War & Peace

With The Aussie Muscle Car Now Gone, We Gather The Two Greatest Examples And Discover That A 50-year Rivalry Is Slowly Being Forgotten

- Scott Newman

SIXTY-FIVE MILLION YEARS ago, a cataclysmic climate event occurred. Scientists are split on whether it was an asteroid strike or an enormous volcanic eruption, but the effect was to eradicate most of the life on earth and end the reign of the dinosaurs. The events that led to the fall of the Australian car manufacturing industry were more varied: globalisation, political gamesmanship, unionisation and, above all, changing market tastes all played a part, but the end result was equally catastrophic. Aussie-made cars met the same fate as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. Unlike the demise of the dinos, it’s easy to identify the exact times and places that spelled the end of the Aussie car industry. On October 7, 2016, a blue FG X Falcon XR6 became the final model to roll out of Ford’s Broadmeadows plant. A little over a year later, on October 20, 2017, a red VF II SS-V Redline sedan was the final Aussie Holden built, before HSV ended its program with a Light My Fire (gold) GTSR W1 on January 3, 2018. Just like that, the lights turned off on more than 100 years of Australian vehicle manufacturing, unlikely ever to be switched on again, at least in a volume capacity.

With the final chapter of the story written and the back cover closed, it’s time for reflection. What were the highlights? The list quickly narrowed down to offerings from Ford and Holden. With the greatest of respect to the likes of Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan and many others who had an Australian manufacturing presence over the years, a Ralliart Magna, Camry Sportivo and Pulsar SSS weren’t going to cut it. Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult to whittle down the contenders from each brand. Representing the red camp, the ultimate Commodore, the HSV GTSR W1, while from the Blue Oval it could only be the Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III.