Cars & Transportation Car Torque

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edgie said:
Holden (I'm not read up about recently but definitely in the 60s - 70s) had aspirations at the forefront of automotive development that were either roadblocked directly or indirectly by having some Yank reassigned out to Australia to head Holden up.
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From what I've been told, from the 90's onwards Holden was fairly committed to making something work in Australia right up until the GFC, and the plans they had were of tasking the Holden operation with the design of the large, rear wheel drive platforms for the Commodore, Camaro, potentially some US-built sedans and some Cadillac models also with the vision that the Commodore would be exported to the US and Mid East. When they went bankrupt they threw all of that out the window and Holden was left with nothing

Ford was looking for an excuse to exit Australia for a while. They tried it on in the mid-90's when they sold the Taurus alongside the Falcon (LOL) and the rumour is they made the decision to phase out the Falcon when the AU tanked. Ford Australia basically received nothing from Detroit when they were designing the FG and they stopped advertising the Falcon on TV entirely, soon after the FG was released.

I think if one of Holden or Ford had have stayed then Toyota probably would have kept trucking along as well, assembling Hybrid Camry's for government fleets and making a tidy profit. It's a shame it all fell apart at once.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Thoughts on Proton Jumbucks? Mate's old man reckons his deal of 2 grand to me's pretty good.
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From someone who's lived in Malaysia and driven quite a few Protons, don't.
The only worse option would be a Perodua, made famous by Jeremy Clarkson, which subsequently got him banned from Malaysia because of what he did to it.
 
_Swoon said:
From what I've been told, from the 90's onwards Holden was fairly committed to making something work in Australia right up until the GFC, and the plans they had were of tasking the Holden operation with the design of the large, rear wheel drive platforms for the Commodore, Camaro, potentially some US-built sedans and some Cadillac models also with the vision that the Commodore would be exported to the US and Mid East. When they went bankrupt they threw all of that out the window and Holden was left with nothing

Ford was looking for an excuse to exit Australia for a while. They tried it on in the mid-90's when they sold the Taurus alongside the Falcon (LOL) and the rumour is they made the decision to phase out the Falcon when the AU tanked. Ford Australia basically received nothing from Detroit when they were designing the FG and they stopped advertising the Falcon on TV entirely, soon after the FG was released.

I think if one of Holden or Ford had have stayed then Toyota probably would have kept trucking along as well, assembling Hybrid Camry's for government fleets and making a tidy profit. It's a shame it all fell apart at once.
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The FG was so weird. It was like one day there was a new Falcon out all of a sudden, then they closed.

Holden used to export to the Middle East well I thought but as they prospered opened up they turned toward more premium brands and Holden dried up.

I see pictures in some of my car groups of Calais and the like just left abandoned in car parks and by the side of the road.



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edgie said:
The FG was so weird. It was like one day there was a new Falcon out all of a sudden, then they closed.

Holden used to export to the Middle East well I thought but as they prospered opened up they turned toward more premium brands and Holden dried up.

I see pictures in some of my car groups of Calais and the like just left abandoned in car parks and by the side of the road.



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they also made Caprice's for the NYPD around 2011 and 2012, that didn't last long either
 
They've probably been around for ages, but we don't see them often out here.
The Qld Police Hwy patrol cars are Kia's.
I died a little inside when I saw one today.
 
Craven Morehead said:
They've probably been around for ages, but we don't see them often out here.
The Qld Police Hwy patrol cars are Kia's.
I died a little inside when I saw one today.
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Would be the Kia Stinger I imagine. Has a bit of grunt from what I've read and a surprisingly good car even if it is a Kia.
Off the top of my head in Vic we've got Commodores/Falcons, M5s and a Tesla as our highway patrol cars. Then a combination of Rodeos, Passats, Camrys and the old Ford divvy fan for everyone else. Although the divvy van is being phased out for the Rodeo.
 
GreyWind said:
Would be the Kia Stinger I imagine. Has a bit of grunt from what I've read and a surprisingly good car even if it is a Kia.
Off the top of my head in Vic we've got Commodores/Falcons, M5s and a Tesla as our highway patrol cars. Then a combination of Rodeos, Passats, Camrys and the old Ford divvy fan for everyone else. Although the divvy van is being phased out for the Rodeo.
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They aren't M5's, bruh they're just diesel 535s. Seriously if you see one of those things in your rearview mirror take a punt because you'll probably beat it.
 
Always loved seeing old Commodores (VB-VK) pop up in random overseas movies. Off the top of my head I think there was some in The Kingdom (which was set in Saudi though not sure it was shot there). Pretty sure there was a couple in Narcos as well.

They're most always absolute junkers.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Thoughts on Proton Jumbucks? Mate's old man reckons his deal of 2 grand to me's pretty good.
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No way. Based on Mirage/Lancer initially released in 1991 (CC variant) with almost no changes since. No real safety gear, cheap materials, old design. Rubbish cars.
 
tandino said:
Back when I barely had two coins to rub together, I couldn't go past the humble AU Falcon. I had a white one with a bodykit that I thought looked the business.

It was mum and dad's family car, then a work car when I had to go on the tools to pay the bills. Folded the back seats down and you could fit a work platform in there, and 3 metres of whatever you had to carry would be resting up on the dash.

It really got us through some ****, and apart from an alternator I can't remember using a spanner on the thing.
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Owning a Falcon is a right of passage in some respects.

The Au2's were going for nothing a few years after they came out as they were ugly AF and the brakes weren't well manufactured. Buy one for a song, get someone to machine the rotors, and you had a beast with a plethora of spare parts going cheap as well. I had a wagon that basically served as a festival bus for many of us. Sadly wrote it off on the Monash, the airbags work pretty well.
 
Dad had a Falcon XB growing up, mum took it in the divorce (yep I basically grew up in the Footscray version of The Castle).

It was an indestructible tank. Mum ran over a Lambo in it, a guy smashed into the back of it in his brand new Chrysler (his car was a write off, we had a little panel damage fixed with a hammer and replaced the glass in one taillight). Engine was still going strong towards the end when everything else was packing up on it. Brilliant car.
 

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I got a taxi from the airport in Dubai which was a Statesman/Caprice. Also got one in Scandinavia which was an E-Class Mercedes. Both cars you would not expect to see as taxis here.

As now basically a 100% import market there's quite a few cars we just don't have here. Some of the pick-up trerks in the US are nuts. We had a 1980s Nissan Patrol when I was a kid and to me that's a big, heavy, lump of a car. Safety features consist of weighing more than most other cars on the road, handling options are 4 tyres and a steering wheel. In parts of the US a Patrol or Landcruiser (i.e. the two big 4WDs you'd see here until recently) look like hatchbacks compared to some of the other ridiculous things on the road. Some of the dual/single cab utes have massive steel frames built into (and taking up most of) the tray just to tow caravans the size of primary schools.

On the flip side Europe and Japan have teeny tiny cars. My mate lives in Glasgow and drives a 1 litre 4 cylinder. Can you even get a 1L here? The Japanese love miniature trucks. Like A Hino 300 series but about 20% of the size. Sort of thing you see from a distance and think is a normal truck then when you get close you realise you could only fit a couple of milk crates in the back.
 
Scotland said:
As now basically a 100% import market there's quite a few cars we just don't have here. Some of the pick-up trerks in the US are nuts. We had a 1980s Nissan Patrol when I was a kid and to me that's a big, heavy, lump of a car. Safety features consist of weighing more than most other cars on the road, handling options are 4 tyres and a steering wheel. In parts of the US a Patrol or Landcruiser (i.e. the two big 4WDs you'd see here until recently) look like hatchbacks compared to some of the other ridiculous things on the road. Some of the dual/single cab utes have massive steel frames built into (and taking up most of) the tray just to tow caravans the size of primary schools.
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In some parts of the states if your truck doesn't have a fifth wheel it ain't a truck.
 
Scotland said:
I got a taxi from the airport in Dubai which was a Statesman/Caprice. Also got one in Scandinavia which was an E-Class Mercedes. Both cars you would not expect to see as taxis here.

As now basically a 100% import market there's quite a few cars we just don't have here. Some of the pick-up trerks in the US are nuts. We had a 1980s Nissan Patrol when I was a kid and to me that's a big, heavy, lump of a car. Safety features consist of weighing more than most other cars on the road, handling options are 4 tyres and a steering wheel. In parts of the US a Patrol or Landcruiser (i.e. the two big 4WDs you'd see here until recently) look like hatchbacks compared to some of the other ridiculous things on the road. Some of the dual/single cab utes have massive steel frames built into (and taking up most of) the tray just to tow caravans the size of primary schools.

On the flip side Europe and Japan have teeny tiny cars. My mate lives in Glasgow and drives a 1 litre 4 cylinder. Can you even get a 1L here? The Japanese love miniature trucks. Like A Hino 300 series but about 20% of the size. Sort of thing you see from a distance and think is a normal truck then when you get close you realise you could only fit a couple of milk crates in the back.
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Growing up we had a Subaru Sherpa for the run around, 0.7 liter 2 cylinder engine if I remember. First car I ever drove. Swapped it for a Ford Festiva that had a six CD stacker under the seat that seemed like the most futuristic feature ever in a car.


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Scotland said:
Good old CD stacker. There's tech that was high end for about 5 minutes.

Do cars still come with DVD players in them or has everyone just moved on to tablets?
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My car didn't come with anything. It's just bluetooth to the phone now
 
Our 2002 Commodore only has a CD player and radio, but the 2005 Kluger still has a tape player.


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edgie said:
My HQ still only does, can get two stations on it.

No time to listen to radio anyway when I need to keep both ears focused on what the engine is doing.


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My car only had a single 4" speaker so even if I wanted to listen to the radio I couldn't hear much over about 60kmh
 
Mofra said:
Dad had a Falcon XB growing up, mum took it in the divorce (yep I basically grew up in the Footscray version of The Castle).

It was an indestructible tank. Mum ran over a Lambo in it, a guy smashed into the back of it in his brand new Chrysler (his car was a write off, we had a little panel damage fixed with a hammer and replaced the glass in one taillight). Engine was still going strong towards the end when everything else was packing up on it. Brilliant car.
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Sounds like my old 85 Mitsubishi Colt. Beautiful little car. Had some chick that just got her licence drive her brand new, parent-bought, ricer (can't remember exactly what type of car, but it was defs imported) drive into the back of it. Her car got written off. I had the teeniest little bump in the rubber bumper that I just pushed back out again.

Scotland said:
Good old CD stacker. There's tech that was high end for about 5 minutes.

Do cars still come with DVD players in them or has everyone just moved on to tablets?
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My 2016 Mustang came with a CD player? Never used it though because I just use bluetooth from my phone.
 
When I first drove my car I asked whether it came with a CD stacker.

He said he would have to get back to me on that one. This was a 2013 model.

I prefer CDs or my direct aux USB input anyway because I like to save my phone battery for other things.
 
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