Great Aussie icon going to America
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Holden's CV8 Monaro
Artists impression of Pontiac's GTO
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Ever since General Motors head-man Bob Lutz came to view
the Holden operations in Australia in early 2002, he has had
nothing by praise to say about the Aussie arm of GM.
He even went on to say that if GM's subsidiaries, located
all over the world, were to apply the same sort of work ethics
that is almost gospel at Holden, then the General would be
a much stronger outfit.
As such, Holden is now an intergral part of GM's worldwide
plans. Though not official, you can safely say that Monaro
will be heading to US in 2003 for sale in 2004.
The Monaro will be badged as a Pontiac GTO and we even have
a sketch artists mock up of how the new beast may look. As
you can see from the image, the headlights and grille will
be changed, but not much else.
It is rumoured that the entire rear end, which is a work
of art in itself, will be unchanged. Obviously Mr. Lutz and
the Wombat rev-heads have a lot in common.
There was also hushed talk of the latest model VX Commodore
(in SS guise) heading over to the states to become the new
Chevy Impala SS, but as the Monaro is pretty much a given
to head to the states, the chances of the SS going as well
have decreased.
Back to the Monaro, and the US rags are already reading into
the rumours and are excited by the HSV line-up. Wouldn't that
be something - a couple of hotted up coupes breaking records
in the States? Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves here,
but the 300kW GTS Coupe would apeal to many residents of the
USA who seem to have a perpetual love affair with anything
that shreds tyres.
In the USA, the original Pontiac GTO is often remembered
for kick-starting the muscle car scene, such was its emotional
connection to the driver. It had the looks and the power to
back it up, so the fact that a home-grown Aussie icon will
be the new Pontiac pin-up is quite an accolade for Holden.
The jury is still officially out on whether the Monaro
will be sold in the US, but from what Bob Lutz has said and
how positive the decision makers have been towards the car,
indicates that measures are already underway to export the
mighty Monaro.
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