Return to Lingus' garage

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Published on 09 January 2018

That's the unanswered question, DB ... what happened to the XL Skyliners ? ... l've read that Miss Reschke got to keep her car as part of the titleholder's intended goodies, but I've not encountered any of these cars in post-event images. When thinking about GM's bodies of the late sixties, there were not only many pillarless coupes, but also many pillarless 4-door sedans ... as to the Torana, it's easy enough to think of the GTR and GTR XU-1 as coupes, but I think it more correct to think of them as 2-door sedans ... I remember you commenting in a Vauxhall Viva article that Leo Pruneau was given the span of one afternoon to come up with a line drawing to replace the original UK prototype concept that was so unloved by Bill Mitchell ... as you'd be aware, Leo's 'coke bottle' Viva 2-door sedan was later tweaked in Australia to become the '69 Torana (referred to by many as the HB series II) in which a 4-door sedan was introduced to the range, but retaining the 2-door's roof and window lines ... it was much the same engineering applied again with the subsequent LC and LJs, but the new sloping boot and rear window gave the illusion of a coupe body style ... this didn't take away the savings to be had with maintaining 'B' pillar engineering, not to mention the next-to-cheapest option for the 2-door's rear quarter glass - as with the HB series - being hinged from the 'B' pillar ...