Emerging at the end of the 1970s, General Motors began development of the J-Car concept designed to eliminate duplication of engineering effort and ensure interchangeable parts across its global range, which led to Holden launching the much ridiculed Camira.
Origins of the J-Car emerged in 1976 originally designated for the Chevrolet and Pontiac brands, but was expanded to include Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, Opel of Europe, Vauxhall in the UK, Isuzu from Japan and of course Holden.
There was plenty of interchangeability within J-Car just like it was designed courtesy of Isuzu providing kits to produce the Camira, Holden in turn manufacturing the GM Family II engines for the all global markets and the station wagon bodywork produced for Australia’s J-Car variant was supplied to Vauxhall for an estate version of its Cavalier II.
It wasn’t all rosy for Holden’s Camira, named after the aboriginal word for wind, as poor build quality, unreliability and rust proved a problem during its build run from 1982 until 1989.
Winning ‘Wheels Car of the Year’ in 1982, the Camira was credited for its ride and handling, but was deemed underpowered by much of the motoring media.
Quality problems soon emerged including smokey engines, lack of drainage holes in doors, poor paint quality, lack of fan cooling and much more tarnished the Camira brand, with it not recovering for two further model runs.
An upgraded engine and more futuristic appearance for the JD Camira released in 1984 wasn’t able to save the nameplate.
New emission regulations in 1986 mandated cars manufactured locally were required to use unleaded fuel forcing Holden to engineer a solution hurting engine power and later causing the engine to cease or operate at a crippling loss.
Yet another nail in the coffin for Camira.
A slightly upgraded JE Camira was introduced in 1987, but despite most quality problems being resolved, it was too little too late.
August 1989 was when the last Camira rolled off the production line to be replaced by a re-badged Toyota Camry as part of the Button Plan to reduce the number of models produced by Australian manufacturers introduced by the then Hawke Government.
General Motors continued to produce J-Cars up until 2005 mainly in the US, with Vauxhall and Opel ending in 1988.