Opinion: Aussies still want rear-drive V8 muscle

FALCON AND Commodore are going or gone but one thing remains and it’s healthier than ever: an Aussie appetite for attainable, big, rear-drive, V8 transportation.

Exhibit A: 6208 Ford Mustangs sold in Australia in the 2016 calendar year. Meanwhile, undoubtedly driven by unfulfilled dreams and last chances, SS Commodores and HSVs continue to get snapped up with abandon, with the Walkinshaw group (HSV) expected to post a record financial result for this year, and opportunistic dealers across the country jacking up prices of special edition Commodore models on showroom floors.

They’re betting there’s an appetite for this car so strong that it will cop the cost associated with building a car, and then the double-handling of having to build its interior a second time. It’s a gamble, but not an unwise one. And it seems it all ties into a future we didn’t imagine for ourselves not too long ago: American muscle filling a Falcodore-sized hole in our hearts.

Just as American culture has infiltrated our TVs, radios, movie theatres and waist-lines, it was always Uncle Sam selling us V8 Falcons and Commodores. And it seems we’re turning back to him to keep us satisfied.