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I was in a small group looking through the Morgan factory in England recently and when the guy found out I was aussie he said "see the diff; that comes from Holden" and I thought not for much longer. I also wonder how many other car parts are made here by Holden (or ford, Toyota) and shipped out to other manufacturers?
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The diff in the Commodore hasn't been locally made for a decade or so (possibly longer), so unless it's an old BTR unit, it's likely to be a GM Asia diff, which just happens to go under the VE/VF Commodore.
Holden's Engine plant in Melbourne exports a lot of V6 engines - that's been going on since 2004, and prior to that, they were doing the 4-cylinder Family 2 & its many derivatives.
Apart from that, and the likes of Toyota & Holden exporting complete cars, I'm more aware of the smaller tier suppliers, or independent businesses in their own right who are exporting - common names you'd know of would be Harrop, Holinger, and even ARB (albeit a lot of their manufacturing is in Asia, but engineering, assembly & despatch is in VIC).
There's some clever engineering going on in SA & Vic too - some of the world's best performance cars have Aussie sourced components in them, like Lotus, Aston Martin, and even Lamborghini.
Until recently, when the US decided to start subsidising their own industries again, an Aussie firm in Adelaide used to machine the hubs for Harley Davidson - those raw hubs were cast here locally too. The cost to produce the required level of quality was cheaper in Oz, than in the USA. Sadly for us, the US government woke up to the issue of offshoring, and made a few feeble attempts to reign it in - offering incentives for local production, to make it more competitive against all the imports. Mainly designed to offset the massive amount from China, but the Aussies fell victim as well. |
Cheers,
Mick _______________________________________________________________
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I believe the diff in the VE/VF is made locally made, but by ZF, not GM-H.
GM-H haven't made their owns diffs since 1984 (mid-VK) by which time the local BW units replaced them.
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Lots of the parts of VE and VF are sourced from Korea, not an Aussie car built from parts sourced from small industry anymore like a GMH car used to be. |
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Holden has always had some overseas content, it is the % that they always went on about.
This was also put across the range, so that 307/327/350 engines would hide in amoungst the 161/186/253/308. But even some of the parts on these were US like the Quadrajet on a 308.
It would be interesting to find out what cars, in some cases with particular options, are 100% Australian.
Warren
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What about an LH Torana with 4.2L V8 with Aussie built carby and aussie 3 or 4 spd? There may be some minor bits sourced from the US but not many. I think the car is a full Aussie design too not a modified US design. |
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Norm Darwins book "The History of Holden in Australia' claimed the HQs to be 99 odd % locally made. Nothing imported apart from some locks & switches. Throw in TH 400s, factory A/C, power steer,& a Quadrajet and the percentage comes down though.
There's also quite a bit of interchangability between the HQ-WB and the Chevelle/Tempest/Cutlass/Skylarks too. Gotta love that.
I find it saddening that soon we'll be making bugger all in this country. |
Attn camry drivers. The accelerator is the skinny pedal on the right. |
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I still reckon the HQ is not an Aussie design though despite what GMH claimed. Looks very much like a US vehicle never released and adapted for here. It is the most like a US vehicle that we ever had from GMH. The way the front rails are done, the wheel stud pattern, the rear fuel filler, even the door hinges. |
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what car is hq based on in the u.s?? any pic I can google? the hk-g based on Europe design from the early to mid 60,s? pete.
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I don't reckon it was ever built there, but reckon it was designed as something for there but never built. GMH were given the basic design and adapted it for here. Go and look at how any of the US GM cars of its type were built and you can see the design similarities in the front rails etc. The other clue may be that very few of the parts used on a HQ have HOLDEN cast or stamped into them which is very odd. Not saying it is correct but after having all this pointed out to me it makes a lot of sense. |
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I don't reckon the HQ was a US design that they didn't use there. Where would it have fitted into the product line there?
It wasn't going to be an 'A' body. The Chevelle/Tempest/Cutlass/Skylark were the all new 'colonade' versions. New chassis, all new (ugly!) sheetmetal. Still a full chassis though.
Or'F' bodies, Camaro & Firebird were all new for 1970, and they were 2 door coupes only. Granted they did use a front half chassis like the HQs.
Or the'X' body, Nova, Omega, Ventura, Apollo were a full unitary body,leaf springs at the rear & they were rebodied in 1975. There's certainly styling cues shared across the Pacific and many parts interchange.
Common parts 'twixt A bodies & the HQ I've found are: Front springs & shocks, upper control arm bushes, rear control arm bushes, brake pedal pads, wheels.
No doubt the HQ was inspired by the A bodies. Have a look at one when you get a chance. You'll recognise many things, like the 4 coil rear end, forward mount steering, etc. But its only small items that interchange.
HQ was a radical change for Holden, but the previous HG could trace its design philosphy back to the 50s. It was time for an update |
Attn camry drivers. The accelerator is the skinny pedal on the right. |
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The LH Torana continued with the original Holden build style though and was designed after HQ. |
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Being the contrarian I am, I'd argue that too, Byron. The LH is closer in size to the original Holdens certainly. But the full unitary body shell, rack & pinion steering, and coil rear end take the LH too far from the original for me.
Cheers,
Chris
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Attn camry drivers. The accelerator is the skinny pedal on the right. |
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