2004 Holden Torana TT36 Concept

Production is Reportedly Not in the Cards for this Attractive Sport Sedan

What's in a name? While the dream team at Holden, General Motor's Australian division, may not have been thinking about

There was no questioning that when the Monaro nameplate was chosen for Holden's most recent V8-powered sports coupe, that a reincarnated Torana would eventually follow. (Photo: General Motors of Canada)

Shakespeare's classic play Romeo and Juliet when giving their latest muscle-bound concept car a name, Torana is nevertheless strong enough to conjure up images of power, speed and rawness.

To most brought up in North America, power and speed arrived in the 1960s and '70s, courtesy of Big 3 muscle cars such as the Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, Chevelle, GTO, Barracuda, and the list goes on. But it wasn't only Detroit that was producing big-cube, tire-smoking machines. Over in Australia, Holden was waging a war with its Monaros and Torana A9Xs against Ford of Australia's Falcon and Fairlane HOs for first place at the legendary Bathurst race and the Mount Panorama hill-climb. There's no questioning that when the Monaro nameplate was

The Torana TT36 is essentially an experiment in style, engineering and design. (Photo: General Motors of Canada)

chosen for Holden's most recent V8-powered sports coupe (ironically sold in North America as the Pontiac GTO), that a reincarnated Torana would soon follow.

Although Holden produced the Monaro almost immediately after its first showing, it decided to keep the Torana TT36 a concept car from the moment its design team put pen to paper. The vehicle is essentially an experiment in style, engineering and design, basically a vehicle purposely designed to gather public opinion. Why? Holden stepped out of its safety circle when developing the Torana, abandoning the theory that its concept vehicles must be based off the existing Commodore lineup in appearance, powertrain and mechanicals. Such a redirection is often risky business, even if the target audience is as small as a few thousand vehicles.