This vast, eight-seater 1899 ‘car’ – similar in principle to the UK’s Trevithick – is the first four-wheeled motorised vehicle confirmed to have run in Australia.
1. Shearer Steam Carriage
The siblings, from Mannum (about 50 miles from Adelaide), never built another car
Shearer Steam Carriage (cont.)
Historically the most important Aussie car of all, the Holden 48-215
2. Holden 48-215
Holden 48-215 (cont.)
The face-lifted FJ sold a further 170,000 units up to 1956.
Quicker than its Holden and Ford contemporaries to 60mph, the E49 Six Pack was introduced in 1972 and built for barely a year, with fewer than 150 leaving the factory.
3. Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49
Chrysler’s lowering of the diff ratio blunted outright top speed, but in recording a 0-100mph time of 14.1 seconds,
Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 (cont.)
How can a car widely viewed as an unmitigated disaster make this list? Because the P76 was more than just a commercial catastrophe