A brute of a ute

In 1856 some bloke called Jim Holden started up a saddlery business in South Australia. He branched out into repairing car upholstery and then started making other bits for cars. The business ultimately became a successful car manufacturer exporting overseas to Africa and Asia and even the West Indies. In the 1930's General Motors acquired a share of Holden and in the latter half of the 20th century many of the Holden's seen on Australian roads were rebadged versions of cars made elsewhere. An example of this is the Holden Astra which looks just like those Vauxhall Astras made back home just up the road at Ellesmere Port. Holden's Australian manufacturing concentrated on what was one of their traditional strengths which was big luxury cars. And people don't seem to want big luxury cars any more. Aa a result GM is closing Holden's car plant down at the end of 2017.

Bit of a basic back end eh?

And it's not only the end of an era for Holden it's the end of the Aussie Ute! The ute as opposed to the pickup is a hybrid unique to Australia being basically a big saloon car chopped off halfway with a cargo tray grafted on. The story goes that an Australian farmer's wife wanted something that they could drive to church on Sundays and in which they could take the pigs to market on Mondays. Ford stopped making their Australian built utes in 2016 and the end is nigh for the Holden ute.

Holden are however producing a special souped up ute to celebrate! Here it is, the 6.2 litre V8 HSV Maloo Special Edition - production is limited to 160 vehicles for sale in Australia (plus 6 for New Zealand!)

The biggest boot any sports car can offer!