WITH all the press focussing on its cheap Asian imports, you might be forgiven for thinking Holden has ignored its premium small-car combatant, the AH Astra. In fact, nothing is further from the truth, with a turbo-diesel CDTi and turbocharged petrol SRi hot-hatch now upon us. After a brief stint in the CDTi, all we can say is: look out Golf TDI!
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TE/F/G Gemini SL/X diesel
Released: 1981
Ended: 1984
Family Tree: AstraHolden has been here before, with the AH Astra’s original rear-drive ancestor, the 1975-1984 Gemini. Rushed to Australia on the tail-end of the last big oil crisis, this diesel engine was very much of the old-school design, offering a paltry 40kW of power and just 105Nm of torque from a 1.8-litre four-cylinder unit supplied by Isuzu of Japan. Despite boasting a five-speed manual – a rarity at the time – the Gemini diesel was very slow, very noisy and very unpopular.
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