Holden Maloo HSV

March 2002

While Britain has been drowning in freezing rain over the past few months, the Australians have enjoyed soaring temperatures. And it seems to have gone to their heads.

For a start, they decided to build a pick-up based on their version of the Vauxhall Omega. Not content with that, the griffin's sister outfit down under, Holden, opened up the engine bay and crammed in a 5.7-litre V8 taken from a Corvette. But it still wasn't convinced that the car was wild enough, so it was given to performance modifier, Holden Special Vehicles (HSV), to raise the horsepower, reduce the payload and render it more or less useless as a work vehicle. The result is the Maloo, named after the aboriginal for thunder, and it's heading for the UK. The Chevy engine is retuned to deliver 340bhp and there's the choice of a four-speed automatic or six-speed manual 'box.

Forget all about the pick-up body, though, because it's not the point of the Maloo. It's all about power oversteer, awesome acceleration and a road presence that BMW M3 owners can only dream of. It will show its tailgate to 90 per cent of whatever else is out there, with 0-60mph taking around six seconds. Even if you are driving something faster, the rumbling sound of the Maloo will probably shock you nearly as much as its speed.

Its dimensions mean the Maloo is not going to handle with sports car precision or balance. The steering is lifeless and it leans heavily on its outside front tyre through turns, the result of having all the weight suspended over the front wheels. But the size of the tyres guarantees the Holden enough grip to be trustworthy in the dry at least, and it feels stable on the test track even at crazy speeds.

HSV's UK agent GIV has already ordered 10 Maloos, which are currently in a ship on their way here. Once they arrive, GIV will put price tags of

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