This nearly became the third-generation Torana before Holden decided it would be too expensive for the then-small Australian new car market.

Despite its humble appearances, the ECOmmodore was used as the VIP car during the 2000 Summer Olympics Torch Relay held in Sydney. After its duties were completed, Holden sent it to form part of the collection at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia.

Holden never said it would officially produce the ECOmmodore but there were plans to create a hybrid version of the VE Commodore by 2010. Obviously, they never came to fruition.

5. Coupe

The Coupe concept emerged at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show and it took journalists all of five seconds to christen it Monaro. Orders came flooding in, all but forcing Holden to produce it and three years later it emerged as the third generation of Monaro.

Initially, the Coupe was based on the VT Commodore but was shifted to the VX series for production. Power was sourced from either a supercharged 3.8-litre V6 with a four-speed automatic only or a 5.7 L V8, with a choice of a six-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearbox. The V6 was dropped by 2004, but Monaro sales continued until 2006 with the limited-run CV8-Z edition.