Road-testing the 1975 Holden Gemini | RetroFocus
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2019
- In this episode of 'Torque' from October 1975, Peter Wherrett road-tests the sporty Holden Gemini 2-door coupe and the more practical 4-door sedan.
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I spent most the video watching what's happening in the background. All the old cars. The clothes. The buildings. Cool!
The cigarette advertising too.
Thomas Wilding How’s ol mate in the HQ at the lights neck schnapping 🤤
Poey D my eyes were drawn to the FB, just after he mentioned rear brakes locking up and rear axle noise.
The FB was all that, and more, and it was acceptable at the time.
being born in 94, looking at all those cars, wishing i could own anyyy one of them how they are there. eye candy.
The red and black Ford XB or XC from Taxis combined services that I used to drive once.
Peter Wherrett was a legend, said it how it was and knew how to drive!
2:30 "The wife to do the shopping in" 😂😂 Wouldnt hear that today in a car sales ad.
@Hayden Carrigg And rightly so
wives doing shopping eh bloody outrageous
Secretlyanothername, seriously? Shooting someone for suggesting that the wife might use it to shop in?
The feminists would go nuts.
just swap for wife to drive to anti-trump convention or womens movement rally
I have that very model sedan - 75 metalic fawn color.
The rear brakes were shocking for locking up. Fixed it by swapping the entire rear axel for a TF 83 model. So now it has the rear sway bar and handles much better. Also changed the trimatic gear box to a 5 speed. Also a few modernisations (central locking, remote boot release, alarm, kill switch and stereo) without altering the original aesthetic. Still has the original paint and sun visor.
I love this car.
Never letting it go.
Yeah but its not the same car anymore.
Today, people buy $115k Toyota 200 series Landcruisers, then fit Remote Res Shocks and 33" tyres to do what a $3900 Holden Gemini did all day long....
Yeah in the 80s I owned a Holden Drover which was a rebadged Suzuki with a Gemini grille. The little bugger went everywhere I took it off-road. I still don’t see the point of $115k plus paddock bashers
What is the hype around land cruisers anyway?
I love this show. With the way Peter stress-tests the cars its like watching an episode of Division 4!!
"Well that's a disappointment isn't it." Gets back in for more spirited driving after failing a brake test 😂
I remember seeing this when it was aired. Dad had bought one of two Gemini’s that were the first delivered to our local Holden dealer, so a lot wasn’t known about them yet. We watched Torque religiously back then, and when Wherret did the brake test Mum freaked out asking “do they really do that” referring to our brand new car in the driveway. Dad just said, nonchalantly “No they’ve fixed that”. Never forget that. 1975 I was 13 and I could spot Dads BS already. 😂
As a footnote that car went on to teach all of us kids how to drive, I failed my drivers license test because the handbrake didn’t work, Dad commuted to work in it for decades, it became a famous car in our town, it even had a nickname the Yellow Flash, as it used to flash past everybody on the freeway on the morning commute. By the time Dad threw the keys to my younger brother for his 16th birthday the car had reached legend status by those who knew it. It was bulletproof!
@thatfelladownunder9396 still have it? Also why was it famous??
@@aussiefurbymogwaifan6621 it was famous locally, like, at the pub, where Dad would hear everyone he passed that morning tell him so. Back in the day driving at the speed limit was optional. No, my brother sold it for a Celica.
Oh my... I owned one of these. 1979 TD Gemini Station Wagon. Metallic Blue in colour. SL model, but had a 5-speed manual gearbox _weird but true. I always wanted a Sandman, but that was out of my price range. So the Station wagon it was, with aftermarket curtains ( thanks Mum!).
It got partially customised. We stripped off the bumpers and the mirrors and fitted 1980 Gemini bumpers and mirrors. Car parts were cheap! Two things I remember most, water dripping on my foot if it rained and a strong petrol smell from a leaky fuel tank.
A friends father actually owned a 1980 Gemini Diesel... only one I ever knew!
That station wagon, good times :)
A friend of mine still has a diesel Gemini. Those Isuzu Diesel motors last forever
If only the ABC could go back to making cool shows like this!
Today not even the Ranger Raptor gets that off road treatment in a review
No one takes those shitboxes off road anyway .
Can't wait for more of these. Sure takes me back. I was rivetted to Torque as a kid. And watching these now, I'm always impressed with Peter's honesty and forthrightness
The way Peter test drove vehicles..its wonder the manufacturers didn't go into shock......Peter was an absolute icon.
Peter always drove cars in real world conditions. Ala, fanging it round corners.
The good old days. The golden time of Australia
Yep....aussie you have a lot of liberal crap now...I'm sorry
Sydney was utterly fascinating in the 70s. It was magic and vastly superior.
Yep, before the baby boomers ruined the housing market and wrecked the environment :(
@Lock&Load 77 dead right ,before they invented white genocide.
For someone born in 1991 this is great i get to see how great our country was
In 1975, I remember as a young boy a small weatherboard house in Springvale Victoria sold for $9,000, and my old man was earning 130 PW inc overtime.
That’s $6760 a year. Which meant you could buy a house probably on a 1/4 acre for a year and a half gross income,
What is it now? Who even knows but no where near as good as that.
Please keep these coming ABC. Or better yet release the lot on DVD, you would make a killing.
I am of the opinion the ABC should upload a ton of stuff from their back catalogue on to youtube and be happy with some ad revenue from that. Always remember us taxpayers have already paid to produce this material so it rightfully should belong to all of us, without having to pay for it again!
We pay for the ABC want these videos for free will not pay twice .
@@gregdean2012 True, but I would still happily pay to see the series released on DVD instead of being drip fed like this.
Over 220,000 Aussie Geminis were built in Holden’s Acacia Ridge factory in Brisbane and using a high proportion of locally-sourced parts. Even if there were Isuzu badges on a lot of the running gear. The Gemini was the biggest selling four-cylinder car in the country, and won Wheels Car Of The Year in its first year on sale
While sitting at the lights the guys in the Kingswood next to him I like, that's Peter wherrett! Yeah man we're on TV hahaha
Another aussie classic!
I owned a 75 Gemini for six years. It was a heap and I bought it new !
I use to love Peters reports. He always said it like he saw it.
Thank you ABC but please sir, can we have some more?
6:04 OMG Beecroft Rd Epping 1975! It was the bus in the Harris Park Bus Co. colours that latched me onto it.
That OHC 1.6 was very responsive.
6:05 - those three servos, too
6:30 - Pacific Hwy, Gore Hill?
@@twentyrothmans7308 Yes The Glenview Motel sign on Pacific HWY.
Great clip! Thank you for uploading
You and I and Gemini :)
Ooooo oooo ooooO
Jeeeeez I was about to type that myself .....I always remember the advert!
you forgot a bit..... wooo-----ooooo-oooooo!
Always thought it was a real shame Holden didn't do a sport version (the later ZZ/Z does NOT count!) with the Isuzu 1.8L DOHC and twin carbs - now that would had potential!
Or the Opel Kadett C GT/E with the 2L petrol engine.
Sincere thank you for this ABC!
Best small car of its era! I learnt in one, had one as my first car and got to modify it until she could take no more. I miss you gemmie!
Oh man our old Australia
Love the old videos, please keep them coming👍
worked on many of these Isuzu cars as an apprentice motor mechanic at a large Holden dealer.
good times back then.
This is great. So many cool cars everywhere.
Had a 77 mod in the early 80s, blown head gasket at 200k, cleaned the head and block with a file, new gasket , the car never missed a beat, sold the car with 250k on it, very underrated car. Very quick from a set of lights, great engine, that's why I now drive an Isuzu DMax. AUS
And the Gemini was developed by Isuzu, what a coincidence
love it... miss Amaroo too
Yeah there and Oran Park.
@@davegoldspink5354 Lakeside still exists, thankfully.
what's not to love about the Gemini? my first car was a TE 'Gypsy' panelvan...it was a wicked little thing! :)
I'd forgotten about the Gypsy. One of the apprentices at the Holden dealer where I worked bought a Yellow Gypsy.
Please create a separate UA-cam channel for retro stuff and keep the original 4:3 aspect ratio.
Love this retro revisit. Could just see my mum driving to the shops like Peter. 😂 Caning the crap out of it.
Couldn't believe the number of bangers still on the road in 1975.
I love the Gemini 920 kg and rear wheel drive , so much fun to drive !
Good little car. We had one of those (auto four door) for about ten years. Nice light unassisted steering. Same trimatic auto as the Kingswood, Torque tube to live axle rear on coil spring with panhard rod. Handled excellent.
Some people put the imported twin cam longer stroke 1800 in it. Got written off in a rear end prang by a drunk. Pity. Was like a GM original Corolla on steroids.
Very sort after car for young sporting steel bumper enthusiasts to this day. A mate of mine has the blue coupe like was shown on this video. It was a extremely fun car to drive and so much lighter and agile compared to my WB 1 tonner ute. Another mate here in Perth had an LJ gtr 2 door yellow and black Torana and every Sunday we'd get the chance we'd go cruising in it and the ute that was a really nice car he paid $14k in the mid 2000's for it and sadly just sold it for $30k, I would of bought it if I were still single. It was also a really fun and fast car that would beat me off the start and I was worried there for a while, as I was in my brand new FPV V8 but by the time it hit 70kms/ph I started really pulling away. The work he'd done to that car was absolutely amazing. He changed it from an auto to a celica 5 speed and also bought a spare and rebuilt it into a decent 186 flat top pistons, ported and polished heads with valves springs etc triple Webbers that he ended up swapping out to twin rochesters I think, he still kept all the original engine and gear box so the numbers would match for the next buyer/collector.
Down Memory Lane... Thank's..
Had one of these. 3 miles of dirt road to the farm. Awesome rally stage.
And a simple 5 minute mod on the factory carby and opens up the secondary sooner and a it made a real difference and the extra power you got.
So many good memories in my Gemini , i happened to pimp mine out with a 2ltr , 5spd , big cam, twin 40mm webbers, extractors , 2.5 in exhaust , LSD diff , that’s when the Gemini turns it on 🚗💨💨💨💨
Imagine stepping from that to a base model Corolla of today. Be like the space shuttle.
I think its closest modern relative would be the Holden Astra sedan but yes, its a crazy difference.
If I could take the world of the 70's/80's, and it meant I had to have a Gemini, I'd be more than happy to do that.
@@mrheyfuckoff1
The Astra is a direct descendant of the 1970s Gemini.
After driving a tx gemini and then a late model holden cruise... id pick the gemini... not full of bullshit driver aids, airbags etc... its a light rwd car with enough power to keep up with traffic and has pretty good handling and braking. Much like my 77 corolla, although the corolla is slower being a 1.2ltr non ohc engine, and the leaf spring rear is a bit axle trampy in comparison.
@@Terangeree astra is Opel from Germany, gemini was Isuzu from japan
My brother in the 1980s had a two-door one of these with a 4 Spd. It was called an Opel by Isuzu with an 1800 cc 4 cyl. and points and bucket seats. It was a 1977 model. Sporty car for sure.
Not in Australia he didn't
I bought 4 door Gemini new it was a good reliable family car. Had it for years, but my only concern it was prone to rust in the door panels and the wheel arches.
All cars were back then
You could never have picked him as a woman, I’m glad that later in life he lived as he wanted .... as a woman. Must have been awful for him for most of his life... a battle inside him. RIP Peter, so well respected in the motoring world.
Yes agreed, metal conditions are not to be ignored they alter peoples life and potential in ways we can't imagine.
Gemini's were absolutely magic little cars. I had a 1894 TG 4-speed manual SL sedan as my first car and it was so much fun to drive. The worst thing that happened to them was the RB series which was front drive and a bit ugly! By the time Isuzu had better versions, it was 1990 and the Gemini was long gone from Australia, with Japan getting the tasty, Irsmcher R AWD 1.6 turbo version in a sedan, hatch and coupe versions. Such a pity.
Road testing a brand new car down a bush track. Now that's a proper test. I'd love a Gemini hatch back modernised. Good looking retro car.
My father had a 4 door gemini. Great car. My brother and i used to borrow it on a regular basis... yep we'll look after it dad👍 rear wheel drive, it was great for drifting on gravel roads... many times a girlfriend and i found the back seat. Bit older and wiser now, i drive a d/c rodeo, 3l turbo intercooled. Makes the gemini look like a matchbox. Good times back then though.
Love the cars and simplicity of 1975
Owned a dozen of them in the 90s.
spins car around, gets out and shrugs "oh well" I laughed more than I should of.
Ahhh, the good old days when Australia still had a car industry. [thanks Abbott] Miss my old 1996 EF Falcon. Great interstate hauler when new. So comfy, smooth and powerful for its day. Petrol was so cheap back then! Hope Tesla sets up shop in Oz one day. We got the Lithium.
Abbott is a complete turd and you can blame him for a lot, but not the decline of the Australian motoring industry.
@@perdbeer6713
A succession of government's to blame not just one .
@@alexfrankl7861 it's voters to blame, vote in wankers, you get tossers running the land and they only look at lining their own pockets.
Wasn’t it Ford America and GM America that decided to pull the pin on Australian production?
@@aaronheaney2694
Yes , but after taking hundreds of millions worth of hand outs first , the last Commodore cost the tax payer over 20k each !
A good simple inexpensive car by Isuzu that really did OK. I had a wagon and used it for courier work in Sydney. It had a hard life but it never gave up. If they still sold the same model I would buy again.
That old datsun 240k coupe is worth some dollars today .
It was a 4 door actually, so not as much as the coupe but still very sought after......I have a 4 door that I drive regularly and have been offered new car money for it :)
I thought 90's John Howard was doing the review
You're not alone on that one.
It's like Allan Moffat and John Howard had a child together..
..and the child can't work out why he has an inherent interest in cars and economy.
Had 2 of these...great fun little cars.
"Fancy in 1975 still making a car that locks up its back wheels! Ah well."
I learnt to drive in one of these. It broke down during my driving test. Hot day, fuel vapourization. Got it going again, and passed the test.
If he’d had it a week longer he would’ve seen the rust come through.
Look at the way the two door kicks it's front wheel out while turning, holy shit. Handles well he says, he probably didn't see that happening from inside.
The saying “Drive it like you stole it” comes to mind. Not sure why you would flog a small road car along a bush track and say there’s a noise in the back end. No doubt you broke it.
You’ve never had one? The damping in the back was shit, the damn diff slapped the body too easily. *wipes away a fond tear*
I owned a 1975 Yellow Coupe and later a 1979 4 Door...great little cars of their day...and Peter was right they did made great rally cars...
exactly what i did with mine, hammered it
My first car was a Kermit-green TX Gemini sedan with a 5-speed box swapped into it and a set of Firestone 205/60/R13 boots. I would never call it 'spirited' but by god it stuck to the road iand was indeed nimble. The boot was positively cavernous although the fact the fuel tank was inside the car always gave me pause. At some point it received a mild cam of some sort and later was totally gutted, repainted, and had a late-model dash installed (required quite a bit of finangling and a donor panel from a wrecked car).
I still have that car (the boot floor rusted out and it is now in the shed as a project for Future Me to deal with).
I had one of these (second hand) as a first car back in 1991, beautiful to drive and economy was good for a fella' just starting out 👍
Yes it was also my first car back in 1989. The 4 speed manual gearbox was great (the best part of the car actually). I also forgot about how big that boot was for a small car.
Great little cars those old Gemini's. What a popular small car they turned out to be.
have always had a soft spot for Geminis, i had an Isuzu gemini coupe as a road car and a sedan as a rally car years ago, bloody fantastic race car, point and shoot and it would go ..... they are the same floorplan as the opel kadet and vauxhal chevette which were also top race rally cars in their day, id own another if i could find one
We had the 1974 2.8 Six Torana with rear drums. It had the same problem. The smaller Torana was solid like the Kingswood. The Japanese cars were good, but light construction.
I love looking at all the older cars that are on the road with Pete, a lot of Aussie cars that are now slowly disappearing, sad to see..........
this car was damn fun
to drive.
Cheap as hell
Yeah they were an excellent run around!
Me mates mother had a 4 doorback in the day,we used to borrow it saturday nights and do blockies looking for stray mutton.
Ahh them were the days😃
It was a shit heap. you fkn wanker!
I know he’s a long time passed but damn you Peter. Now I want another Gemini and they cost a bloody fortune, had one as my first car
23/3/2009.
I had the coupe as my first car.
Wish I'd never gotten rid of it.
Peter Ferret , the original top gear ! 😁
My Dad's LH Torana rego was HIW-129, only 67 cars before the 4 door Gemini.
8:10 - NRMA HQ panel van in the background - have any of them survived?
Had a '75 model sedan in 90-92. No issues. I think Ipaid about 1700, and sold it around the same. Soft suspension in front, would sag when braking but a very reliable little car. In 1990 the style was not cool, even though it wasn't overstated and well-balanced. In 94' I bought a VW Passat wagon also from 1975. It was extremely cool design and color. (blue) And in 1994 looked like I had taste.
Gemi FTW. Best car ever, never driven anything that comes close in performance in an all round context. A little work and they are wicked. I want to get another 1, a TF panel van would be perfect
Lol, what?
Behold, kids, the days before ABS ;)
In the U.K. revertive in 1975 was Vauxhall Chevette
all my mates had Gems when i was a teen... donuts galore.
parts started from $1.50 at the local wreckers 😎
All road tests should start on a gravel rally stage or gravel track!!! Shows the car's handling as well as ability to soak up vibrations, bumps and how well sound isolated it is
My fist car was a Gemini, 4 door SLX, great car for me.
In the United States we got this vehicle as the Buick Opel by Isuzu and when Opel left the market as the Isuzu I-Mark.
Neither was never popular but my neighbor bought a brand new four door in robin's egg blue with a black/white checkered cloth interior.
She meticulously maintained it and she had it for over twenty years.
When she stopped driving she gave it to a nephew.
It only had 42k miles on it.
He lost control when he hit a patch of ice on a freeway entrance ramp and totalled it.
I had 1975 1st generation Honda accord , and I got to say , it out performed the Gemini in every way. Power , acceleration handling breaks & comfort at 30-35mpg As good as they were, aussie cars were being slowly left behind.
What a gem!
My first car was a TX Gemini, wish I’d kept it!
My 1980 Gemini caught me out a couple of times in the wet when I hit the brakes. After viewing this I now assume the back wheels would lock up causing a 180 degree pirouette. I was left facing the opposite direction that I was travelling.😂
Been there, done that in my Gemini. Softly softly in the wet.
Locking rear brakes - Holden did toss all.
Interior noise levels - Holden did toss all.
Great reliable little car the Gemini.
We had one that lasted for years of trouble free motoring , it rusted to bits but it still went without any issues whatsoever. Fond memories of uncomplicated enjoyable daily transport.
Too many Holden fanboi's in this thread. I had a mate back in the 80s who had the four door version of one of these, and EVERYTHING got replaced at least once. By the time he sold it, it was another car. It spent more time off the road than on it!
Amaroo Park . Takes me back .
Memories. Still, love my Datsun 180B SSS. But the Gemini I was a passenger in many t, was a great car. I thought it was car well priced and did the job, needing little maintenance, unlike the later decade on Astra.
I had to sell my heavily modded HR, as the wife to be couldn't drive it. Grrrrrr. Still, I modded the 180 SSS and had a great time in the sticks learning how to rally.
Couldn't you have sold the wife instead?
1:57 The front tire lean, wow!
6:52 - He turns from Ridge Street into West Street, North Sydney.
The 2 door looks so much like a torana. But look at all those other great cars he goes along with in the city, to think we just took them for granted back then, the days of identity in cars has gone.
Amazing how all those cars you see in his videos, are not on the road at all today...
[high 90%'s].
In spite of enjoying the nostalgia of these videos, I can't help but feel a little choked up and sad about that reality.