Holden “Time Attack Concept Racer” takes on a virtual Bathurst.

Holden’s talented design team have come up with a cracker concept car. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of their first Bathurst win in 1968, the team has looked into the future by creating a virtual ‘Time Attack Concept’ racer. Time Attack is essentially a single-lap sprint against the clock. This is basically a novel way of showcasing what the Melbourne Design Studio is capable of. Designing a car in an entirely virtual world, using simulation technology.

GM Holden’s Design Director, Richard Ferlazzo says: “The technology we employ today has transformed the way we design cars. We have the ability to simulate a car’s appearance, technology and dynamics in convincing animations, which enables us to deliver better designs in a shorter time. A large part of our work is Advanced Design and we use this technology to develop concept designs for our parent company, General Motors. This concept is a digital advertisement for the advanced skills, capability and technology of the GM Holden team”.

In terms of concept cars Holden fans will recall the long history attached to the company. There was the wild Holden Hurricane in 1969 and in 1998 a rebirth of the VT-based Monaro that proved so popular it went into production due to public demand.

This is where Holden go on to make a great point, we now lack any major international motor show, “The cessation of Motor Shows in Australia left a hole in our automotive culture in some ways and we lost a forum to showcase our passion and creativity to the Australian public with physical concept cars. However, with the realism and detail achievable through modern technology, I felt we could still deliver uniquely Holden concepts via virtual technology and digital media,” said Ferlazzo.

This latest challenge was given to the team under the watchful eye of Lead Designer, Ewan Kingsbury.

“Ewan perfectly captured the essence of what we wanted to achieve; an expressive, futuristic design which also displays innovative engineering solutions. Concepts are always meant to push the boundaries but are even more impactful when they are feasible, and this concept is plausible as an advanced racer of the future,” said Ferlazzo.

The virtual details of the car would be astonishing if ever recreated. Here are some of the highlights:

• Simulated Mount Panorama Lap Time: 1:29.30
• 0-100km/h: 1.25 sec
• Top Speed: 480km/h
• Four 250kW Motors, total output 1000kW
• 3240Nm
• 5000RPM max.

Power Source

Reconfigurable Graphene Hybrid Power Pack
1MW power output, 90MJ Usable Charge Capacity
Fast Recharge: Fully recharged in 90 seconds (1000kW, 800V, 1250A)