The Holden Piazza, Italian design
draped over Gemini underpinnings?
The Peugeot 205GTi spawned a whole new category
of car, but remains the "King of the Hot
Hatch"...
INXS were to finally break into
the Top 10 with their hit "What You Need"... |
When Holden decided to import the Isuzu Piazza in 1985
it must have seemed like a sure fire recipe for success.
By then, they had been successfully selling the Isuzu
derived Gemini, and knew the public would readily accept
another. But the success story was never to materialise,
despite the bravado of the Italian design.
Under the
skin of the Piazza lurked a thoroughly conventional
small Japanese sedan with double-wishbone front suspension,
five link live-axle rear suspension and four-wheel disc
brakes. While the rack-and-pinion steering was power-assisted,
handling and braking were only average and Isuzu had
failed to upgrade their effectiveness in line with the
upgraded performance offered by fitting the turbo!
The motoring press soon realised the Piazza was ‘mutton
dressed up as lamb’, and the expected sales were
never to materialise. Huge price discounts were soon
to follow, and for the first and only time (that we
are aware of), Holden offered rebates to previous purchasers
after they saw their cars resale value fall through
the floor.
But the death knell had been sounded, and
despite it featuring as the grand prize on Channel 9’s
“Sale of the Century”, the Piazza would
disappear from showrooms across the country after little
over a year.
Many believe the “Hot Hatch” category did
not begin until 1985, when Peugeot released the awesome 205 GTi. Styled by Pinnifarina, the 205 GTi featured
distinctive C pillars, headlamps and front grille,
but it was the remarkable build quality (reminiscent
of the 404) that made it irresistible to many.
The
GTi was fitted with a 1.6 litre single cam motor developing
115 bhp, and the suspension was carefully tuned to
deliver the best handling ever experienced. Steering
was ultra-responsive and direct, and remains a benchmark
even compared to today’s cars. 
Formula One Championship: Alain Prost (France) / McLaren-Porsche
1985 Bathurst Winner: John Goss & Armin Hahne
/ Jaguar XJS
NRL Grand Final: Cantebury (7) def.
St. George (6)
VFL/AFL Grand Final: Essendon (26.14.170) def.
Hawthorn (14.8.92)
Melbourne Cup: What A Nuisance (P.
Hyland)
Wimbledon Women: Martina Navratilova
d. C. Evert Lloyd (4-6 6-3 6-2)
Wimbledon Men: Boris Becker d. K. Curren
(6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4)
The Movies:
- Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Out of Africa
- Prizzi's Honor
- The Color Purple
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture - Out of Africa
- Best Actor - William Hurt (Kiss Of The Spider Woman)
- Best Actress - Geraldine Page (The Trip To Bountiful)
Gold Logie: Rowena Wallace (Sons And
Daughters, Seven)
The Charts:
- We Are The World - USA For Africa
- Into The Groove - Madonna
- Power Of Love - Jennifer Rush
- Crazy For You - Madonna
- We Built This City - Starship
- Live It Up - Mental As Anything
- A Good Heart - Fergal Sharkey
- I Got You Babe - UB40 & Chrissy Hynde
- Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
- What You Need - INXS
Farewells:
- Louise Brooks (Silent film actress)
- Marc Chagall (Russian-born French Painter and Stained
Glass Artist)
- Rock Hudson (Actor)
- Frank Oppenheimer (Physicist)
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