A sweeping return for Holden Hurricane

It debuted in 1969 as Holden’s first ever concept – a futuristic, wedge-shaped two-door mid-engine V8 – but has mostly sat forlornly in dealerships, museums and storage sheds ever since.

Now, the Holden Hurricane is back, lovingly restored to its former glory by a passionate team led by former Holden technical designer, Rick Martin.

Painted metallic orange – replacing the original white – the fibreglass-bodied Hurricane runs a petrol 4.2-litre V8, placed mid-body under a lift-up ‘canopy’. The concept car also previewed technologies that are considered mainstream today, including automatic air conditioning (tagged ‘Comfortron’), a closed-circuit rear-view TV and Pathfinder navigation system that connects to magnets buried underground to guide the car – rumour has it that some magnets remain buried at Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground.

See the restored Holden Hurricane at the Motorclassica Concours d’Elegance, from today till Sunday at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, then read Michael Stahl’s first drive of the coolest-ever Holden concept in Wheels, November issue, out now.