DID YOU KNOW?

• Holden established an Opel product engineering department to cater to the local fine-tuning of the Barina, Astra and Vectra. Based at Fishermans Bend and headed by Ray Borrett, the department’s workload increased significantly when it was announced the Vectra would be built alongside the VT Commodore from 1998. Holden had big plans for the Vectra, both for the local market and Australasian exports, and also as a possible replacement for the Chevrolet Opala range built by General Motors do Brasil. Ultimately, the Asian economic crisis kyboshed this, but the creation of a second line at Elizabeth did not go to waste; the locally built Vectra bowed out in 2001 just in time for the new Monaro. • Unlike the Aussie Commodore’s hairy-chested V6s and V8s, Opel’s Omega range made do with a series of four-bangers and V6s, the biggest being a 24-valve 3.2-litre. Diesels were also available, including turbo straight-sixes sourced from BMW. The previous-generation Omega/carlton included a Lotus-tuned version, which, upon release was one of the fastest sedans in the world, but the Omega B was without a hero car. One Ls1-powered prototype was constructed, but the project did not go ahead. • The design team workshopped three different directions for the VT, using then-cutting-edge tech to conduct market research without resorting to expensive clay models. Overlaying computer-generated images onto real-world street scenes is high-school stuff these days, but in the early 1990s it was mind-blowing. Three such digital concepts were shown to research groups in June 1992: a reskinned VR/ VS; the GM2800 project; and an entirely new design, created by Mike Simcoe’s (pictured, right) team under director of design Phil Zmood. Polls were strong for the GM2800 and stronger for the local design, but resoundingly negative for the VR/VS update. The crowd had spoken. There was just the matter of cost; the most popular option was also the most expensive.