The Chevrolet Camaro is nearly ready to roll in Australia. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) announced the car is days away from going on sale last week, and now the company has confirmed how much power the pony car will make.
HSV told Autocar New Zealand that the right-hand-drive Camaro will make identical power figures to the U.S.-spec car. Thus, we’re looking at 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque, or 339 kilowatts and 617 Newton-meters of torque in metric speak. The figure matches the Ford Mustang GT in Australia, which makes an identical 339 kW, but the Camaro produces an extra 61 Nm, or 45 lb-ft of torque.
The extra torque will come at a vastly higher price point, though. Since General Motors will have HSV convert the Camaro from left-hand to right-hand drive, the Camaro will likely carry a price tag around $71,000 USD, or $90,000 AUD. In comparison, the factory-built RHD Mustang costs roughly $30,000 AUD less.
The first converted Camaros will come in 2SS trimmings with only an eight-speed automatic transmission. HSV previously canned the six-speed manual transmission option but said the stick will show up in 2019 as an option.
Comments
$70k+ for a car that costs $37.5k in exactly the same trim in America. That’s nearly twice the price for swapping the steering wheel to the other side.
Where’s Trump trying to tell Aussies “now you pay up good for this car like I’m telling you to, or I’ll go and send your refugees back, and troll-tariff your steel!”
But no, he only does that to China….
Let’s see your Green Card?
So let me get this right…
Trump goes to war on expensive Camaro’s in China, but Aussies can pay rip-off rates with not a word from the wordy one.
It’s a fact! Trump is working for China through his daughter. Aussies aren’t paying into the family, so no cheap Camaro’s for us….
It’s already been pointed out to you before that (a) you’re a moron and (b) why you’re a moron, namely that the price difference is due to the extensive engineering and labour required to convert a LHD vehicle to RHD. The fact that you keep repeating the same stupidity shows that you’re either a troll, or even dumber than I give you credit for.
You can’t fix stupid.
Having worked in left to right conversions from 82 to 84 on trans am & Cadillac it is not a quick and easy job.
I can only estimate the cost to convert will be in the 30K range added to the cars cost.
You are right these cars can be very expensive to convert.
I have customers down under and they show me what they have to go though and the cost and it is amazing what they have to pay to meet the laws there.
What I found interesting was a west coast customers there that still drive LHD. I asked how they can do that and he said they did not enforce the regulations there since it was a less populated area. Most were gold miners spending the money they make.
The HP amount is not surprising as the SS had the same engine they used down under as their emissions were nearly identical.
This HSV deal is just to get a foot hold in the market and I expect them to enter the supercar series with the Camaro. This will lay the ground work for the next gen Alpha that will have RHD and be imported properly. Then HSV can add their own performance bits.
It’s a case of history repeating itself. Simple as that. During the 1950s and 1960s when GM-H sold not just the ‘garden variety basic working class Holden’ but also sold up market Pontiac, Chevrolet, Vauxhall cars and Bedford trucks. GMH sold these Pontiacs and Chevrolets at double the price they sold for in the United States.
An example would be the GMH assembled 1963 RHD Chevrolet Belair sedan which sold for Two Thousand Five Hundred and thirteen Australian pounds (approximately $5,000 AUD).
$5,000 USD would buy a top of the range Cadillac in the USA that year. A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette sold for well under $3,000 USD or One Thousand Five Hundred Australian pounds
So, nothing really changes. In the end Australias distant location from the rest of the developed world, our small population and the fact that we drive right hand drive cars makes our market unique.
Certainly, GM will eventually realise that they can not continue to support the brand ‘Holden’ when its no longer relevant and meaningless outside of Australia. The future for GM worldwide and in Australia centres around two brands and they are Cadillac & Chevrolet.
Our dreaded Luxury Car Tax could have a bearing on the price as well. I think it’s currently cars over 63,000 attract a 33% tax. Now there’s no industry here to protect, the importers are lobbying to get rid of it. If successful it would bring luxury imported car prices down a long way. Whether it applies in this case I’m not sure. I guess it depends on how much HSV pays to get them here in the first place.
Anthony, LCT will apply to the camaro but getting the leaches to give up their cash grab, good luck.