The media reports that the German-built 'Holden Commodore” to be imported here will be “ just shy of $4,000 cheaper than the outgoing VF model, on RRP it’s under $2,000”.

Good riddance to the Australian car industry, eh? Too late, Australian motorists and taxpayers will know for sure how much that they were being ripped off by government subsidies, Left wing, greedy unions, and big business.

and good riddance to a lot of crummy vehicles although in the last twenty years they have been much safer as the car makers were led kicking and screaming, by Government regulation, to make safer cars.

VW beetle roofline, looks like a pasty. Small picnic table sized metal roof and heaps of sloping glass. Just the thing for the Australian sun. (Not!)

Long sloping front pillar will affect driver's view, particularly taller drivers.

Designers trumped engineers.

Well finally, we have dealt with the more important issue of gay marriage, so now we can discuss real worrying issues. If only governments had stopped the hand outs 10 odd years ago, while the going was good and there were jobs everywhere. Now its really going to hurt us.

Now that we no longer make cars in Australia, I and many others like me proposed to the govt to remove ALL import restrictions. This of course was laughed off by the aftermarket parts and support industry groups. I also suggested a total relaxation of the Australian Design Rules (ADR's). There is no reason we cannot open the borders to imports now. Our car industry is the most over-regulated in the world. They have to comply with two sets of govt checks. One is the ADR's, and the other is called the VSR's or Vehicle Standards Regulation. This system is applied throughout the whole car. Because of this and the fact that foreign cars, 'mostly' already are compliant, one can see that my argument is valid. What has happened only recently, is the EPA has decided to enforce a very obscure law related to the general importation and handling of asbestos. Because of this ANY second hand imported vehicle must now undergo a severe 'strip and search' phase. They are looking for ANY, yes ANY trace of asbestos. IN A CAR? The cars are being vandalised and there is nothing we can do about it. The scum say, we are not allowed to do it, they must. The cars are actually being damaged and treated as if the DEA were looking for drugs hidden in the car's structure somewhere. This action by EPA has been described as vandalism in it's worst form. As a result it has completely halted the import of used cars into Australia. I know this because I spoke to an Aussie shipper who lives in the US, only yesterday and it is that bad that he has cars in store that are going nowhere waiting for the owners to decide what they are going to do. Australia is a lousy country for many reasons. The people are not getting a fair go. We could in fact charge the govt under the consumer affairs act which states that a product or service must be 'fit for purpose'. Amongst many others, the Australian Motor industry is not!

I read the reports on this and they are comparing a German 4 cylinder vehicle with the traditional Aussie 6.

The claim is it will have similar power but most Australians worth their salt understand that on Australian roads with big distances and lots of hot engine miles that the 6 will most often markedly outlast a 4.

However the standout feature of the German motor industry is the fact the unions are not only strong but have a seat on the boards of all the major German manufacturers. German auto workers are paid 50% more than their US counterparts and considerably more for equivalent roles than Australian workers.

And that Steely explains why there are more "German" cars built in the US than imported into the US. It would also explain why so many previously superior German cars are now unreliable, over priced bits of trash, when imported to Oz.

Sorry Is Mise, safety has little to do with government regulations, & everything to do with the loose nut behind the steering wheel, the driver.

In 1964 I drove in the last Le Mans start sports car race at Bathurst. You know the ones, where the cars are lined up on one side of the track, & the drivers on the other. At flag fall drivers run across the track, jump into & start their cars, & go racing. A great test of which cars start well.

Bathurst in those days was a narrow bumpy scenic drive road, with few safety fences, no gravel traps, but lots of trees close by, embankments & big drops off the road all over the place.

40 drivers raced off, not a seat belt, or roll over bar in sight. 25 miles later they finished the race, all in good health, despite over 1000 collective miles of flat out racing at speeds up to 150 MILES per HOUR. In fact, the introduction of seat belts ruined a good bit of innocent fun.

You see, not one of us sent a single text, or answered a phone. None were looking into shop windows, waving to friends, or listening to the latest music. Safety is in the driver, not the laws.

SteeleRedux, I think you'll find that the Holden V6 is a 'knock-off' of the Buick V6. So it's an American motor. The Falcon 6 I believe (not sure) to be an all Aussie design. And you are quite right about the life span of a 4cyl compared to a 6cyl engine. But in the interests of quoting the right facts, it is worth noting that Europe also has some vast stretches of freeways and autobahns and they travel at speeds far in excess of ours. Europeans favour economy to power. This explains why the staple in Europe was a manual, diesel. Manual is more economical than automatic and diesel is more economical than petrol. This was well before 'dieselgate'. A previous model of the VW Golf could give in excess of 1000km on a single tank of diesel. In Australia we have always had a 'rev-head' culture and the V8 became our staple. I don't know how the Germans managed to succeed with union intervention at every turn. BUT, there is no doubt in my mind that Australia has been sent to the level of almost third world status because of the unions. I remember one year, the govt gave GMH a $300 million grant. GMH disclosed their profit for that year as $300 million. You work it out. Any attempt at trying to open the borders was met with a definite NO as lobbying by the aftermarket groups and their campaign contributions comes with more money than we do. There is so much more to tell about the motor industry and it's failings, mostly due directly to the govt's, I can't cram it all in on this post. There will be other opportunities in the future I'm sure.

Hasbeen, I am excited once more to hear someone talk on facts and not these bloody PC lies. Your post lifted my spirits no end. And I'd like to give the finger to these PC Nancys who have NO idea of what they speak, even with their big shot university degrees and all. Well, I know it doesn't take much to make my day, but you sir, have just done so.

Dear Hasbeen,

How are you old fella? Still never letting facts stand in the way of a a good reminisce?

Let's see, there were 13 deaths at Panorama alone from 1964 to 1994 after which they got serious about safety. Since there has only been one.

http://www.mount-panorama.com.au/history/memorials/31-race-memorials.html

My take it was better safety that turned these figures around, ones that let motorsport participants return home to their loved ones after a day of racing. Your take is that it was the loose nuts behind the wheel that were the problem. Well if that is the case mate then your generation wins hands down in the nutter case, something I had guessed was the case but now you have confirmed.

Merry Christmas :)

Hasbeen,

"Sorry Is Mise, safety has little to do with government regulations, & everything to do with the loose nut behind the steering wheel, the drive"

I agree with you but what I was thinking of was the safety features that some manufacturers left off their cars, such as the simple safety strap that passed under the front of a tail shaft and that would catch it if the forward universal on the tail shaft broke.

A mate was driving an early Holden on the Newcastle Expressway, tail shaft gave way, hit the deck, caught in a road joint, the car rode over it and twisted the back axle through a bit over 180 degrees, tore out the hydraulic brakes (front and rear disabled, no twin master cylinders) and the handbrake.

He stopped by 'rubbing' the left side of the car on the sandstone wall of a cutting, didn't do the paint much good.

Hang on SteeleRedux. Your not getting away that easy. Did you break down when these deaths occurred. Memory serves, the cars were getting faster so I would imagine the closer to 94 the death rate rose accordingly. Then again I do not trust stats, but what the hey, I'm curious, I don't have to accept them if I don't like them. It was inevitable that safety features were eventually going to be adopted. So SR there was a death after all the new safety measures were installed. Gee I would have demanded zero deaths after installing all these 'safety' features. Now that puts in question the safety measures if they have failed, even for one death.

Don't worry about Steely ALTRAV, that is typical. Google a bit of trivia, then make a fool of yourself posting as if you know something about the subject.

Yes Bathurst did become dangerous for light [1140 Lbs.] cars doing over 180 MPH, in the late 60s. The surface was far too rough, & the cars had outgrown it.

When I won the Bathurst 100 in the Formula 1 Brabham Repco, I was not in complete control at 180+ mph down conrod, 99% perhaps, but not complete control. As I was not prepared to be killed by a badly patched pothole I retired at the end of the season, & went sailing.

I was probably not in much more control in a 40 Ft yacht in a cyclone in the middle of the Solomon sea, but at least I was not going to bounce off the track out there.

I was talked into going back just once to drive a V8 Falcon in the 500. Back in complete control at not much over 130 MPH that was a bit of fun, but not enough to stick around for.