Okay, I’ll admit it: I have a weakness for the products of the ersatz Big Three’s foreign outposts, particularly those from before 1990 or so. But in my defense, how can you not love the idea of a rear-drive, Lotus-tuned and vaguely Omni-ish Mopar hot hatch or a Ford Granada that is actually maddeningly sexy? Exactly. So just what do we have here?

Well, the title is actually pretty misleading because Chevy’s stylish turd blossom compact of the ‘70s shared no major components with this Antipodean three-door – which is known internally and amongst Aussie gearheads as an LX-series Torana (“torana” being an Aboriginal word for “to fly”) – despite boasting eerily similar dimensions and styling language. Also, the seller says this car’s VIN indicates it was actually born with a four-banger, which would technically make it a Holden Sunbird, ironic given that the original H-body Pontiac Sunbird was derived from the Vega. Confused? Excellent.
At any rate, this LX Whatchamacallit currently houses a 3.3L (202 cubic inches for you metricphobes.) pushrod Holden straight-six and a four-speed stick, as well as some replacement body panels and some Torana SS (Cue scroggzilla posting pics of racing A9Xs that have the same effect as Pavlov’s bell in 3, 2…) dashboard bits. Oh, and rust. A metric shit-ton not insignificant amount of the stuff. And some apparent towing damage on each rear quarter panel. Sure, the asking price of 50 Benjamins seems like a bad joke steep, but the seller claims restored LX hatchbacks are worth their weight in gold Down Under, Great Recession be damned. And the fact that it’s never been titled over here? Relax; since it’s over 25-years-old, there aren’t any DOT or NHTSA hoops to jump through. So now the only question is: Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
Hop like a wallaby over to eBay.