I went to an exhibit on the history of the Australian car

"Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12) 06/15/2015 at 09:15 • Filed to: australian car exhibit holden

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The Australian car isn’t long for this world. Toyota and Mitsubishi no longer build cars here, and the Falcon and Commodore are on death row. To help us mourn their passing the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has an exhibit on the Australian car. It turns out the car has quite a rich history in Australia, though you’d probably forgive most of the world for never noticing. With that in mind, here are some of the highlights from the exhibit.

Excuse the photography, I’m no photographer and I’m in between phones.

I believe that was a model of the Buick Avenir concept (not the real deal)

The beautiful Holden Efigy which I’ve never seen in person until now. That color!

This is a concept from 1969, the GMH Hurricane. Recently restored.

Another concept, the Torana GTR-X, this one from 1970. Was absolutely stunning. A big part of me wishes, somehow, Holden had built this and started a craze of sporty coupes rather than moving into big sedans.

Interesting how the “hockey stick” brake light turns into an orange line which runs the full side of the car.

This is a Purvis Eureka, built in a small factory not far from where I live. I have seen one on the roads, once. Part of me wishes we had more cars with canopies - the exhibit had 2, how did this not become a thing!?

One of the first utes ever built, a Ford. Unrestored (can you tell?). Australia still builds a large number of utes, though it looks like that won’t last much longer.

This isn’t even half of what’s there, there’s a heap of information and I’d recommend it to anyone with a fleeting interest in cars.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 09:28

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The pointy white car — Torana? — is remeniscent to me of the Studebaker Avanti.

CalzoneGolem > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 09:33

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10/10 would hoon without pants on.

Roundbadge > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 10:02

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Desktop’d!

punkgoose17 > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 10:48

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You can still get new kits in the U.S. from Sterling Sports Cars.

NJAnon > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 12:39

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Of course theres awesome cars that come from Australia. But Australia is kind of “utility” first isn’t it? They did make that one car from HSV that I wish came to the US.

Nauraushaun > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/15/2015 at 18:59

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Really? I don’t see that. The Avanti isn’t pointy at all is it?

Nauraushaun > punkgoose17 06/15/2015 at 18:59

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Awesome! I love the idea, the canopy has to feel awesome. But I’m not sure the build quality would satisfy me.

Nauraushaun > NJAnon 06/15/2015 at 19:01

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I don’t think so. Really we’re about big auto sedans, with V6 or V8. We have ute and wagon variants of these cars, but they aren’t particularly utilitarian. Even the utes are often sleek, low and powerful. We’ve never really built pickups or “trucks”.

You mean everything from HSV? They’re mostly variations on the same formula - V8 muscle car.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nauraushaun 06/15/2015 at 19:15

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Reminiscent. Neither car is particularly attractive, in my opinion.