Sydney: From Two to Four

Without a doubt, the 2002 Sydney Motor Show was dominated by exciting new Australian content.

Almost all of what was offered up by international marques has been seen before in some capacity, while the four local car makers - Toyota, Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi - served up a veritable cornucopia of automtoive treats.

The general theme linking the big four Aussie automakers was a definite shift towards all-wheel drive product.

At the top of this burgeoning list of four-wheel drive possibilities was Holden's stunning new SSX (SS + Crossover), arguably stealing the show as hushed journo's marvelled at its simple, yet effective design.

Take the base Commodore, affix hatchback in place of sedan-style boot, dress it up with flared wheel arches, a subtle yet slightly radical body-kit and add a four-wheel drive, four-speed auto tranny, and voila - the SSX is born.

Lob in a potent V8 engine, fancy new head and tail lights, massive 19-inch alloys and a centrally-mounted exhaust system, and the SSX concept starts to make sense.

It's the kind of family five-door large car that will appeal to those who want the ability of an SUV, but without the inherent drawbacks, such as a tall chassis, which may increase visibility, but offers slow cornering ability.

As Max Wolff said, one of the young designers who worked on the concept, it's about "combining versatility with performance."

Moving on to the Ford stand, and the hyped GT wasn't as hardcore as we were expecting - maybe it was paintjob? But with 290kW on offer, and tweaked handling, it's sure to put smiles on the faces of many Ford fans.

As far as the AWD drive ideas went, Ford showed off its R7 again, which could be a production model in next few years as Ford plans to export the small SUV, making it a more financially viable venture.

Over at the Toyota exhibit, it was concepts and prototypes that dominated, hinting at the future direction for Japan's biggest automaker.

The MR2-based Street Affair is one seriously surreal show-car, while with 110kW of power, a stylish bodykit and 17inch wheels, the new Toyota Echo Turbo concept would make an excellent hot hatch to compete with the likes of the Renault Clio and Hyundai Getz.

Add to these performance concepts a new production-ready six-speed tiptronic MR2, and it would appear that, along with the sportier Camry range, Toyota is trying to create shed its image of reliable, yet somewhat boring vehicles.

Toyota also surprised everyone by revealing a curvaceous Camry-powered open-racer, called Project Go, again building on a commitment to performance. Perhaps the Toyota Formula One team will be one to watch in 2003?

But back to the four-wheel drive theme, and Toyota's show-piece (for us at least) was the brash RSC, or Rugged Sports Coupe. Think of it as a futuristic dune buggy, sitting on jacked-up suspension and offering sportscar levels of performance.

Mitsubishi also had plenty of all-wheel drive product on show, including the first look at an AWD Magna. Getting the jump on its three local rivals, the Japanese car maker will be offering the AWD family car before Holden, Ford and Toyota, which is expected to see sales of the current Magna climb significantly.

The first locally produced large AWD sedan furthers the local AWD push, while a new Mitsu wagon is likely to give Honda's CRV and Subaru's Forester a run for their money in the form of the appealing 4WD Outlander.

The 2002 Sydney Motor Show was a success for the local manufacturers, whose new products, concepts and ideas showed that Australia is now not just a small fish in a big pond, but a global player with exciting prospects. The AWD push, also seen from BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen, will not only give buyers more choice when it comes to buying a new family car, but also better suit our rugged land.

In the coming days, we'll provide run-downs on what all the marques had to offer, so stay tuned to Wombat Motoring for all the details.

We'll provide all the infomation on wheel size, engine capacity, what the cup holders and seats were like and other secrets we gleaned from the show. We'll also look in detail at the new cars on show, from Ford's new Falcon GT, to the Holden SSX, BMW's Z4, Nissan's impressive 350Z and all the other promising vehicles from Germany, Italy, England, Japan, America and of course Australia.