The Australian car market is perhaps unique, with more contradictions than nearly anywhere else.

On paper, it would seem to make sense that, with the average antipodean highway closer resembling Route 66 than the M6, it would have more in common with the US market, however, Australians were generally contemptuous of the flamboyance, excess chrome and poor build quality of the larger US cars preferring a more conventional look and rugged reliability.

Cheap maintenance was expected to be provided by a dealer network often hundreds of miles apart, and all in right-hand drive.

The natural supplier should have been British, yet the limitations of post-war austerity limited production to either small, fuel efficient saloons, sportscars or cars too luxurious for the average Aussie.

The preference for workday large V8 engine saloons later helped shape the self-contained and fiercely loyal Australian performance market, as evidenced by the longevity of Holden, a General Motors subsidiary, t...