GM Holden Torana returns

[mobil1_oils]

[b][center][size=10]Torana returns with turbo bite[/size]
Paul Gover
08oct04
[/b]
[img]http://img48.exs.cx/img48/1545/torana8mg.jpg[/img][/center]


The Holden Torana is back...bigger, bolder and badder and at a development cost of $3 million.

The classic Aussie compact was given a new lease on life yesterday with the unveiling of a Torana concept car, the TT36, at Sydney's Australian International Motor Show.

Like the born-again Monaro, which began life as a motor show tease in Sydney in 1998, there is a good chance the Torana will be pushed into production.

The new-age Torana is called the TT36, a name taken from its twin-turbo, 3.6-litre, V6 engine, and is painted bright pink.

It is a five-door hatchback with classic rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual gearbox, and Holden says its look and performance were inspired by the Torana A9X Bathurst blaster of the 1970s.

The glitz and glamour of the first new Torana in more than 20 years -- and right on the 25th anniversary of its Bathurst win with Peter Brock -- runs to a glass sunroof and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The Torana shows how Holden is tapped into the global resources of the General Motors' empire and the car, or something based on it, could easily have a production future, perhaps even to be built outside Australia. Holden couldn't disguise its excitement when the wraps came off.

"Quite simply, for us it is a game changer in automotive design and production," Holden chairman Denny Mooney says.

"It is the first Holden show car to merge Australian design, engineering and powertrain expertise with the technical and global resources of GM.

"TT36 looks sensational. Its ultra-high performance 280kW, twin-turbo 3.6-litre Alloytec experimental engine was made at our new Port Melbourne plant."

The TT36 was raced from the design studio to the motor show in just over six months, following the go-ahead from Detroit.

The idea for the new-age Torana was originally floated by former Holden chairman Peter Hanenberger, who believed there was a place in the GM world for a sub-Commodore car that picked up a lot of its basic engineering from the Holden hero. He dreamed of a BMW-style sports sedan with Chevrolet badges.

Hanenberger even gave the green light for the SSX concept car, which was another five-door hatchback built around a Commodore chassis. It cost millions to build the car, which even had production-style steel panels.

But it looked as if the Torana project had died, until GM's worldwide product chief, Bob Lutz, was shown the concept at Fishermens Bend during a visit earlier this year and gave the go-ahead for a full-scale concept car.

The easiest job was the badge.

"Naming the concept car was easy. We knew many fans would immediately call it Torana because it is a high-powered, mid-size, rear-wheel-drive hot hatch," Mooney says.


[url=\"http://carsguide.news.com.au/news/story_page/0,8269,10999055%5E21822,00.html\"]Source[/url]

[RuffRyders]

Terrific, torano's were one of my favourite cars when I was younger /biggrin.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\':D\' />.

[mobil1_oils]

[b][i][color=\"gray\"][font=\"tahoma\"]Torana* and personally i say leave the classics as classics.

This goes for the Monaro, Torana, and the Mustang. [/b][/i][/color][/font]