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| Dave's Automotive Anomalies |
| Useless Facts About Cars |
| In everyday life, I often retain useless information. Important stuff will just fly right out of my head (ie where I am, what I'm doing, what my name is, etc). But useless stuff, especially useless car-related stuff, will stick in there like glue. Probably taking up important space. Well, instead of complaining about it, I thought I'd share some of my less-than-important facts with you. |
| Did You Know? |
| The Leyland Mini Moke stayed in production in Australia until 1980. And it continued to be produced in Portugal until 1993! Furthermore, the Leyland Mini Moke had a higher top speed in third gear than in fouth! |
| The Isuzu Bellett was the first modern passenger car sold in Australia with Independent Rear Suspension. Many Datsun 1600 owners will protest, but it's true! The first Bellett was sold here in 1964, while the first Datto 1600 wasn't marketed here until 1967. |
| While the Datsun 1600 was famous for its rallying prowess, much of it was due to the superb handling from the IRS rear-end. But the now-rare Datsun 1600 wagon had a solid rear axle! |
| The infamous Energy Polariser was NOT the main reason for the highly publicised corporate break-up between Holden and Aussie racing legend Peter Brock's HDT workshop. Brock's last car, the HDT Brock Director (which, while VL Commodore-based, was devoid of Holden badging), included a hand-built 5.6 litre V8, four-speed automatic, Energy Polariser AND Independent Rear Suspension, sourced from the Opel Reckord - Commodore's European brother. Holden was developing the forthcoming VN range to include IRS, and didn't want Brock's outfit to have it first. Perhaps in order to keep the IRS development secret from the Aussie motoring press, they blamed the Energy Polariser, a box with crystals and magnets Brock stated "causes all molecules in its sphere of influence to be aligned or polarised, the effect is to reduce overall vehicle noise, achieve greater efficiency of the powertrain and steering systems, and improve engine and suspension performance." Whether it worked or not was not the issue - Holden didn't like it, and it became their scapegoat. Only 9 were built before Brock sold HDT. I believe him, because he's Brockie. |
| Despite popular opinion, not all of Ford's 1967 XR-model Falcon GTs were painted GT Gold. |
| One was built in Polar White and was put on pole by the Geogeghan brothers at the 1967 Gallaher 500 race at Bathurst. The other white car that raced that year had been painted white by the owner. One was painted Avis White for Avis Rent-A-Car One was painted red for then-Managing Director of Ford Australia, Bill Bourke. Eight were painted silver for Gallaher Cigarettes to use as rep cars after the launch of the Gallaher GT King Sized Filter cigarettes that were released at the 1967 Gallaher 500. |
| The humble Holden Gemini kept basically the same SOHC 1584cc Isuzu engine from the 1975 TX-model to the last 1985 TG-model. Minor improvements were made to emissions, as the expense of power. However, Holden toyed with shoe-horning a 2850cc 'Red' six into the engine bay, mainly for racing purposes. A prototype was built, but the project was shelved. There were also plans to replace the Isuzu engine with Holden's own 1900cc four-cylinder 'Starfire' engine, the engine they designed by lopping two cylinders off the 'Red' six. It would have been a step up in power, but with pushrods and a cast-iron head, it would have been a great leap backwards, technology-wise. Fortunately, the UC-model Sunbird and VC and VH-model Commodore 4s were the only cars that had to suffer the indignity of the Starfire. |
| The Datsun 1200 came out in the early 1970s in sedan, wagon, coupe and utility forms. By the mid 1970s, the sedan, wagon and coupe had been replaced by the much-maligned Datsun 120Y. However, Datsun continued to build the 1200 utility for a number of years, still with early 1970s styling. The last imports came to Australia in 1985. The last were built in Japan in 1996! |
| While in Australia, the VL-model Holden Commodore used Nissan's 3 litre straight six (coded RB30), the New Zealand-spec Commodore was also available with a 2 litre six (RB20). |
| The first ever GM World Car - a car that is developed for sale in several different markets worldwide - was the GM T-Car - sold in Australia as the Holden Gemini! Other names included; |
| Isuzu Gemini (Japan) Opel Kadett (Europe) Vauxhall Chevette (UK) Bedford Chevanne (UK panelvan) Chevette (Brazil) Chevrolet Chevette (USA) Pontiac 1000 (USA) |
| Buick Opel (Japanese-built, sold in USA) Isuzu I-Mark (Japanese-built, sold in USA) Pontiac Arcadian (Canada) Opel K-180 (Argentina) Daewoo Maepsy (South Korea) Aymesa Condor (Ecuador) |
| Not only that, body styles not offered in Australia ranged from a 2-door sedan (originally slated to be sold here), 3-door hatchback, 5-door hatchback (North America only) and two different utility versions. |
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