Ridiculous Rebadges: The Button Car Plan

Kinja'd!!! "Amoore100" (amoore100)
11/09/2015 at 22:15 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Holden, Nissan, Ford

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Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.

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Over the last three weeks Ridiculous Rebadges has been a menagerie of random and esoteric vehicles produced specifically for the Australian market, and this week’s focus is no different. Remember the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ? Well that was an indirect result of the Button Car Plan, a initiative led by Senator John Button, the federal Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry in the early 1980s. Meant to consolidate and therefore streamline Australian automobile manufacturing, Button traveled to Japan seeking assistance in providing new models to participate in the scheme. The Japanese automakers were willing since it would promote their sales in Australia, and so the pact was made. Initially Nissan teamed with Holden in 1984 when the plan was put into action, resulting in the Nissan Pulsar being turned into the Holden Astra (as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! pointed out on the UAAI article). However, by 1989, this relationship fell through and while we know that Holden went to Toyota, Nissan itself decided to go with Ford. This resulted in the creation of models such as the Ford Maverick (Nissan Patrol), Nissan Ute (Ford Falcon Ute), and Ford Corsair (Nissan Pintara). The Corsair was the sedan that was mentioned last week as providing internal competition against the Telstar. However, most of the remnants of the Button Car Plan dissolved by the early to mid 1990s as it was found that the Australian automotive market was not particularly impressed by the rampant rebadging. As a result, we have probably seen the day pass when it was once possible to get a Ute with a Nissan badge, or a Japanese subcompact wielding the Holden lion. One more interesting car remains however, that once wore the lion but ended up with a far more oriental flavor. More for next week!

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Mid to late 1980s (Holden + Nissan)

N12 Nissan Pulsar

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First Generation Holden Astra (LB/LC)

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N13 Nissan Pulsar

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Second Generation Holden Astra (LD)

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Late 1980’s to early 1990’s (Ford + Nissan)

Fourth Generation Nissan Patrol (Y60)

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Ford Maverick

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Second Generation Nissan Pintara (U12)

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Ford Corsair UA

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Fourth Generation Ford Falcon (XF) Utility

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Nissan Ute

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All images courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Source: Wikipedia


DISCUSSION (10)


Kinja'd!!! deprecated account > Amoore100
11/09/2015 at 22:19

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that Nissan Ute is just begging for an RB26DETT swap.


Kinja'd!!! Justin Young > Amoore100
11/09/2015 at 22:54

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I love to see this series again! It reminds me of my younger days where I would be shocked to see cars with different badges!

I have another suggestion from our country: Norkis Legacy. (FYI, it’s not a Subaru.)


Kinja'd!!! Amoore100 > Justin Young
11/09/2015 at 23:11

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Thanks for the positive feedback and added suggestion! Will be adding it to the rebadge spreadsheet...so you’re from the Philippines then?


Kinja'd!!! Justin Young > Amoore100
11/09/2015 at 23:13

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Yessir! :)


Kinja'd!!! ly2v8-Brian > Amoore100
11/09/2015 at 23:31

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Oz is flush with oddities.


Kinja'd!!! RazoE > Amoore100
11/09/2015 at 23:35

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Can these get any bigger..?!?


Kinja'd!!! Amoore100 > RazoE
11/10/2015 at 01:28

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Good lord I hope not.


Kinja'd!!! pip bip - choose Corrour > deprecated account
11/10/2015 at 03:19

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351 swap !

8)


Kinja'd!!! mwoodski > deprecated account
11/12/2015 at 20:39

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Here’s the fun part...the equivalent Holden Commodore of the time came equipped with a Nissan RB30DET. So you’ve got a Holden with a Nissan engine, and a rebadged Ford Ute as a Nissan...


Kinja'd!!! deprecated account > mwoodski
11/12/2015 at 22:17

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