The last of the Sports Cats
The launch of the Series 2 HSV SportsCat was an endorsement of the risky decision to take the performance brand into the crowded high-end ute market.
With saloon cars fading on buyers’ radar, Holden is confirming its focus on the ute and SUV market.
The company chose the National Fieldays to reveal its home-grown concept -- the mighty Colorado ROX.
“We know many of our customers have grand visions of what they’d like to do to personalise their own vehicles after driving them out of the dealership. So we wanted to showcase how far you could take the extremely capable Colorado” says HNZ managing director Marc Ebolo.
“Once the ball was rolling our marketing team, with partners Retro Vehicle Enhancement (RVE), spent a lot of time and effort bringing this concept to life.”
The ROX runs on 35-inch Blackbear mud terrain tyres and has custom made flares to house the huge wheels, a six-inch suspension and body lift kit. ‘Rock Sliders’ with removable drop steps make getting in and out almost as easy as on a standard Colorado.
The vehicle has a carbon fibre, high rise bonnet, hand crafted bespoke front and rear steel bumpers and a rear deck cargo system and 500mm tray extender. It also has an extended wrapping roof bar with retractable lights and a roof basket.
Inside the vehicle has been up-spec’d with front and rear RVE sports seats with hand made leather upholstery.
The Colorado ROX will demonstrate the model’s 3.5 tonne towing capability, hauling a laden event trailer as it tours the country on a nationwide dealership tour.
It will be displayed at big shows such as Fieldays.
To bring the project to life, Holden partnered with Retro Vehicle Enhancement (RVE), an Auckland business specialising in aftermarket vehicles.
RVE sources parts from Poland, America and Taiwan. Many were made from scratch, requiring extensive one-off CAD engineering.
Rapid growth in dairy farm worker pay in recent years means more money in the pockets of New Zealanders, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean.
New Zealand exports to the European Union have surged by $3 billion in two years under the New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement.
A new joint investment of $1.2 million aims to accelerate farmer uptake of low-methane sheep genetics, one of the few emissions reduction tools available to New Zealand farmers.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has issued a stark warning about the global implications of the ongoing Gulf crisis.
Fonterra has announced interim changes to the leadership of its Global Ingredients business.
New Zealand agritech company Halter has announced unveiled a new direct-to-satellite technology solution for its smart collars for beef cattle, unlocking virtual fencing for some of the country's most remote farming regions.

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