Holden Camira
The Holden Camira was a medium-sized family car produced by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. It was Holden's version of GM's 'J-Car' family of cars, which also included the Opel Ascona and the Vauxhall Cavalier.
The first Camira, the JB, was introduced in 1982 to replace the Torana. A wagon version was introduced the following year, and its bodywork was exported to Vauxhall in the UK for the Cavalier estate. Some Camiras were also exported to right hand drive markets in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Singapore.
The second version, the JD, released in 1984, featured a more aerodynamic front end without a conventional grille. In New Zealand, however, the second generation Camira, known as the JJ Camira, was a rebadged version of another 'J-Car', the Isuzu Aska from Japan. This was because the JB Camira had fared badly in New Zealand, although the wagon version from Australia was retained and assembled locally.
The last model, the JE, was introduced in 1987, featuring a high performance version of the sedan, memorably only available in red. During this time, the Australian Government had developed a scheme known as the Button Plan, under which local car manufacturers shared models. Holden, which had formed a joint venture with Toyota, replaced the Camira with a badge engineered Toyota Camry, called the Holden Apollo.
In New Zealand, the Holden Camira was replaced by the European-sourced Opel Vectra, which was subsequently rebadged as a Holden, and is now also sold in Australia.
