Aussie Valiant Charger R/T Turns Up Stateside

Pop quiz: what’s the greatest sports car ever built in the Australia? Well, there are a few potential candidates. There’s the short-lived 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO nee Holden Monaro, for one. Then there’s the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 4, the Holden Torana A9X hatchback and the then-futuristic Holden Commodore SS Group A. They’re all good cars, and all highly collectible.

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the Chrysler Group's Valiant Charger R/T E49. The Valiant Charger was the short wheelbase version of the unremarkable Valiant coupe and the R/T’s homologation specials of their motorsport cousins.

The E49 was the last of the R/T’s, built primarily to win the 12 hour Bathurst endurance race. There were 149 of these legendary cars made, in colourfully named shades such as “Hot Mustard” and “Bondi Bleach”.

Hemmings, the Walter Cronkite of classic car magazines, has recently blogged about a right-hand-drive ’72 Valiant Charger R/T E49 in “Pink Panther” that has turned up stateside. With a straight six, 3spd manual tranny, auxiliary fuel tank and black leather interior, this particular Charger treads that fine line between “garish” and “ultra-cool”. Personally, I think it falls more on the “garish” side, but that’s just me. Check out the pics and leave your mark in the comments section below.

By Tristan Hankins

Via: Hemmings

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Holden Captiva 7 Series II Facelift with More Powerful Engines and Reduced Pricing

Making its Australian debut today is the refreshed Holden Captiva 7 Series II. To avoid any confusions, the Captiva 5 Series II that we told you about in our previous post is based on the Opel Antara, while the Captiva 7 is Holden's version of the Chevrolet model of the same name that's sold in Europe.

The latest Series II version of the seven-seater Captiva enters the new model year with some styling and performance upgrades as well as reduced pricing as Holden sliced $2000 off the recommended retail tags of all equivalent Series I Captiva 7 models.

The Series II gets a completely new front-end styling with different headlamps, a re-sculpted hood, and new grille and bumper designs, plus clear lens tail lamps, restyled alloy wheels and turn signals integrated into the external mirrors.

Inside, the most significant change is the replacement of the conventional hand brake lever with a push-button electric park brake, which also creates additional space for a multi-purpose storage compartment.

Holden updated the Captiva 7's engine lineup with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbo diesel that puts out 23 per cent more power and 25 per cent more torque than its predecessor at 135 kW (181 HP), and a 3.0-liter SIDI V6 delivering 12 per cent more power at 190 kW (255 HP). A 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline unit producing 123kW (165HP) is also available.

Refinements to suspension and steering systems, and improved sound insulation complete the changes for the Series II update.

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