Holden Retirees Club

The Holden Hurricane

The unveiling of the Holden Hurricane at the 1969 Melbourne Motor Show was a tremendous success for GM-H, highlighting the talents of their designers and engineers. Both the press and spectators were amazed by the technical features showcased in this Research/Show car, many of which took another 40 years to appear in mainstream vehicles.

After its various appearances at motor shows throughout 1969 and the completion of wind tunnel testing, the Hurricane was loaned to different dealers until a cracked windscreen forced its storage. It was placed back into the wooden crate used for transportation and stored in a Holden Service garage.

Graeme Beere remembers: “When I was working at the Dandenong Service Garage in the early 70's the vehicle came back from being on show at a Dealer and they had broken the windscreen, so it was stored in a wooden crate - the one that it was shipped around the country in. But don't know how long it was there. “Sometime around 1980, the Hurricane was ordered to be disposed of and was disassembled. The large body shell was cut in half to make it easier to ship to disposal.

But in 1981, somehow the parts ended up at Matec, where it was decided to “reassemble” the bits of the Hurricane. The body parts were still painted in ‘bronze’ colour then. But the apprentices put it together poorly, using screws and brackets and no fibreglass or adhesives. They re-joined the front end and reattached the rear engine hood and the hatch roof. Much of the interior was missing except the seats. Electronics, including the rear camera, were missing. But it was a mechanical runner as it is said that the car was driven within the Matec building and car park.

It next appears when somehow, in 1984/5 it found its way to FB Service garage, where it was again found to be in a very poor condition.

When Graeme Beere took over the Service Garage from John Shepard the vehicle was “out the back and had been cut up for disposal”. In his first week, he was instructed to dispose of the vehicle at the Port Melbourne tip. “We felt it a crying shame to get rid of it so we talked to the guys in shipping (Export Engines) and they gave us an old shipping container and placed that in the yard at the back of the Service Garage. We then stored the Hurricane and all the bits and pieces that we could find to assist in a partial restore.”

The restoration was kept very quiet and undercover at all times, most of the work was done after hours when the Service Garage was closed and all staff had finished for the day.

Primarily it was Graeme Beere, Joe Loiacono, Sam Midgley, Charlie Azzopardi and a couple of Service Garage Technicians when required. Tony Perini organised the Maintenance guys and Kevin Cox the support and when needed some funds from Corporate Affairs with John Morrison’s blessing. The rest of the restoration was completely volunteer funded.

Target Body Panel was one of Holden’s contract Panel Shops; they agreed to assist but before that, the body was put back into some sort of shape by people in the Service Garage at Fishermens Bend. The Service Garage/ Plant 6 Maintenance guys disassembled the car and set about repairing the body to a reasonable standard. They had little funding, and for that matter, no real authority to do the job! 

They needed to strip the paint to fix the margins and other issues, which accounts for the body appearing in bare skin in these photos. [Please zoom in to observe the repair joins on the front fender in the third image.] The vehicle was then sent to Target, where it was stripped and repainted Silver. The repainting of the Hurricane took place in 1985 at the Target Body Works facility, where all labour was donated. All paint materials were generously provided by Berger Automotive Paints, while the side decals and other materials were supplied by 3M Australia.

Subsequently, the body was reassembled at the Service Garage.

A message was sent out to the Matec apprentices that there was going to be a locker inspection and any Hurricane parts were to be returned with no questions asked. The vehicle had been sitting at Matec for some time. This resulted in the return of the suspension and a number of other parts, but many including the hydraulic parts that operated the canopy, the gauges etc for the interior, the TV camera and some other electrical parts were never recovered. As they had no means to replace these, it was decided to fit a blacked-out windscreen to prevent the see-through into the cabin.

The car was then featured at the launch of the VL Commodore, following which it was displayed in the Technical Centre foyer for some time. It was then loaned to a number of Automotive Museums.

But by 1991, the Hurricane was once more parked out the back at Matec, in a poor condition. It was not drivable, as many engine parts were missing, including the carburettor and exhaust system.

About this time, the Australian economy had taken a downturn and a number of small auto businesses closed, stranding some final-year apprentices with no avenue to complete their trade qualification. The government announced funding a scheme whereby places such as Matec who could train these final year apprentices were encouraged to do so, and Matec took on about seven final year apprentices in addition to their four GMH final year apprentices.

A suitable project for them to work on was sought, and a partial restoration of the Hurricane was selected. Although the Apprentices’ wages were government subsidised, there was little funding by GMH for the parts required to repair the car.

One of the apprentices at the time, Nick Kealy, supplied the following information:

“The main priority was to get it 'running & drivable' again. We had no resources and limited money to spend, hence it was not a full restoration.

The interior had some of the gauges, but there was a makeshift plywood centre console to house the gauges etc. It was held together with masking tape!   

An article at the time in the Australasian Post magazine mentioned that the vehicle was fitted with a PFI engine, but this was not true. The carby-type engine that was in the car when it came to Matec remained in there.

The front lights had a cover that dropped down when the lights were turned on. This wasn't working (or may have been removed), so the Electrical apprentices at Matec had the task of getting the electrical problems fixed. From memory, a VL Calais mechanism was sourced and used to get that feature operating so the flaps would lower with the headlights on.

The rear light (indicators) had to flash from the inner lens to the outer lens (approx. 5 or 6 lenses were on each side). Again the Electrical team, got that feature to work.

The inside of the screen had been painted black and we removed the paint so the car could be driven.

From the mechanical side of things, everything was disassembled for inspection or repair as required. The engine and transmission were removed and overhauled. Interestingly, the input shaft from the engine went through the differential into the gearbox, through the centre of the gearbox output shaft. It must have been no bigger than 12mm diameter. 

All the suspension parts and brakes were removed to check over, and then re-assembled.

In regard to the interior, there wasn't much we could do. The original design of the Hurricane allowed for the canopy to be opened using a hydraulic setup. This didn't work (parts were missing), and we never had the resources to fix it so the canopy had to be lifted manually.

The seats were designed to lift up to make it easier for the occupants to hop out of the vehicle, this was another feature that didn't work, nor could we get that working.

Overall, I think it was more a promotional objective to create interest and awareness of the program to help the outside mechanics complete their time and get fully qualified. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic project to be a part of and I am forever grateful to have played a part in something as rare as that vehicle was.”

It seems that the car was driven at least twice while at Matec. Firstly, unbeknown to supervision, two apprentices (no names..) exited the rear Matec car park, turned left and went up to the corner of Bridge & Fennell Street where they did a U-turn and came back.

And more officially, it was taken to the 1991 Fishermens Bend Christmas party where it was driven around the streets and factories at the Plant.

At this time, it was still painted Silver and looked very much like it had in 1986 after the Service Garage repair, and was again loaned out to interested bodies. Until 2005, when Holden decided to conduct a complete rebuild, the Hurricane was displayed at the privately owned Holden National Motor Museum in Echuca, Victoria, and later at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney as part of an exhibition entitled 'Cars and Culture. Marcus McInnes recalls "When the Hurricane came to Sydney for 'Cars and Culture' we spent time and $2 or $3K tidying up or replacing the interior carpet trim before the car went on display. It was pretty rough."

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To this point, this has documented the efforts made by individual Holden employees to keep the car in a reasonably showable condition despite the efforts of some Managers to scrap it. To put it in some context, at that time there was little appetite to spend money preserving vehicles that had served their purpose. Contrast that to today where everything in Holden’s history is being honoured, especially a vehicle which in retrospect was one of the major models Holden ever produced.

 In many ways, the Hurricane story is a snapshot of everything that made Holden people and culture very special.

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In 2006, the car was entrusted to Paul Clarke, the Manager for Creative Hard Modelling at Holden—one of only three GM divisions at the time capable of building concept cars. Then recently retired Chief Studio Engineer Rick Martin, who played a key role in reconstructing the Hurricane, said "The car was in very poor condition, and many parts had been stolen over the years, making the restoration feel almost like starting from scratch. The body was deteriorating, the original 253 engine was missing, wheel trims and components for raising the canopy were also gone. The interior gauges, steering wheel, rear-view camera, and even the reservoir for the oil-filled brakes were missing. Much of the car had to be recreated without adopting modern technologies. However, the body was rebuilt using a more durable polyester resin and then repainted to resemble the original metal-flake orange. The bespoke interior was reconstructed, the original seats were strengthened and reupholstered, but most parts had to be fabricated from scratch" - using archival photographs, technical drawings, and anecdotes from many individuals who were originally involved in its creation.

There was one feature of the original car which wasn't restored to the original specification and that was the canopy hydraulics.  The team decided hydraulics were too difficult to reconstruct so they used electric motors instead, a technology which would have been very difficult in 1969.

Thus, the story of this restoration centres on the detailed research conducted to be able to accurately recreate all the car's parts. To accomplish this, Ian McCleave was invited to undertake the research.

His report follows:

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Holden Hurricane Research Project

[Written Nov 2007 – Apr 2008]

By Ian McCleave 

 • Background

• • Objectives
  • Methodology
  • Acknowledgements
  • The Original Project
  • Driving the Hurricane
  • Press and Motor Show launches
  • Subsequent history
  •              - 1970 to mid-1980s 
    •          - Early restorations
• • Museum appearances
  • References

1. Background

Tony Stolfo approached me around the time of my retirement from Holden in July 2007 asking whether I would be interested in researching the early history of the Hurricane. Tony was keen to understand more about the project to help with the latest restoration which Rick Martin was leading in Holden Design.
Although I wasn’t directly involved in the original project, I had many recollections from my early years at Holden. When I started in November 1968, the project was already well underway and I have a strong memory of a visit to the R&D Workshop to look at the almost completed car. R&D were then located where Studio 1 is today on the level 2 of the Technical Centre.
The Hurricane has always occupied a special place in Holden’s history. It was Holden’s first serious attempt at building a technology showpiece and in this respect it almost over-achieved with features such as the route guidance system, climate control and rear view camera which today, 40 years after the launch, are only just becoming mainstream technologies. The mid-engined layout gave the designers an excellent opportunity to design a car with futuristic proportions but at the same time effectively applying the ‘form follows function’ rule. In every way, they succeeded in delivering a concept that met with rapt approval when launched and still looks good today.

2. Objectives of the research

- 1. Uncover further documentation on the original car, specifically drawings, reports, photographs, movie film etc. Peter Churchill and Mike Chester had already found around 30 photographs taken by Ken Jacoby, Holden’s photographer at that time. These were taken during the body and mechanical build in the Holden Technical Centre and during testing at the Proving Ground. There were also 20 schematic drawings showing the various technical features. These are in a similar format to those typically prepared by Holden Technical Specifications group in preparation for press launches.
- 2. Obtain a better understanding of the original vehicle’s functionality. Was it capable of being driven under its own power? Which of the technologies quoted in the original brochure were functional?
- 3. Understand the history of the vehicle’s movements from 1969 to today. Which museums and other institutions had the vehicle on display. Develop a better understanding of the restoration undertaken by Matec around 1990.
- 4. Gather any interesting anecdotes on the vehicle throughout its history.

3. Methodology
The first step was to develop a contact list of people who were either involved in the original project, or involved in its subsequent history, in preparation for telephone or face-to-face interviews. This turned out to be an evolving list as many further names were added as more was learnt about the project.
Each contact was then taken through a set of questions and the answers documented for future reference:
   - 1. What was your involvement in the project?
   - 2. Who were the other people you worked with on the project?
   - 3. What can you recall about the functionality of the vehicle?
   - 4. Do you have any documentation, photos, drawings, reports etc. that would be useful in the restoration?
   - 5. Any anecdotes, interesting stories or other history relevant to the project?

4. Acknowledgements

I was fortunate to be able to contact several members of the original design team. Ed Taylor and Ken Rolls were very helpful in providing their recollections and additional documentation. Of the other key members of this team, Bern Ambor and Jack Hutson are now both deceased and Dave Webster, who provided electronic expertise, is now believed to be living in the US – Google searches etc have been unsuccessful in locating him despite his fame as the inventor of the touch pad system first used in timing Olympic Games swimming events.
Don Daharsh, the Hurricane designer, is now retired and also living in the US. He enjoyed his time in Australia working with Design and R&D on this and the GTR-X projects as the “High Water Mark” of his career. Don obviously developed a close working relationship with the R&D group and also with the trades people in the team and is remembered fondly by all who were involved in the project. He was able to provide background information on the design, a number of his original sketches showing exterior and interior details and also a movie taken with his Super 8 camera showing Hurricane being driven at Lang Lang Proving Ground. Don’s excellent cartoons showing some of the more humorous moments during the development process are also insightful.
Doug Mennie was a pattern maker in the original hand picked team of trades people. They worked in the secure workshop that was set up in the old theatrette at the NE corner of the original technical centre, now the location of the buck room. Doug provided a number of additional photos and also copies of Don Daharsh’s cartoons that were part of a package presented to each of the trades people by Bern Ambor as a ‘thank you’ on completion of the project.
Ted Young, Neil McArthur, Alan Cass, Paul Dempsey and Roger White have also assisted with their recollections of the experimental build program.

Alan George, Spencer Corbett and Harold Ingamells provided helpful information on the vehicle’s movements at the Proving Ground although none of the PG personnel were directly involved in the testing of Hurricane. This was all performed by Ed Taylor and the other members of the R&D group.
Bob Watson, Laurie Sparke, Bruce Stennett and others provided background information on the people involved in the project and some of the Hurricane technologies.

Geoff Weatherley who succeeded Ken Jacoby as Holden’s photographer started around the time Hurricane was finished so did not take any of the images himself. He confirmed the location of the Holden photographic archives at Fineprint in South Melbourne.
Peter Gillitzer and Peter Lewis-Williams provided helpful background on John Bagshaw’s part in the project and the ‘chemistry’ between Bagshaw and Bill Steinhagen which was the enabler for engineering support.
Mark McInnes has as always been very helpful with his recollections of the project’s background and the top level management people who made it happen.
Norm Darwin was Holden’s librarian at the time and recalls that all Hurricane documentation was retained by the R&D group and not centrally filed with other Engineering documents. He was responsible for documenting everything from the Technical Centre files that went to Mortlock Library and doesn’t recall anything on Hurricane. I was fortunate to find some other documentation at Mortlock relating to the press launch that probably came from the then Public Relations Department.
Kevin Cox was in Public Affairs at the time of the 1969 launch and subsequent Motor Shows. He was responsible for preparing the original brochures and also became involved later when the car was loaned to various museums. When the car was damaged while loaned to a dealer, Kevin arranged for the car to be repaired in the Service Garage.
Graeme Beere was promoted to Manager Service Garage/Company Fleet around 1984-5 and took a personal interest in preserving what was left of the Hurricane. At the time, Hurricane had been reduced to a box of pieces and ordered to be scrapped but together with a team including Joe Locciano and Charlie Azzorpardi the pieces were reassembled and repainted to a standard where it could be shown once again. Graeme was very helpful with details of the vehicle’s movements since then.
Dr Charles Pickett and Andrew Grant at Powerhouse Museum, Joanna Day at Mortlock State Library and Ted Furley at the Echuca Holden Museum helped with the chronology of Hurricane’s museum appearances that have helped to keep the memories alive in recent years.
I also want to acknowledge Leo Pruneau for his keen interest in the project and for helping to track down an address for Don Daharsh through his Detroit contacts. Many thanks, Leo.

5. The Original Project

Holden’s R&D Group was originally established as the Advanced Product Study group around 1965 at the instigation of Bill Steinhagen, then Chief Engineer. Before being assigned to Holden, Bill was in charge of Advanced Engineering in Detroit and he clearly had ambitions to expand Holden’s Engineering capability. Among other initiatives at Holden he lead a study into adding another 2 stories to the recently constructed Technical Centre (14). J.B. Burnell was the first manager of the Advanced Product Study Group.
Around 1968, George Roberts was assigned to Holden as Assistant Chief Engineer – Mechanical and Bern Ambor moved into the R&D Manager role replacing Burnell who had returned to Detroit. Reporting to Bern were Chassis Engineer, Ed Taylor and Body Engineer, Jack Hutson. Ed was a very experienced engineer who had trained and worked as an aeronautical engineer prior to joining Holden in 1950. Ken Rolls joined the R&D group in September 1968 after graduating from Melbourne University with a Master’s degree in Engineering/Science.In total, around 14 people were working in R&D at the time, of whom 10 were born overseas in 10 different countries – a mini United Nations.(2)

Around the same time, John Bagshaw, in his role as Director Sales and Marketing, was keen to build Holden’s image and assigned Peter Lewis-Williams and Peter Gillitzer to develop a proposal which proved to be the catalyst for the Holden Dealer Team.(21)  Bagshaw was also friendly with John De Lorean and on one of his visits to the US was impressed by a Camaro Show Car that was mechanised to change from a 6 cyl to a V8 and back again and he managed to get the display shipped back to Australia, where it appeared on Motor Show stands over a period of 12 months. There was a great public reaction to this display, resulting in a major push by Sales and Marketing for a locally built display vehicle. Peter Lewis-Williams recalls that Bagshaw and Steinhagen were good mates and the chemistry between them resulted in many examples of Engineering support including assistance in the preparation of 3 GTS Monaros in the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon, a Monaro drag racer and, of course, the Hurricane.(22).
According to the technical report which later appeared in an SAE Journal, Hurricane was envisaged as “a project to design and construct a vehicle to explore more fully the complete spectrum of vehicle dynamics, stability, control and safety”(23). It is significant that the safety aspects were to “include much more than providing safety belts and safety padding, but to include the fundamental aspects that apply to any vehicle, namely proper handling under all conditions, proper braking, especially from high cruising speeds...”(23). These signalled a recognition by at least some people then at Holden of the need for a high level of both active and passive safety which have since evolved into cornerstones of the Holden Brand. It is also important to note that Hurricane was to be a show car for the Holden V8 engine which was launched in 1969.
One of the challenges faced by the R&D Group was that this was not an authorised project. It was not managed through the normal Engineering release processes so all drawings and parts list were retained within their group.(1) Support from Experimental was also limited because of the pressure from mainstream programs, especially the HQ under development at the same time.

The design concept and construction details are already well described (23) and do not need to be repeated here but some further information has come to light through the interview process. Don Daharsh doesn’t recall the origins of the Hurricane shape as it was basically dictated before he started. Leo Pruneau has memories of a scale model shipped out from Detroit but Don Daharsh couldn’t recall this. There had been a Corvair-based mid-engined roadster penned by Larry Shinoda and also the Pontiac Fiero but these were clearly not design influences for Hurricane (3)\
Good aerodynamic performance was one of the project objectives and a 3/8 scale model was tested in November 1968 and again in July 1969 in the Aeronautical Research Laboratories wind tunnel at Fishermens Bend. The report concluded that “A vehicle designed with this shape of body is obviously intended to attain a high performance in terms of road speed, for which good aerodynamic performance is essential. The appearance of the flow over the body suggests that these characteristics have been achieved”. (26)

Don wasn’t sure who originated the idea of the aircraft style canopy but believes it evolved when it was realised that with the low 39” overall height, conventional or gull-wing doors weren’t going to work. Raising the canopy followed by raising the seats was the only way to get an acceptable ingress/egress solution (3). While the canopy was hydraulically actuated, the seats were raised by an electrically actuated screw arrangement. The fixed seating position dictated fore-aft adjustable pedals so a similar mechanism was used here also (23). The adjustable pedal mechanism was designed by Des Johnson (9).
The canopy actuating mechanism clearly required a lot of development to get it to the stage where it could be shown. The original concept used two electric motors but synchronisation of the two motors proved too difficult (2). Ed Taylor promoted the benefits of hydraulic actuation based on his aircraft experience and this was the system finally used (1). Ken Rolls recalls Ed Taylor coming up with the idea of using a single hydraulic cylinder which was mechanically linked to two individual cylinders which pumped oil to the lifting cylinders on each side. This ensured that the oil pumped to each side was exactly the same and avoided any risk of the canopy jamming (2).

Many people remembered the incident at the Proving Ground when Bern Ambor was unable to actuate the canopy. It was apparently a rather hot day and there were concerns he would quickly dehydrate. At least one person believes the problem occurred because Bern forgot that he needed to release the seat belts which were attached to the frame before the canopy and seat raising mechanism would work (2). There were a lot of hand gestures and signalling going on because the cockpit’s sound insulation was very effective. He was released after 3-4 minutes without any ill effects.

Although the Holden V8 was a very compact design, the Hurricane’s short wheelbase of 96” and tight engine compartment proved a challenge right through the design and development. The water pump was relocated to the right hand side of the engine driven by a V-belt which had to twist around a pair of pulleys through more than 90 degrees.  Compact marine-type water fittings at the front of each head were used to feed water through a manifold back to the pump. The accessory drive was also made more compact by driving the alternator and A/C compressor off a 3-row pulley on the power steering (or hydraulic?) pump.
Despite these measures, there was still a challenge fitting the desired 2” firewall insulation package. This was a sandwich construction with fibreglass back and front and foam in between. The solution adopted was to move the engine and transaxle rearward relative to the axle centreline resulting in the driveshafts driving through a small angle in both the vertical and horizontal planes. This wasn’t a problem with the 2 universal joints and independent rear suspension allowing the wheel stub axles to remain parallel to the differential output shafts throughout the suspension travel (2).

Even with this change to the engine location, the clearance was too tight so the steel firewall was cut and a new fabricated piece welded in to get clearance to the accessory drive (9). Paul Dempsey also confirmed that the images showing the engine installation were taken while the vehicle was in the mechanical build up area.

The engine was painted black with aluminium highlights on the valve covers and aircleaner (4). Norm Darwin’s book talks about a 307 Chev small block engine being installed initially because of delays with the Holden V8 program (17, 21). No one else can recall this and it seems likely this was a misunderstanding. Given the tight clearances even to the smaller Holden V8 it also appears unlikely just from a packaging viewpoint. Roger Jones says a 308 Holden V8 was installed at one stage so maybe this was where the misunderstanding occurred (8).
Many people believed a Corvair transaxle was used in the original installation. In this latest restoration, an analysis of the casting numbers suggests the transmission is actually from a 1962 Pontiac Tempest. The 1961-63 ‘DeLorean’ Tempest featured quite an advanced powertrain for GM including a rear mounted transaxle with power transmitted by a ‘curved’ propshaft running through a central steady bearing to achieve a low tunnel height. The curved propshaft was also sometimes referred to as a ‘rope shaft’. Further evidence of the Pontiac Tempest origins for this transmission is the still mostly intact silver coating sourced from the aerospace industry. During the current restoration, this coating proved extremely tough, withstanding even bead blasting attempts.
The original shift mechanism was based on a single rod design with joints to enable the fore, aft and rotating movements to get around the engine. This was a neat design and enabled a bank of microswitches to be fitted to provide an indication of the gear selected on the instrument display panel. Like all shift mechanisms of this type it proved a little temperamental and there were occasions where someone had to climb under the car to make an adjustment (7). It would be good if the original mechanism could be recreated using modern low friction joints to replace the cable system fitted later in its life.
The rear suspension was adapted from Corvette with coil springs replacing the Corvette transverse leaf (1). The front suspension was designed at Holden by Joe Rozycki and included adjustability in all planes to explore suspension settings (1). Ed Taylor couldn’t recall the origin of the small front dampers but believes they are the originals from my description. They appear to match up with those in the schematic drawing.
Front brakes were a wet disc design based on the system used on Detroit public transport buses (1). The discs themselves were phosphor bronze for high temperature performance. Each brake unit incorporates an impellor which pumped coolant through individual radiators then back to the reservoir incorporated in the front cross member. The coolant then returns to each brake unit. The cooling oil, tradename Lubrisol (12), had a very low viscosity and seals blew out resulting in oil spreading rapidly across the floor quite frequently.

Coincidentally, Bob Watson experienced another problem with the wet discs fitted in his HT GTS 350 development car when the friction material sheared off after 7 or 8 hot laps of the Proving Ground Ride and Handling circuit. Unfortunately he was travelling at maximum speed across the skid pad at the time and wanted to brake for the tight right-hander to take him back onto the ride and handling road. Several small trees were sacrificed in the ensuing accident but luckily Bob and Don Horsborough who was strapped into the back seat taking measurements both walked away! (20)
The perimeter frame was designed specifically for Hurricane and fabricated on a new surface plate installed in the panel shop specifically for this project. The same technique and same surface plate were later used for the GTR-X (7).
Neil McArthur can only ever recall one body being built (6). It was constructed in epoxy resin with woven glass whereas GTR-X was polyester to explore thelower cost material’s suitability for production. The moulds were only ever intended to produce one body although they were retained in the mezzanine floor above the Wind Tunnel for many years. It is thought they were finally scrapped in the early 1990’s when Vic Beesley was having a big clean up in Experimental.
Ken Rolls was responsible for finding a location for the engine and cooling fan which ended up being squeezed into the left side of the engine compartment (2). Airflow was adequate after modifications recommended from the wind tunnel testing at Aeronautical Research Laboratories. Ken also had to find a home for the A/C condenser and this was finally installed under the engine while still retaining acceptable ground clearance. Joe Rozycki made a cardboard model of the Evaporator Blower assembly which was so good, it was simply covered with fibreglass and used in the final vehicle. It is believed that the A/C functioned in the completed vehicle.
Hurricane was never fitted with windscreen wipers. The challenge of wiping such a large screen and finding packaging space for the wiper motor and linkages proved too difficult (2).

Rearward vision was originally planned to be through a tunnel between the V8 cylinder banks but the low overall height and sitting position resulted in a seriously compromised view behind the vehicle (2). Bern Ambor asked Ken Rolls to design a periscope system but this also proved ineffective. The CCTV system was a last resort but gave an excellent wide-angle view behind the vehicle and effectively heralded what is commonplace technology today for rear vision.
The Pathfinder ‘route guidance’ system was effectively a pre-GPS navigation system which relied on a system of magnets embedded at each intersection along the route to be taken (23). The magnets were installed in groups of 6 spaced at 2-foot intervals with each intersection identified by a unique combination of N or S poles mounted uppermost. Punched paper tape was installed in the control unit mounted in the left-hand sill panel to guide the driver along the chosen route. Dave Webster performed the development of the system using an HT Wagon with a sheet of plywood mounted under the car on which the pick-up coils were mounted. The magnets are still installed at the PG intersections today in case anyone wants to re-invent the technology! (11).
The vehicle build was mainly carried out in a secure area located at the NE corner of the original Technical Centre where the experimental buck room is located today. Styling loaned a surface plate to the area (which is probably still there today?). The seating buck was located in the R&D area on level 2 of the new Technical Centre.

6. Driving the Hurricane
Whether Hurricane ever ran under its own power or at a speed greater than a crawl was one of the most contentious questions when I started the research. Some believed it never ran under its own power and that the images of the car moving at the Proving Ground were taken after people pushed the vehicle. Many other people only ever saw it being driven at low speeds through the Technical Centre or on and off the PG trailer. The reason for this confusion seems to be the secrecy enforced by the R&D team around each of the testing events. While there were many teething problems, mostly fluid leaks or electrical problems which no doubt limited testing time, the vehicle certainly did run and according to Ed Taylor, it managed to accelerate right away from the Ute ‘shadow car’ and leave it for dead. The Super 8 movie footage from Don Daharsh’s own camera and now converted to DVD format demonstrates Hurricane’s capability convincingly and puts this one to rest.(30)

7. Press and Motor Show launches
Many hours of overtime were required to complete Hurricane for the launch events. Ed Taylor and the R&D team worked for several days and nights without a break on at least one occasion. The trades people worked Saturday and Sunday then came back in on Monday morning to find the engineers still going. Don Daharsh’s cartoon showing people falling over each other trying to desperately work on their piece of the vehicle probably captures the frenzy very neatly.

Ed told me was still fixing the hydraulic system at 11 pm prior to the Melbourne Motor Show. He was working under the car when the lights were turned out and the doors locked and had to stay there until the doors were re-opened in the morning.
The Motor Show launch was considered a huge coup for Holden because it was completely unexpected and stole the headlines from the Ford V8 launch (1). Does this sound familiar?
A separate press launch was held at the Technical Centre on March 4 1969, one day prior to the Motor Show. The decision to hold this separate launch was made at the staff meeting of then MD Alex Rhea on February 4. “...there was consensus that full justice would not be done to the Styling and Engineering program behind the “Holden Hurricane” if this vehicle was exposed for the first time at the normal Melbourne Motor Show press viewing.”(27) The guest list of 31 people included Peter Robinson, Bill Tuckey, Mike Kable, Tim Britten, Chris De Fraga and Trevor Dawson-Grove.
This was a busy time for Holden Public relations because it coincided with the announcement of the 2 millionth Holden but despite this it generated considerable interest and was covered by most of the major papers around Australia.
When the presentations commenced at 10.00 am the car was still being worked on behind the curtain. At 10.16 am the stage was cleared and at the programmed time of 10.20 am the curtains opened to reveal a complete car.
The canopy and seats all operated perfectly again with the help of a slave hydraulic pump. (2)
Peter Lewis-Williams had a nice follow up story to this. He thinks it was the Brisbane Motor Show where around 7.30 am in the morning before the Show opened the Hurricane suddenly came to life. The manager of the Show said it spent a couple of hours opening and closing itself until the canopy jammed and then broke at the front edge. Major panic but as usual, repairs were effected enabling the display to operate correctly for the official opening event. Holden engineers could not find any reason and concluded that one of the cleaners must have tried to force their way into the car and the opening and closing story was a cover up. We’ll probably never know! (22)

8. Subsequent History/ Early Restorations
Following the Motor Show appearances in 1969, and completion of work such as the wind tunnel testing, Hurricane was loaned to a number of Dealers as a show room drawcard over a period of several years. During one of these loans, the windscreen was broken and the vehicle was put into storage at the Dandenong Service Garage in the same wooden crate that was used for transporting it.(15). Several people also mentioned that the vehicle was dropped from a fork-lift and the chassis broke in half at some time. Around 1984-5 when Graeme Beere took over the Fishermens Bend Service Garage
from John Shepard, the vehicle had been moved to that location. A number of people including Graeme wanted to carry out a basic restoration and as a first step there was some work carried out by Tony Perrini’s people in the Plant Maintenance area at Fishermans Bend. Over a period of time, it seems that many of the original components disappeared from storage.

A ‘management broadcast’ resulted in most of the suspension and brake parts being rediscovered but unfortunately the hydraulic canopy acturation system and other features such as the rear view camera were never recovered.

It was then sent to Target Body Panel shop who performed contract work for Holden where it was stripped and repainted silver. Sam Midgely negotiated the donation of the paint from Berger.(15)
Around 1990-91, there was further restoration work done by the apprentices at Matec working under Bob Young.(29)

9. Museum Appearences
For most of the period from 1992 up to around 2005 when it returned to Holden for the current restoration, Hurricane was on show at the Holden National Motor Museum in Echuca. The Museum owner and manager, Ted Furley, expressed his disappointment at losing one of the museum’s prize exhibits when I met with him on March 7, 2008, but overall he was supportive of Holden carrying out a full restoration. He would obviously be keen to get the restored vehicle back at some stage when it goes back on the museum circuit. Ted had an original copy of the ARL Wind Tunnel test report and another original photographic image showing the seat installation which he kindly loaned me to be copied. The originals were returned to the museum. (31)
From 15 December 1998 to 7 March 2000, Holden loaned Hurricane along with GTR-X to appear in an exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney  titled “Cars and Culture”. A photograph and description of Hurricane appears on P.59 of the book of the same name written by the exhibition curator Dr Charles Pickett (25). Unfortunately, there was no brochure for the exhibition, only the book of which I obtained a copy for reference. Charles is looking for a photograph of a Hurricane at the exhibition. The only one he was able to locate immediately showed Hurricane almost completely hidden behind a GTHO!

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10. References

1. Taylor, Ed - R&D Chassis Engineer
2. Rolls, Ken – R&D Electrical Engineer
3. Daharsh, Don – Hurricane lead designer
4. Mennie, Doug – Pattern Shop
5. Young, Ted – Leading Hand, Pattern Shop
6. McArthur, Neil – Foreman, Plastics Shop
7. Cass, Alan – Apprentice metal worker, Panel Shop
8. Jones, Roger – Mechanic, Mechanical Build Up
9. Paul Dempsey – Mechanic, Engineering Garage
10. Ingamells, Harold –Vehicle Test Supervisor, PG
11. Corbett, Spencer – Vehicle Test mechanic, PG
12. George, Alan – Leading Hand, Vehicle Test, PG
13. Churchill, Peter – now Manager, Experimental Engineering
14. McInnes, Marcus – Product Planning, Engineering project costing
15. Beere, Graeme – joined Holden Engineering garage 1984-5
16. Azzopardi, Charlie – Matec
17. Darwin, Norm – Librarian
18. Weatherley, Geoff – Photographer from 1969
19. Cox, Kevin – Public Relations
20. Watson, Bob – Chassis Development Engineer
21. Gillitzer, Peter - Engineering
22. Lewis-Williams, Peter – Motor Sport Coordinator, Sales and Marketing
23. SAE Australia Journal May-Jun 1970
24. Tomorrow’s Holden? GMH Press Brochure (undated but believed to have been published May 1969)
25. The History of Holden, Norm Darwin
26. Aerodynamics Technical Memorandum ARL / A.251 published by Australian Defence Scientific Services Nov 1969
27. Letter from D.K. Hayward to A.D. Rhea dated February 5 1969 among a collection of Internal Holden correspondence sourced from SA Mortlock Library
28. Cars and Culture – Our Driving Passions edited by Dr Charles Pickett published by Harper Collins 1968
29. Victorian Business Forum December 1991

30. Super 8 movie taken by Don Daharsh transferred by Don to DVD format
31. Furley, Ted – Holden National Motor Museum, Echuca Vic

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Who did design the Hurricane?

One of the mysteries surrounding the Hurricane was the question of who actually designed the body? Don Daharsh said that he refined an existing design, so where did the original concept come from?  Nobody was sure if the Hurricane was penned in Australia by Holden’s local designers working with their American colleagues on assignment to Australia, or was it, as some believed, drawn in GM’s Warren design centre.

Motoring Journalist Peter Robinson sent a Hurricane-specific request for information, any information, to the GM Design Archive. Eventually, the archive turned up a series of photographs of a scale model – badged Holden – and photographed in Warren Experimental Design Studio on July 15, 1968, apparently just before being sent to Australia. There could be no doubt, it was obvious this model was the design inspiration behind the Hurricane. Unfortunately, the detail with the photographs did not identify the designer.

Close examination, however, of one small sketch with the full-sized rendering revealed a near indistinct signature. Careful enlargement produced: ‘Genest 5-14-68.”

Alerted, Christo Datini, GM’s lead archivist, tracked down Ken Genest, a former GM designer. And the man responsible for the Hurricane design.  Robbo contacted Genest, who said "I made the full-size rendering in the picture. It was my design. I wouldn’t have been making a full-sized rendering of somebody else’s. I don’t think I ever knew that they made a model and a prototype from it. I did that in Dick Finegan’s Advanced Studio 2.

Yes, the model and car have all the design features of the rendering. But I never had anything to do with a Holden Hurricane. But then, when we were designing the first Corvair (Chevrolet’s air-cooled, rear-engine rival for the Falcon) in 1957 or 1958, we were told by management that it was a Holden for Australia.”

Mystery solved!

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