WALKINSHAW AND GMSV ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCED

Walkinshaw and GMSV association announced – Photo: LAT

The Walkinshaw Automotive Group has officially confirmed its replacement for the Holden Special Vehicles brand, General Motors Specialty Vehicles.

By HEATH McALPINE

Confirmation of the partnership confirms the arrival of Chevrolet’s mid-engine supercars, the Corvette, but this won’t be launched in Australia until late-2021.

Initially, the GMSV brand will be launched through variants of the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up during the final quarter of this year. These will be produced in right-hand-drive either in the US or assembled in Melbourne by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group.

The key omission is the Chevrolet Camaro, which has been chopped from the Walkinshaw line-up due to poor sales, however there is hope for the model to be reintroduced when GMSV has settled into the market.

Perhaps this leaves the door for a Gen3 version of the Camaro as changes are being made to suit two-door models.

The introduction of the Corvette occurs prior to the Bathurst 12 Hour and as the GT regulation convergence talks are focused around combining GT3 and GTE rules into one, the possibility of watching the American supercar around The Mountain appears a higher probability.

Corvette Racing team manager Ben Johnson told sportscar365.com that converting its current C8.R GTE to GT3 configuration is a relatively large task, but the team remained committed to running a professional racing program to showcase the model.

“As far as changing it, it’s a relatively large task to make sure you’re changing the car, if we were to do that, to the GT3 rulebook,” Johnson said.

“It’s not something simple that can be done in a relatively short amount of time.

“To change a car from GTE to GT3 is not as simple as changing homologation stickers, unfortunately. There’s quite a bit of work to make sure you’re meeting all of the technical regulations for the GT3 platform.

“The future of GT racing is obviously critical to Corvette. We’re committed to it and find a lot of value in professional-level GT racing [being] part of the Corvette product.”

BMW were the first manufacturer to build a contender for the new ruleset, launching the M4 GT3 weeks ago.

Upon the announcement interim chairman and managing director of GM Holden, Kristian Aquilina stated the importance of GM’s link being maintained across Australia and New Zealand.

“I am proud to be announcing GM Specialty Vehicles which represents an important new investment by GM in Australia,” said Aquilina.

“This new venture directly adds sales, marketing and aftersales roles to GM’s 200-strong presence in Australia, and indirectly supports over 150 skilled engineering and manufacturing jobs at our partner in Victoria.

“The initial product line-up will feature the latest Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ, with other derivatives, including the Silverado 2500 and spectacular mid-engine Corvette anticipated to follow in 2021.”

The introduction of GMSV marks the more than 30-year reign of HSV, which was set-up by Tom Walkinshaw and Holden as a replacement for Peter Brock’s HDT Special Vehicles in 1987.

Walkinshaw’s son Ryan is the current director of the company and is pleased that GM have recommitted to the association.

“We’re delighted to continue our 33-year association with GM through their new venture GMSV,” said Walkinshaw.

“It also means we’re able to keep significant automotive employment in Victoria, directly securing some 150 manufacturing jobs, and look to grow as we work with GM in this dynamic space.

“We have always enjoyed bringing exciting product to market, and we’re excited about the ability to continue that through our partnership with GMSV.”

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