GM’s Australian arm received a green-light to develop a car that will suit Down Under customers’ needs, and the result exceeded expectations.
The Monaro nameplate goes back in time until 1968 when the first generation appeared on the market. Like its predecessor, the 2001 model was a sports-coupe vehicle built for enthusiasts. The result was so good that it was exported in the U.S. as Pontiac GTO and in the U.K. as Vauxhall Monaro.

The car was designed as a grand tourer for the Australian roads, with a long hood, an average-sized cabin, and a big trunk in the back good enough to host at least two spare wheels for that long road between Sidney and Perth. Its rounded edges and wide lower grille on the bumper made a good impression from the design point of view, while the long, frameless doors allowed easy access inside the car. Its greenhouse was shorter than the one on the Commodore, and the windshield was raked more by two degrees.

With some inspiration from the European GM brand Opel, Holden made a good interior for Monaro. The simple instrument cluster with four dials and an LCD at the bottom was easy to read at a glance. Its sport-bucket seats at the front were bolstered for better side support in corners. In the back, there was limited legroom and headroom. But nobody bought the Monaro, or any coupe, for the comfort of the rear seats.

The Monaro featured a 3.6-liter engine that offered 232 hp. The top-spec versions lost the Monaro name and used only the HSV badge from the Holden Special Vehicle. With a 5.7-liter or, later on, a 6.0-liter V8 under the hood, the Australian GTO was fierce and very tail-happy.