Whaddyacallit #64 - SOLVED - Holden "Project 2000" 2008 prototype

[Ray B.]

Ever seen this ?

Please, respond below and let us know the make and model designation of the car posted here.

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[Otto Puzzell]

Is it a BMC prototype of some sort?

[Ray B.]

A prototype indeed, but not a BMC.

[Otto Puzzell]

A safety car prototype?

[Ray B.]

Nope.

[Allan L]

European?

[Ray B.]

Not European.

[SeaLion]

From down under? (Australia/New Zealand)

[Ray B.]

Correct

[grobmotorix]

I´ve filed this as the "Holden 2008" concept car:

<<< links removed >>>

Project 2000 was the local Australian design project for the first Holden. Based at the Woodville plant, it created a lot of good ideas for a locally produced Holden car. Some ideas, like the 2008, made it all the way to a full-scale prototype, but nothing ever made it into production. The 2008, built over a Willys Overland chassis, was the final proposal and for the 1940s period the streamlined styling and square headlights were ahead of most Detroit ideas. Practical, minimal, simplistic, with straight sides and integrated bumper bars.

[Ray B.]

You're not a professional in vain! That's what it is.

"When the very first Holden was being developed in the 1940s there were two camps. The 'Project 2000' camp, and the '195-Y-15' camp.
Project 2000 was the local Australian design project for the first Holden. Based at the Woodville plant, it created a lot of good ideas for a locally produced Holden car. Some ideas, like the 2008, made it all the way to a full-scale prototype, but nothing ever made it into production. The 2008, built over a Willys Overland chassis, was the final proposal and for the 1940s period the streamlined styling and square headlights were ahead of most Detroit ideas. Practical, minimal, simplistic, with straight sides and integrated bumper bars.
Holden had been pretty gung-ho about producing its own cars in Australia, but Lawrence Hartnett, the General Manager at Holden's, had a hard time convincing the Yanks in Detroit to allow him to proceed. In his impatience he sought the assistance of the Australian government who were eager to promote local manufacturing after the war. Later Hartnett observed that the American bosses in Detroit probably didn't like him. Maybe they thought he was a bit of a socialist, being so chummy with the Chifley government? The American GM management were incensed when they finally found out about Project 2000, apparently nobody had told them. They kicked out Hartnett, 'shelved' Project 2000, and went ahead with their own Australian car project, the 195-Y-15.
195-Y-15 was an old abandoned Chevy prototype designed in 1937, gathering dust somewhere in Detroit. When the people at GM in Detroit looked at Hartnett's specifications for a mid-sized six cylinder Aussie car they decided they already had a ready-made solution. They dusted off the 195-Y-15, rejigged it a bit, and voila, here's your new Holden! Which is why the 48-215 looked 'oh-so-Chevy' and 'oh-so-Pre-War'. It was a Chevy, and it was pre-war! Even Chifley himself comments in those old newsreels by saying that the new Holden looked 'somewhat American' in design; he was bang on the money there."

[jimjarron]

Can anyone tell what this vehicle is?

[piglos]

Is it a styling proposal for the Holden 48-215 ?

[Otto Puzzell]

I think the answer resides in the solved puzzles section of AutoPuzzles, since this has been posted and solved once before.

[Otto Puzzell]

Merged

[Otto Puzzell]

An idea that didn't quite make it.

For 1 point, identify this who built this, and the year.    

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[Otto Puzzell]

Experts

[hugo90]

Everything above the beltline looks like a Holden.  Could this be an FJ prototype?

[Otto Puzzell]

You are barking up the right tree, though it technically can't be a Holden

Locked for hugo90

[Ray B.]

A repost, Otto?

[Otto Puzzell]

Is it?

[Ray B.]

I believe so. Am I wrong? Details in my e-mail.

[Otto Puzzell]

 :bag:

Merged again