This month’s Famous Last Words podcast features former GM Australia Design Director Richard Ferlazzo, and we talked about many things around his thirty-year involvement with the Holden design team.
One subject we discuss is the Holden EFIJY, a concept car inspired by the 1953 Holden FJ which debuted at the 2005 International Motor Show in Sydney. Although now twenty years old, under Richard’s guidance, this car was designed and built entirely in-house at GM Holden’s Australian design studio and engineering department, and is without doubt one of the most amazing cars you’ll ever see. It’s won many awards at car shows around the world including the 2007 United States concept car of the year.
Painted in a “Soprano Purple” paint colour with bright billet aluminium features, the EFIJY is based on a lengthened Chevrolet Corvette floor pan and features a 6.0 litre LS2 V8 engine with a Roots supercharger producing 480 kW (644 hp) at 6,400 rpm and 560 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm. Power to the rear wheels is through a rear-mounted 4-speed 4L60E automatic transmission with a limited-slip differential, the exhaust is a fully custom, stainless-steel unit and features billet aluminium exhaust tips. It rides on an air suspension system that lowers the car when stopped, and has electronic instrumentation, including a multi-use display screen that disappears into the dash.
When Holden closed down in Australia in October 2017, EFIJY was moved to the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia and now has pride of place in the ‘Holden Heroes’ exhibition, along with 12 other significant Holden production and concept cars.
This ‘Top Gear’ Australia video takes a close look at the EFIJY:
Top Gear Australia – Efijy FJ Holden Concept
As an indication of the success of EFIJY in America, respected Australian journalist Peter Robinson was joined by Richard Ferlazzo in the renowned 2007 Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit:
Holden EFIJY Surfaces at Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise – The Auto Channel
