If you were fortunate enough to score an invite to a Hollywood party these days, you'd be hard-pressed to avoid rubbing shoulders with an Australian actor. Tinseltown is awash with them. Academy Award winners Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush lead an ever-growing troupe that also includes Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. Nor can we forget the recently deceased Academy Award-nominated Heath Ledger.
Not so well-known in the United States, or anywhere outside of Australia for that matter, is that cars from Down Under are also taking to American streets in increasing numbers. Earlier this month at the New York International Auto Show, General Motors Vice Chairman and industry heavyweight Bob Lutz joined rap artist 50 Cent on stage at the Javits Center in Manhattan to give a star's welcome to the new Pontiac G8 GXP and G8 Sport Truck.
Pontiac is an American brand, right? Well, the badges might say Pontiac, but look a little closer and you will see a sign of the times. Companies are joining forces in the fight to stay competitive — Nissan, for example, shares chassis' with Renault, and Suzuki and Fiat both employ the same framework on certain models. And while these Pontiacs have cosmetic makeovers (new grille designs) and left-hand drive setups (rather than Australia's right-hand drive), at the core these vehicles are designed and built by GM's Australian subsidiary, GM Holden Ltd, located near Melbourne. In their home country, the two cars go by the names of Commodore SS and Commodore SS Ute, respectively.