Posted on 06/21/2002 7:38:33 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
The word Monaro is of Aboriginal origin - it means high plateau, which is fitting, really. The Monaro has always been a performance car and if Holden has its way, the Australian icon will make a stunning comeback at the end of the year.
The concept was simply called the Holden Coupe, though when it was showed for the first time to Jo public at the Sydney motor show in 1998, it was unofficially named the Monaro by pundits and show-goers.
The name stuck and pre-orders for a car which hadn't even been manufactured were enough to persuade Holden to manufacture the vehicle.
Ross McKenzie, Holden's Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, said: "In a sense, the car named itself. Right from the beginning, the media and the man on the street insisted on referring to our coupe concept design as a Monaro. After it was confirmed for production, we held consumer research clinics that came out overwhelmingly in favour of the name.
"To men and women of all ages, Monaro directly equated to 'large Australian sports coupe'. In terms of sheer brand awareness, you can't do much better than that."
Not a lot of info one the Monaro has escaped Holden HQ, as the project is still top secret. But, as always, we have a few snippets of juicy info and a swag of images to boot.
The Monaro will be a two-door coupe, much like its older brother (circa 1968) and the wheelbase will be the same as that found on Commodore sedans. These sub-frames are shorter than station wagon and ute models, however.
The photos you see here were taken last year (2000) and, as such, the car looks more like the VT model. However, the Monaro will overlap VX and VU (ute) models. The cars have been under tight security since the production began and everything that travels between Melbourne and Adelaide is under constant surveillance so that nothing is leaked.
The Monaro will be released in very limited numbers to those who have pre-ordered and even the colour schemes are secret at this stage. Buyers will be able to choose their car colours via the Internet after entering a special password at Holden dealers around the country.
As for the engine, it will be one of Holden's best - the new all-alloy GenIII V8. We know that this 5.7-litre engine (350 cubic-inches for the old-schoolers) pumps out a whopping 225kW in standard form, though who knows what Holden will do to the engine when the car arrives.
We also know that HSV will be creating a killer version of the new Monaro that is guaranteed to be one of the most amazing vehicles this country has seen. Perhaps it will even break the 300kW mark?
Holden's Monaro is going to be huge - of this there is no doubt. The car will be fast - rumours say it will even give Subaru's devilishly quick turbocharged WRX a run for its money.
As with almost every other facet of the vehicle, the price is unknown, though estimates put it at under $100,000. The release of the Monaro has to be one of the most anticipated vehicle launches in Australian history, and now it's close, very close
Holden...expired in a pool of its own oil....as one who knows....
It is expected to sell for around $35K - $5k as a result of not including the annoying "skip shift" feature included in the SS Camaros and Corvettes. This makes the guzzler tax apply. My main problem with this car is that it is based on the Opel Omega platform so it will handle like a piece of junk. In no way will it be like a Camaro. IMHO, the Commodore is a beter car (based on what I have read about both).
All in all, I think it is a smart idea from a mraketing perspective. There is almost zero development cost (other than moving the gas tank to the front of the rear axle and switching the steering from RHD to LHD) and it lets them test the market to determine if there is still a demand for "real" performance cars. I think their main problem was that they never really tried to sell the Camaro and it ended up getting killed in the market place against the Mustang which was heavily promoted.
At least now they have a "car guy" (Lutz) making some of the decisions. If it does reasonably well, maybe Chevy will go back to making some decent performance cars again. The planned Wimpala SS just doesn't cut it with its FWD platform and V-6.
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