God_speed

Yeah the idea of the Taurus replacing the Falcon has been with us for a long time. The first Taurus they tried to push to Aussies was that dog ugly thing that didn't have a single straight line anywhere on the body, back in the mid 90s. The new Taurus looks alright, is supposedly not a bad steer and I believe will also be available with AWD on some grades. Those who need to tow will buy an SUV I think you're right about SUVs being more expensive to run; not necessarily to buy though... Being classed by FCAI as commercial vehicles, the imported ones are exempt from the higher tariffs applied to other imported vehicles. Commodore and Falcon might be a bit like a security blanket or your first toy as a kid - they have sentimental value to Aussies and we might bemoan the loss of them in the short term, but would we really be worse off without them? We clearly aren't buying enough of them, so it would appear not.

VB Commodore, yeah (OT, I love how there's also a VP and a VK in the driveway ) I remember reading that the VB wasn't well received at first because we loved our big sedans like the XA-XC so much. I reckon the VE series is huge on the road with the flared wheel arches and high waistline rising to a very high boot. It's a great looking car but it was a massive size increase over the VZ. Size wise I prefer the VZ ute over the VE. I think the VF will be a similar size to the VE. It's supposed to make use of aluminium in the body to reduce weight and they are consolidating the model line to decrease complexity in production and increase quality. Holden are putting a fair bit behind their new Volt but like many alternative-fuel offerings they seem to take a ton of marketing $$ to finally get people into them and trusting that they won't explode if you look at them sideways

Yeah Mark I don't see it being a good thing in the short term as far as jobs are concerned anyway. Won't make our GDP and exports look that great if that part of the industry goes as well (which would seem inevitable). But there is so much $$$ being thrown at the Aussie car industry by the govt that surely those millions could be directed to more... sustainable industries. At the moment it is like trying to flog a dead horse. And as for big car / small/efficient engine? See this article and many others. The Falcon EcoBoost is supposed to be quite a good machine. Pity that after a year on sale barely anyone is buying them. Holden and HSV were working on liquid-injection LPG for a while now, not sure if it is ever coming to market in decent numbers but the on-paper figures were impressive. Significant fuel saving coupled with a slight performance *gain*. Yeah I remember seeing that a few premium mfrs were passing on the Aussie dollar benefit. Are we as a country becoming bigger brand snobs? Of course your euro car is going to feel better put together than a Falcadore and boast better tech, but in terms of bang for your buck and features; while you might be getting a lot of Audi for your $80K, you'd be getting a lot more mumbo and occupant space with a Senator of equivalent price.

The local market has also been protected for such a long time by tariffs on imported cars. Do you think we'll actually see the prices of imported vehicles get "corrected" if the LM auto industry dies off? Interesting you say that about Toyota; some in the industry are talking about how Toyota is considering a third model line for Altona (in addition to Camry and Aurion). Possibly the RAV4 or Corolla, as they have capacity for it, and the next-gen (petrol) RAV4 shares the Camry's engine anyway. Toyota's doing well at the moment, but as the revenue for all the parts suppliers here in Aus goes out the window with the imminent demise of the Falcadore, this would surely mean parts prices going skywards and production costs following suit if they continue to build here. The likes of Toyota already have problems trying to stave off the parallel part and counterfeit-parts industry; that problem will get much worse with fewer players in the game and OEM parts therefore becoming more expensive to produce through reduced economies of scale.

People still use Geocities?? Anyhoo, great little write up. Interesting about the synchros going on his gearboxes. He did say his did track/circuit days about twice a month though.

Yeah I can see HSV pulling out a few 'final series' as production finishes up on the VF. Could indeed be worth something if they make a more bespoke HSV model, like the W427, HRT 427, 1995 GTS-R, etc

News.com.au article: http://www.news.com....z-1226554833139 The end in sight for Falcons and Commodores - sources estimate from 2016 Would be sad to see no more Commodores and Falcons on the road because of the heritage they have going back such a long time, and I grew up during the beginning of that era of Commodores versus Falcons; after all the Kingswoods and Toranas. But the writing was on the wall. Year after year of Large segment decline (in the local market at least). Everyone moving to SUVs and small/medium sized cars. What do you reckon? Will anyone else miss them besides the die-hard V8 supercar fans? Will they make a comeback in another 20 years? Do they deserve to?

Wow what a collection!

Good spot Michael Downloaded this the other day - yep it's available for iPhone. Have plotted / added some routes on the app myself - Cliff Drive @ Leura/Katoomba and Mitchell's Pass @ Blaxland/Emu Plains. Good app, can be a little slow / clunky but overall a great way to compile a lot of great roads and share them around. Can be found on iTunes here.

Not my car Was just posting a couple of pics of nice 33Rs in its defence. That 33 does look great on them rims though

Aside from the unfortunate circumstances when you posted this, I thought 'this will be a cool little challenge'. Then I clicked into the video - it's like watching bloody Paranormal Activity! Pretty hard to make anything out unfortunately... The car does seem white and its length is about the same as the R33. Seems like it has a bad earth; when the tail lights (which both seem blown) are on, the brake lights don't light up, but when the tail lights are off (switches headlights off), the brake lights light up (well one of them anyway) I thought it might've been a Holden Viva Sedan with the LED spoiler some of them came with, from the bluff rear end at 3:01 but it appears as though the c-pillar on the offending car is blacked-out, which the Viva does not have. There's so many cars it could be unfortunately. Being an early Korean car it wouldn't surprise me if it was a Viva as they would've had stacks of electrical problems

Thats what I mean; I cant see what car Sarge drives (on my phone) but if it is either an RX8 or a Skyline I can just imagine a bunch of pissed gronks at xmas doing laps in their torana sunbird looking for property to smash that looks like it belongs to someone wealthier than they are. Just my guess anyway. Or maybe for OP's sake I would prefer it is random rather than targeted. Hope it works out. I grew up near Penrith btw. So maybe that has colored my perceptions

Some good points raised Lapsed rego also doesnt discriminate; my boss got pulled up and fined for forgetting to renew his rego after a random plate check a while back; he was driving his Aston

Welcome mate Also second the above on Japlink, they are good to deal with. Based on your choices are you located in the inner west? Or otherwise let us know roughly where you are and others can chime in with recommendations Enjoy your R32!

Sorry to hear about this mate. First thing I would do is make a copy of the footage and file a report with the cops. Nothing may come of it but they should be notified in case theyre spotted in the area again. Given it was Christmas night and at that time of the morning, my bet is it was just a random attack by some grubs out for some 'action'. Even if it is the sort of thing that you could be charged for that doesn't mean that they were pros. Idiots like that don't think about the consequences of their actions. Christmas is a time of fun, family and festivities for most, but for many it can be a time of sadness and desolation. Unfortunately, some of these people unload their baggage onto unsuspecting and underserving third parties such as yourself. Hope you can get your car back to its former glory soon.

Definitely IN. Thanks to SAU and Megs crew.

Good stuff.

Haha that's no good Brett. Hope yours is all fixed up now? Just awesome Chris

It's like Christmas every morning with a GT-R in the garage!

Very nice mate. Makes me want to grab the keys to my Skyline and go for a drive at sunset. Matt, looks like an epic adventure. An excellent adventure in fact

No I wouldn't say weddings are favourite subject material for me. I'd just heard people were going gaga over the 12/12/12 date and knew you'd done many weddings... Having said that, your website looks stunning Richie, well done mate. When I get married in about 20 years' time I will seek out your services

Yeah great to catch up with everyone.

Just having a feed at the coffee club with Terry_GT-R34 be down shortly

Yeah bring the sunscreen it is already about 30 degrees here in the 'riff!