Australian visit...

[ITLBTU]

I just got back from a business trip to Australia. Great country to visit, I wouldn’t want to live there, but would love to spend a month there with my family. If they had our rights, it would be a different story… but I don’t want this to turn political… I love the Holden Commodore SS. I saw quite a few, including the SS Ute. They sound great, and some clearly had aftermarket exhausts on them, and they sounded wicked. Of course I didn’t take a picture of the nicest one I saw… Here is a stock one…

[ITLBTU]

and another...

[Greg from Aus]

OK you have my interest, what rights are you talking about?

Greg

[Bad Bird]

I dare say firearm ownership.

I enjoy shooting (although I'm not very good!), but it's very hard to do it over here.

EDIT: I also would suggest our insanely painful lack of automotive modification rights.

[JEFFTATE]

I'd love to visit Australia and New Zealand.
I love the Australian V8 Supercars race series !!
I also never met an Australian I didn't like . They always seem to be in a good mood , and take everything so lightly ..

[cluxford]

I also would suggest our insanely painful lack of automotive modification rights.

That's it right there.....I live here and this drives me insane.

But still the best country in the world (floods, bushfires, Cyclones, 6 of the top 10 deadliest spiders, 5 of the top 10 deadliest snakes, great white sharks, blue ring octupuses, angry koalas and politicians aside - of and no snow worth speaking of)

[ITLBTU]

So, do you live in or near Melbourne Chris? I saw a 68 Camaro in the parking lot of a body shop in the Melbourne area. I had no idea that you were not allowed to modify your cars. I saw plenty of modified cars near Melbourne. I also saw an ad for a full exhaust(headers-exhaust tips) in a car trader newspaper type section. I love the Holden SS and the Ute SS as well. I even like the Ford Falcon in their sport version, I saw one GT that really looked good. Why GM can't sell the Holden here is beyond me. I'll bet it's because of the unions... The reasons I wouldn't want to live there is because of the gun control laws, high taxation, socialized medicine, and what I perceived was a lot less freedom of speech. The country was awesome in the areas where I visited. Melbourne was like a clean San Francisco without the freaks, trash,, and urine odor. We also went to the Adelaide area and into the farm country east of there. Another thing I didn't like was how farmers were treated. As the cities and towns grew, farmers were punished by "buffer zones" that were created to separate the farms from the cities. Any farms in the buffer zones were not allowed to farm any more so dust and noise would not bother people. So if people were forced to sell their land to developers the value was not what it would be if the land was ready to develop at the time of sale. The farmers who could afford to sit and wait a year or so would be ok, as long as the growth is consistent, but if things get slow, then you just took away someone’s livelihood by shutting down the farm. I also heard a lot of complaints about the new proposed flood tax. The past several years they were paying a drought tax that was used to buy a de-salinization plant. Now they need a flood tax to pay for all of the water damage... They didn't seem too happy. Also... I still can't figure out Cricket...

[cluxford]

Yep I do live in Melb and yeah my car is only recently completed so you may have seen it. It was at the shop last 2 weeks getting shop prepped. Shop was in Croydon

Modifications:
Can't be too high or to low
No engine protrusions out the bonnet over 16mm - thats less than a basic scoop - certainly no blowers etc
No engine above 1.4x the largest capacity from the factory (there is a formula that is far more complex than this but basically that's it)
No rims wider than 10 inches
Exhaust noise must be under 96Db
and this is just the basic list...it's way way more detailed and complex than this and changes constantly

There are NO freedom of speech laws here in Oz, and tax is a fricken nightmare.

But cricket is great especially the 5 day test matches....

[ITLBTU]

That would be pretty wild if your car was the one I saw... If I were driving I would have stopped to look at it, but we were being driven around by another guy and it was the first day we were there so I didn't want to ask. The next day we drove by the same shop and it wasn't out front. I thought there was a water ski boat in the parking lot as well.... I was entertained watching a match between England and the Aussies on TV... I think if I watched a little more I might figure it out... Sorry that they lost the match I was watching...

[claytonisbob]

Those are like more badass and better looking G8's. Is that the Sublime Green the new Camaro comes in?

[Badger]

I want to get down there so bad!!

[ITLBTU]

a few more pics... I added a Falcon pic for you Ford fans..

[brad02ss]

We were lucky enough to get the 04-05 GTO then the 08-09 G8 from Australia. We were supposed to get the Ute then Pontiac got the ax. Hopefully GM is kind enough to send more V8 RWD stuff soon.

[go-fish]

IBTL

There is a place for this! Political Outhouse.

[Hydyne Motorsport]

...

[jp455]

Hi all...not getting into any of the politics of it all, just have a quick question cause I'm a bit confused. I lived in Adelaide for a year (yeah yeah...) and I don't get what you guys mean about the modification constraints. I saw a ton of 4x4 with 35 inch tires (making them pretty high) and saw several cars with blowers. Not to mention all the hot rods with blowers, wide tires etc etc in the Aussie magazines WITH license plates on them. Am I missing something? Is this only a Melbourne thing? Can be a year thing cause of the 4x4s I already mentioned.

[LeighP]

Technically, you cannot drive a car with a blower hanging out of the hood in any state of Australia...if a cop wants to, you will get a ticket for obstructed vision and have to take you car in for an inspection after you remove the blower.
There are a whole pile of regulations on modifications related to wheels and tyres and other things that a blind eye is often extended by most cops....usually the ticket book comes out when the pulled over driver exhibits attitude of they've done some stupid stunt or had an accident etc.

[ITLBTU]

I guess that's just like here. If a cop wants to find something ilegal on your car he has a huge book of regulations that he can find something to ticket you for. I once got a ticket because my 69 Camaro was too loud. I just put 2 1/2" exhaust with "turbo" mufflers that exit right in front of the rear axle. I took it to the police station and complained to the chief. He asked me if I did anything to fix it. I responded that I did not, so he said he didn't even want to hear it. I then drove straight to the Ca highway patrol office and he listened and signed it off. He asked what I did to make it quiet, and I told him that I did nothing. He shook his head and said there was nothing wrong with it.

[LeighP]

See, here just having the exhaust exit in front of the axle is enough to be illegal, regardless of how quiet it was. I've owned cars with loud exhausts and never been hassled about it as I understand where and when I can get away with revving it out...and I'm an older guy with a polite attitude, which gets you a lot of consideration from the law.

[EFI69Cam]

Holden designed the chassis on which the new Camaro is built, the Holden export Caprice is supposed to be sold here as a police cruiser and the G8 is supposed to come soon as a Chevy (which in my opinion it should have been). Seems to me we owe a debt of gratitute to our friends in Australia for keeping RWD performance alive. Thanks guys!