Hurricane on the plateau

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Word on the street has it that the Holden Monaro will go on sale in New Zealand in November.

The new car, a two-door coupe based on the current VX Commodore, is expected to cost just under $60,000, a price similar to that of the V8 Commodore SS sedan.

It will be launched in Australia in October and is likely to appear in Holden dealers' showrooms in both countries a month later.

Some dealers are already holding deposits for the Monaro, plonked down by customers 18 months ago when a concept model was the star of the 1999 Sydney Motor Show.

The car is tipped to be launched with a 225kW 5.7-litre V8. A supercharged 3.8-litre V6 model will arrive next year.

The Monaro - an Aboriginal word for "wind on the plateau" - takes its name from the pillarless 1968 HK GTS original.

Holden polled Australians last year for a name for the two-door and Monaro was the overwhelming choice.

Meanwhile, Ford Australia will have a Falcon coupe on sale next year to rival the Monaro.

But the two-door isn't really a Ford product - it's the brainchild of a West Australian engine development company and has been given Ford's blessing, in spite of rumoured objections from Ford's long-time performance partner Tickford.

Four prototypes of the Falcon coupe are expected to be built before the end of this year. The car has a lowered roofline and the B-pillar has been pushed back about 200mm to create a bigger aperture for the longer doors.

It will be powered by a supercharged version of the Ford Mustang's 4.6-litre V8 and will produce more than 300kW and 500Nm of pulling power.

But it won't be cheap - Ford Australia is talking $A100,000.