As promised in an earlier episode, Fletch ventures back to the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia, to take you through an exceptional display, one that Fletch claims to be one the finest and most significant ever seen under one roof in Australia. The 'Holden Heroes' exhibition brings together 18 vehicles representing a retrospective showcase from the Holden Heritage collection, from the first Holden car, the 48-215, to the last VF Holden produced in 2017. Plus a collection of milestone vehicles, the first millionth car a '63 EJ Holden, the second millionth car a '68 HK Brougham, the fourth millionth car an '81 VC SLE sedan, the 6th & 7th millionth cars a 2001 VK Commodore SS, and a 2008 VE Commodore. Included in the display are the concept cars designed but never manufactured for some reason, including the Mambo-influenced Series 2 Sandman, the Marilyn Monaro Cabriolet in '02, and Series 3 Monaro in 2008.
Back in the late 70's early 80s, when the fuel crisis hit and car prices were on the rise, GMH were at the pivotal point or changeover from the HZ Kingswood and the introduction of the first of the VB Holden Commodores. The Commodore ultimately won out because of the modern styling compared to Kingswood.
A Holden Heroes collection would not be complete without the iconic Efijy. While Fletches inspects the car, he calls the GM Australian Design Director responsible for creating the Efijy Richard Ferlazzo, who talks Fletch through how Efijy came about. Richard said they took the DNA of the FJ, gave it the name Efijy, which is a play on words, and made it look like an elegant car of the '40s and '50s. The 50th anniversary of the FJ was coming up, and we thought it's such an iconic Australian car, let make modern version. It's been our most successful show car ever, which debuted in 2005 at the Australian International Motor Show and still looks incredible today.
The National Motor Museum is vast and features cars and an extensive range of motorcycles to match. The displays are constantly changing, so there's always something new. Ensure you allocate a few hours to tour the Museum because there is always plenty to see and do.
There is another little cameo at the end from the Museum, a 1900 De Dion- Bouton, unique technology for 121 years ago.
