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dirk diggler
P Plater
32 Posts
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 Posted - 08 Aug 2011 : 8:13:29 PM
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does anyone have information ore ever owned one i saw it in classifieds recently and im sure some were given away in competitions newspapers or magazine subcriptions back then
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new2vn
P Plater
23 Posts
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Posted - 10 Aug 2011 : 10:59:27 AM
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You mean one of these?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29024802@N05/5663694336/in/photostream
Hilarious!
Now "Opera House" just screams Motorsport to me.
It already has the spoiler kit on it so we should rename it "HSV House", tear the floor up and hold weekly monster truck meets or smash-up derbies in there!
The Opera House should be lowered and have 17" mags fitted.
What were they thinking back then?
Red sails in the sunset? Ben Lexcen and his winged keel?
I remember the advertising back then, it was all Federal Labour Minister John Button's idea to protect the Australian automotive industry from cheap imports with high import duties and tariffs. Well that really worked, anyone seen the "Great Wall" brand????
This resulted in some really weird cross-badging during the 80s and early 90s.
The VN was one, rebadged as a Toyota Lexcen as we all know.
Then there was the Mitsubishi colt/Ford Laser/Mazda 323 - same car.
Many, many examples can be cited where cross-badging took place, these odd sorts of cars are a product of the policies that the government of the day had in place.
They made part sourcing a confusing bitch at times.
If the Japanese Yen had stayed low against the Aussie Dollar back in 87, we would all be talking about our NISSAN RB30 engines in our VNs, that was the original plan.
Governments eh, what were they thinking...
Governments do shape our cars for us, DSC will be compulsory one day soon, probably airbags too.
By then the humble VN will probably be gone anyway.
Enjoy them while you still can!
Ben.
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 15 Aug 2011 : 09:58:41 AM
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There were a lot of extenuating circumstances as to why the Lexcen ever existed. In 1987, Holden were $750 million in debt. The difference between closing Holden and keeping it alive (to GM USA) was a mere $40 million. These days, companies would spend more than that on a grille update. GM headquarters told Holden to get a partner or they would shut them down. As a consequence, many of the smaller Holdens became rebadged Toyotas, and in return Holden restlyed the Commodore for Toyota to become the Lexcen. The VN was the model that clawed them back from the brink. By the time the VX was in full swing, they were making a profit of $150 million.
Not entirely true that John Button wanted to protect the Australian auto manufacturing industry with higher tariffs. It was this peanut that advocated for gradual reduction in the tariffs. Then dropkicks like John Hughes (a WA Mitsubishi dealer) first brought those stinker Hyundai Excels into Australia) |
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opera house edition vn
