OURCARMAKERSWOULDDISCOVER
THATGOVERNMENTSDIDDECIDETHEKINDSOFCARS
AUSTRALIANSWEREALLOWEDTOBUY
T
he year of 1972 was fateful for a number of reasons. It marked the
accession of EG (Gough) Whitlam to the highest elected office
in the land and official sanction of on-screen voyeurism when
skin-fest Number 96 made its television debut.
It was also the year our car makers would discover that
governments really did decide what kinds of cars Australians were
allowed to buy.
Following a front-page exposé of the Big Three manufacturers’
competition programs, complete with 160mph Ca rs Soon as its headline,