Uncivil War

AS CHEVROLET’S V8 BRUISER INVADES LOCAL SOIL, A HOMETOWN FOE STANDS READY WITH AN UNHOLY WELCOME.

- Louis Cordony

THUNDER. That’s what erupts after pressing the round, polished button labelled ‘ENGINE’ on the Ford Mustang GT’s centre stack. Throttle intensifies its barrage. And you instantly suspect this might be the best sounding car under $100,000 – except, maybe, for the ominous Chevrolet Camaro that’s about to fire up alongside it.

Together they are writing the sequel to the Australian rear drive V8 performance sedan. It’s been more than a year since Holden shut off its local factories. Yet while Ford V8 fans have feasted on the Mustang since 2016, it’s only now that the GM faithful are getting their equivalent fix. And it’s all thanks to the fine folk in Clayton at Holden Special Vehicles.

HSV zeroed in on the Camaro after learning GM would kill the V8 Commodore. It successfully gained approval on a right-hand drive project in 2015 and now, with Chevrolet’s sixth generation V8 bruiser finally ready, it starts a new Red and Blue rivalry that feels particularly nostalgic.

They’re both remarkably similar to each other and our bygone boof-heads. They count eight cylinders each, drive the rear wheels and are only just short of five metres. But while they’re separated by a couple thousand dollars back home, the scales aren’t so even in Australia.

HSV virtually rebuilds the car in Clayton. Its firewall is redrilled, its loom is rewired, the footwells are modified and it’s completely stripped during the process. This inflates its cost well above the Mustang that leaves its Michigan factory (only a couple hours’ drive from the Chevrolet one) with the steering wheel on the right side. But we’ll get to dollar figures later.