MANAWATU FARMING LIFESTYLES
January 2014
FA R M W H E E L S
11
No quiet retirement for these icons by Andy Bryenton
The news from the Australian motor industry these days is ‘all change’, with massive restructuring looming for the big brands and new badges seen on the hallowed tarmac of Bathurst. If, by 2020, the automotive landscape across the ditch has changed to the extent that some rumours would have us believe, the motoring scene will be very different here as well — New Zealand’s favourite big cars are as Aussie-inspired as the rotary clothesline. Perhaps the saddest thing which could come from a top-tobottom overhaul of Antipodean automotive manufacturing would be the loss of the V8 ute. Sure, the lines of the American El Camino may have been The Redline lives up to its name on the twists and turns of the Nurburgring in Germany the inspiration for workmanlike road monsters such as the heart of European motoring. The fact that this 6 litre, 270kW, Maloo and the FPV Typhoon, but Ford sedan-inspired work vehicle has blitzed the 25 kilometre Australia have been offering a ‘utility ‘green hell’ of the ‘Ring in eight minutes 19 seconds has coupe’ since the 1930s, and one with a secured the hot Holden a world record. The very production of such a machine — a powerful, Falcon badge since 1961. If both the big names cross their Oz-built large sedans almost brutal and utterly unrepentantly off the production list, the twilight of blokey muscle-truck is an indication that this gnarly sub-species may be in sight Holden have plenty of fighting spirit left, as well. even in the face of uncertain times for Or maybe not. Nothing makes a good Australian auto manufacturing. By 2016 case for global recognition like a world both the Holden Commodore ute and its first, and Holden’s attack on Germany's long-standing nemesis the Ford Falcon iconic Nurburgring (with a fire-breathing ute will be collectors’ items rather than VF Redline V8) has caused a stir in the forecourt fixtures, but Holden, in the
case of the Redline, are going out with delightful delinquency. Rather than opt for refinement and reserve in what may be one of the last of the great Antipodean utes, the VF has shown just how much fun a practical vehicle can be — while at the same time making the likes of BMW consider welding a flat deck to a chopped M3.
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