Friday, October 20, 2017

Forza Motorsport 7: A Ute's End

General Motors Holden is the last of the Australian car companies that remained to produce some of the best cars in the Land Down Under and with production coming to a complete end, this is the end of Australian car manufacturing as we know it but for the emotional, the one we will be missing the most when Australia stop making cars is none other than the ute and Holden is the last to make those cool-looking coupe utilities that became the trademark of Australian car manufacturing we all know and love.





Ever since the end of the Second World War, the birth of Australia's own car forever revolutionized the world of motoring and with a ute that bears the Holden marque on it, you'll know that it's truly the kind of vehicle the Aussies are proud of. Fast forward to this decade and the VF Commodore Ute became the harbinger of the end of this wonderful automotive genre that Ford started it all. Ford may be introduced the ute to the Australian motoring public but Holden became the last to make one and what we have here is the alpha and omega of Holden's ute history. Once started with the FX and ended with the VF.



What's so unique about the ute? Well, an Aussie ute combines the best cars in the world; a pickup truck, a sports car, and a sedan, combined into one unique vehicle that was mostly adorned by the Aussies when Ford was first introduced to them. You know, the Aussies aren't the ones who buck this trend, even the Americans did when they try a shot with their Chevrolet El Camino a few decades ago. It may be made to pick up some stuff during work days but when it has a day off, the ute's starting to show its true self by showing its crazy sportscar dynamics, especially when it comes with big V8 power like this HSV GTS Maloo that I'm driving.



Take this workhorse around the track and it will be an instant track toy right off the bat. That's how unique the ute is, it's all work and all play. It can do 9 to 5 stuff on the weekdays while doing most of its free time on the weekends, especially racing stuff on road and on track, and while it's sad to see the end of the ute, rest assured that this piece of Australian motoring history will never be forgotten.



To say goodbye to the Aussie ute, let's find out how much the ute progressed from beginning to end and to find out, let's pit between the FX Ute and the GEN-F GTS Maloo round Bathurst and see how much progress the ute has done through the years. Let's finish this!



And now the results...

FX Ute - 3:57.189
Maloo - 2:41.768

After almost a century, the progression rate of the Aussie ute from beginning to end just took over a minute to do so! At least, this is evolution and this is how it all ends here.



Ah, the cars of Australia. Sure, the Aussies no longer made those but with cars like these, they remain the beating heart of Australian motoring history and as we say goodbye to all-time greats like the Ford Falcon and the Holden Commodore, along with many other Aussie car greats in history, it's hard to fathom what comes next after the last of their factories shut down for good but rest assured, the rich history nine decades in the making will not be forgotten as long as they can put their pride to it.

To all the Aussies making great cars like Falcons and Commodores, I say thank you. It's been an honor to get to know about the Australian motoring industry and what it really means for Australia.

Until then, see you later, alligator!

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