Gregory Pemberton provides clear, scholarly, objective analysis of how Australia became involved in the Vietnam War. he unravels skillfully and systematically the complex skein of political and military events which led the Menzies Government to embark on this tragic commitment. He provides the most thorough and dispassionate account of Australian-American relations in the 1950s and 60s yet published.vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975 - participation, australian, australia - foreign relations - 20th century., united states - foreign relations - 20th century.

PaperbackDuring the Vietnam War, Time reporter Pham Xuan An befriended everyone who was anyone in Saigon, including American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA's William Colby, and the legendary Colonel Edward Lansdale - not to mention the most influential members of the South Vietnamese government and army. 1927-2006, vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- secret service -- vietnam (democratic republic), journalists -- vietnam (democratic republic) -- biography, pham xuan an

HardcoverDuring the Vietnam War, Time reporter Pham Xuan An befriended everyone who was anyone in Saigon, including American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA's William Colby, and the legendary Colenel Edward Lansdale - not to mention the most influential members of the South Vietnamese government and army. pham, xuan an, 1927-2006, vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- secret service -- vietnam (democratic republic), journalists -- vietnam (democratic republic) -- biography

(shortened version) Poster with American flag and words. I am a citizen of the USA I not speak your language. Please take me to someone who can protect me. My government with reward you. Written in many languages underneath.Published by aeronautical chart and informationcentre US Airforce. Lithographed Dec 1965 406825 South East Asia - West central Pacificposter

Discusses the role of government and its failure to protect and lend support to Australia's other arts, such as the Australian television industry, and failure to encourage local production. Increase in American content appears to flout rules of the Broadcasting Control Board. Australian commercial television victim to foreign programmes, with Australian drama content continuing to decrease due to high costs and cheaper imported programs.Typewritten (c copy), quarto, 7 pages. (Two copies)broadcasting control board, australian television, australian television industry, commercial television, postmaster general, australian television programs, american television programs, robin boyd, manuscript

Catalogue of an exhibition on show at MOMA (25 Feb - 28 April 1957) during Robin Boyd's time of America. Includes articles on 6 American buildings of the 1950s, architects including Edward D Stone, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Eero Saarinen and Minoru Yamasaki.buildings, architecture, edward d stone, skidmore owings and merrill, mies van der rohe, philip johnson, eero saarinen, minoru yamasaki, museum of modern art, walsh st library

A time for reconciliation / Bob Hawke -- Treaty is a recipe for separatism / John Howard -- A treaty for land justice and self-determination / Janine Haines -- Why a treaty? / Galarrwuy Yunupingu -- Aborigines are Australian, too / Bob Liddle -- Fallacies weaken the case for a treaty / Geoffrey Blainey -- Why whites also need an Aboriginal treaty / Roberta Sykes -- The quest for Aboriginal sovereignty / Hugh Morgan -- Legal and constitutional considerations / Mark Cooray -- Australia as terra nullius / Peter van Hattem -- Canada: towards Aboriginal self-government? / Jean Chretien -- American Indian treaties: historic relics / Peter Samuel -- The long aftermath of Waitangi / Antomy C. Turner -- Appendix 1: The Barunga statement -- Appendix 2: Preamble to the ATSIC Bill -- Appendix 3: Press attitudes to a treaty -- Appendix 4: Aboriginal population and landmaps, b&w photographsrace relations, racism, government relations, treaties

Generations of the Talbot family have called Malahide Castle home. They played significant roles in Irish political and social life. Set in 260 acres the castle is only 10 minutes from Dublin airport. https://www.malahidecastleandgardens.ie/ The estate began in 1185, when Richard Talbot, a knight who accompanied Henry II to Ireland in 1174, was granted the "lands and harbour of Malahide." The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 12th century and it was home to the Talbot family for 791 years, from 1185 until 1976, the only exception being the period from 1649–60, when Oliver Cromwell granted it to Miles Corbet after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland; Corbet was hanged following the demise of Cromwell, and the castle was restored to the Talbots. The building was notably enlarged in the reign of Edward IV, and the towers added in 1765. The estate survived such losses as the Battle of the Boyne, when fourteen members of the owner's family sat down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and all were dead by evening, and the Penal Laws, even though the family remained Roman Catholic until 1774. In 1918 during the First World War a mooring-out base for airships was established in the grounds of the castle, used by airships from RNAS Anglesey in Wales which conducted anti-submarine operations in the Irish Sea. There were plans to base airships here from 1919, but these were abandoned at the end of the war.[1] In the 1920s the private papers of James Boswell were discovered in the castle, and sold to American collector Ralph H. Isham by Boswell's great-great-grandson Lord Talbot de Malahide. Malahide Castle and Demesne was eventually inherited by the 7th Baron Talbot and on his death in 1973, passed to his sister, Rose. In 1975, Rose sold the castle to the Irish State, partly to fund inheritance taxes. Many of the contents, notably furnishings, had been sold in advance, leading to considerable public controversy, but private and governmental parties were able to retrieve some. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malahide_CastleDigital photographsgravestones, malahide castle, ireland, cemetery, malahid castle; talbot; ireland; richard talbot; dublin

Generations of the Talbot family have called Malahide Castle home. They played significant roles in Irish political and social life. Set in 260 acres the castle is only 10 minutes from Dublin airport. https://www.malahidecastleandgardens.ie/ The estate began in 1185, when Richard Talbot, a knight who accompanied Henry II to Ireland in 1174, was granted the "lands and harbour of Malahide." The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 12th century and it was home to the Talbot family for 791 years, from 1185 until 1976, the only exception being the period from 1649–60, when Oliver Cromwell granted it to Miles Corbet after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland; Corbet was hanged following the demise of Cromwell, and the castle was restored to the Talbots. The building was notably enlarged in the reign of Edward IV, and the towers added in 1765. The estate survived such losses as the Battle of the Boyne, when fourteen members of the owner's family sat down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and all were dead by evening, and the Penal Laws, even though the family remained Roman Catholic until 1774. In 1918 during the First World War a mooring-out base for airships was established in the grounds of the castle, used by airships from RNAS Anglesey in Wales which conducted anti-submarine operations in the Irish Sea. There were plans to base airships here from 1919, but these were abandoned at the end of the war.[1] In the 1920s the private papers of James Boswell were discovered in the castle, and sold to American collector Ralph H. Isham by Boswell's great-great-grandson Lord Talbot de Malahide. Malahide Castle and Demesne was eventually inherited by the 7th Baron Talbot and on his death in 1973, passed to his sister, Rose. In 1975, Rose sold the castle to the Irish State, partly to fund inheritance taxes. Many of the contents, notably furnishings, had been sold in advance, leading to considerable public controversy, but private and governmental parties were able to retrieve some. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malahide_Castle, TalbColour photograph of Malahide Castle, Ireland.malahide castle, ireland, talbot, richard talbot

The Irish National Land League (Irish: Conradh na Talún) was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on. The period of the Land League's agitation is known as the Land War. Within decades of the league's foundation, through the efforts of William O'Brien and George Wyndham (a descendant of Lord Edward FitzGerald), the 1902 Land Conference produced the Land (Purchase) Act 1903 which allowed Irish tenant farmers buy out their freeholds with UK government loans over 68 years through the Land Commission (an arrangement that has never been possible in Britain itself). For agricultural labourers, D.D. Sheehan and the Irish Land and Labour Association secured their demands from the Liberal government elected in 1905 to pass the Labourers (Ireland) Act 1906, and the Labourers (Ireland) Act 1911, which paid County Councils to build over 40,000 new rural cottages, each on an acre of land. By 1914, 75% of occupiers were buying out their landlords, mostly under the two Acts. In all, under the pre-UK Land Acts over 316,000 tenants purchased their holdings amounting to 15 million acres (61,000 km2) out of a total of 20 million acres (81,000 km2) in the country. Sometimes the holdings were described as "uneconomic", but the overall sense of social justice was undeniable. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_Land_League, accessed 21 January 2014) The Irish National Land League was founded at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar, the County town of Mayo, on 21 October 1879. At that meeting Charles Stewart Parnell was elected president of the league. Andrew Kettle, Michael Davitt, and Thomas Brennan were appointed as honorary secretaries. This united practically all the different strands of land agitation and tenant rights movements under a single organisation. The two aims of the Land League, as stated in the resolutions adopted in the meeting, were: ...first, to bring out a reduction of rack-rents; second, to facilitate the obtaining of the ownership of the soil by the occupiers. That the object of the League can be best attained by promoting organisation among the tenant-farmers; by defending those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust rents; by facilitating the working of the Bright clauses of the Irish Land Act during the winter; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant to become owner of his holding by paying a fair rent for a limited number of years. Charles Stewart Parnell, John Dillon, Michael Davitt, and others including Cal Lynn then went to America to raise funds for the League with spectacular results. Branches were also set up in Scotland, where the Crofters Party imitated the League and secured a reforming Act in 1886. The government had introduced the first ineffective Land Act in 1870, then the equally inadequate Acts of 1880 and 1881 followed. These established a Land Commission that started to reduce some rents. Parnell together with all of his party lieutenants, including Father Eugene Sheehy known as "the Land League priest", went into a bitter verbal offensive and were imprisoned in October 1881 under the Irish Coercion Act in Kilmainham Jail for "sabotaging the Land Act", from where the No-Rent Manifesto was issued, calling for a national tenant farmer rent strike which was partially followed. Although the League discouraged violence, agrarian crimes increased widely. Typically a rent strike would be followed by evictions by the police, or those tenants paying rent would be subject to a local boycott by League members. Where cases went to court, witnesses would change their stories, resulting in an unworkable legal system. This in turn led on to stronger criminal laws being passed that were described by the League as "Coercion Acts". The bitterness that developed helped Parnell later in his Home Rule campaign. Davitt's views were much more extreme, seeking to nationalise all land, as seen in his famous slogan: "The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland". Parnell aimed to harness the emotive element, but he and his party preferred for tenant farmers to become freeholders on the land they rented, instead of land being vested in "the people".(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_Land_League, accessed 21 January 2014)Image of a number of men sitting around a table. They are members of the Land League Committee during a meeting in Dublin.ballarat irish, land league, land league committee, dublin

Parnell was an Irish nationalist and statesman who led the fight for Irish Home Rule in the 1880s. Charles Stewart Parnell was born on 27 June 1846 in County Wicklow into a family of Anglo-Irish Protestant landowners. He studied at Cambridge University and was elected to parliament in 1875 as a member of the Home Rule League (later re-named by Parnell the Irish Parliamentary Party). His abilities soon became evident. In 1878, Parnell became an active opponent of the Irish land laws, believing their reform should be the first step on the road to Home Rule. In 1879, Parnell was elected president of the newly founded National Land League and the following year he visited the United States to gain both funds and support for land reform. In the 1880 election, he supported the Liberal leader William Gladstone, but when Gladstone's Land Act of 1881 fell short of expectations, he joined the opposition. By now he had become the accepted leader of the Irish nationalist movement. Parnell now encouraged boycott as a means of influencing landlords and land agents, and as a result he was sent to jail and the Land League was suppressed. From Kilmainham prison he called on Irish peasants to stop paying rent. In March 1882, he negotiated an agreement with Gladstone - the Kilmainham Treaty - in which he urged his followers to avoid violence. But this peaceful policy was severely challenged by the murder in May 1882 of two senior British officials in Phoenix Park in Dublin by members of an Irish terrorist group. Parnell condemned the murders. In 1886, Parnell joined with the Liberals to defeat Lord Salisbury's Conservative government. Gladstone became prime minister and introduced the first Irish Home Rule Bill. Parnell believed it was flawed but said he was prepared to vote for it. The Bill split the Liberal Party and was defeated in the House of Commons. Gladstone's government fell soon afterwards.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/parnell_charles.shtml, accessed 21 January 2014) The Irish National Land League (Irish: Conradh na Talún) was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on. The period of the Land League's agitation is known as the Land War. Within decades of the league's foundation, through the efforts of William O'Brien and George Wyndham (a descendant of Lord Edward FitzGerald), the 1902 Land Conference produced the Land (Purchase) Act 1903 which allowed Irish tenant farmers buy out their freeholds with UK government loans over 68 years through the Land Commission (an arrangement that has never been possible in Britain itself). For agricultural labourers, D.D. Sheehan and the Irish Land and Labour Association secured their demands from the Liberal government elected in 1905 to pass the Labourers (Ireland) Act 1906, and the Labourers (Ireland) Act 1911, which paid County Councils to build over 40,000 new rural cottages, each on an acre of land. By 1914, 75% of occupiers were buying out their landlords, mostly under the two Acts. In all, under the pre-UK Land Acts over 316,000 tenants purchased their holdings amounting to 15 million acres (61,000 km2) out of a total of 20 million acres (81,000 km2) in the country. Sometimes the holdings were described as "uneconomic", but the overall sense of social justice was undeniable. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_Land_League, accessed 21 January 2014) The Irish National Land League was founded at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar, the County town of Mayo, on 21 October 1879. At that meeting Charles Stewart Parnell was elected president of the league. Andrew Kettle, Michael Davitt, and Thomas Brennan were appointed as honorary secretaries. This united practically all the different strands of land agitation and tenant rights movements under a single organisation. The two aims of the Land League, as stated in the resolutions adopted in the meeting, were: ...first, to bring out a reduction of rack-rents; second, to facilitate the obtaining of the ownership of the soil by the occupiers. That the object of the League can be best attained by promoting organisation among the tenant-farmers; by defending those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust rents; by facilitating the working of the Bright clauses of the Irish Land Act during the winter; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant to become owner of his holding by paying a fair rent for a limited number of years. Charles Stewart Parnell, John Dillon, Michael Davitt, and others including Cal Lynn then went to America to raise funds for the League with spectacular results. Branches were also set up in Scotland, where the Crofters Party imitated the League and secured a reforming Act in 1886. The government had introduced the first ineffective Land Act in 1870, then the equally inadequate Acts of 1880 and 1881 followed. These established a Land Commission that started to reduce some rents. Parnell together with all of his party lieutenants, including Father Eugene Sheehy known as "the Land League priest", went into a bitter verbal offensive and were imprisoned in October 1881 under the Irish Coercion Act in Kilmainham Jail for "sabotaging the Land Act", from where the No-Rent Manifesto was issued, calling for a national tenant farmer rent strike which was partially followed. Although the League discouraged violence, agrarian crimes increased widely. Typically a rent strike would be followed by evictions by the police, or those tenants paying rent would be subject to a local boycott by League members. Where cases went to court, witnesses would change their stories, resulting in an unworkable legal system. This in turn led on to stronger criminal laws being passed that were described by the League as "Coercion Acts". The bitterness that developed helped Parnell later in his Home Rule campaign. Davitt's views were much more extreme, seeking to nationalise all land, as seen in his famous slogan: "The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland". Parnell aimed to harness the emotive element, but he and his party preferred for tenant farmers to become freeholders on the land they rented, instead of land being vested in "the people".(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_Land_League, accessed 21 January 2014)Image of bearded man known as Charles Stewart Parnellballarat irish, parnell, charles parnell, home rule

Department of Health – National Fitness Office (Sports & Recreation) – Historical Press Release Photo - Empire Youth Day & Royals on Tour CollectionDepartment of Health – National Fitness Office (Sports & Recreation) – Historical Press Release Photo - Empire Youth Day & Royals on Tour Collection

This photo provides just one example of the beautiful costumes worn by Junior Legacy girls for Legacy's Annual Demonstrations at the Melbourne Town Hall. Throughout the year Melbourne Legacy provided classes for Junior Legatees such as dancing, gymnastics and eurythmics, the Demonstration was an annual event to showcase their skills. Melbourne Legacy conducted Annual Demonstrations / Parades from 1928 through to the late 1980's, usually held at Melbourne Town Hall or Olympic Pool Stadium. The beautiful costumes were made by members of the Junior Legacy Mothers' Club and the Melbourne Legacy Wives' Association. Whilst the cost to Legacy was very small, the quality of the work produced was truly professional.A record of a Junior Legacy Demonstration. This photograph serves as photographic evidence of the work that the Legacy Wives' Association and Junior Legacy Mothers' Club produced over the years.Black and white photo of two people upon a stage dressed in traditional Native American attire.Stamped on the back of the photo: "This photograph is with / The Compliments of The... / MINISTRY OF TOURISM / GOVERNMENT OF VICTORIA / PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE / PHOTO: MICHAEL CHESHIRE"junior legatee, annual demonstration, costumes

Yields information about tram operations in the city area of Ballarat.Set of 4 colour slides - Kodachrome white cardboard mounts - slide mounts dated August to September 1971. .1 - Photo of No. 37 at the intersection of Sturt and Lydiard Streets with the Town Hall in the background and the tramway shelter. Has detailed street signs - Government Tourist Bureau, Art Gallery and street name and a sign "Danger Cross Streets at Right Angles" .2 - No. 30 with the destination of City, westbound in Sturt St with the Town Hall, Fletcher Jones and Coles stores in the background. .3 - Nos. 30 and 21 parked in the City Loop. .4 - view of the south side of Sturt St just to west of Grenville St with the Family Footwear, Spot Cafe, Bill Valpied Fruit, Union Hotel and Thomas Jewellers buildings in the view. Photo from the collection of Lilian Butler. .2 and .3 have in pencil "Photo to America" written on them in pencil.ballarat, tramways, trams, sturt st, city loop, lydiard st north, city, signs, tram 30, tram 21

She was among many Allied merchant ships who escaped to Britain rather than be interned in occupied countries in World War II. Together with Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam she served in the Allied cause. She was then chartered to the British Ministry of War Transport and put into service. Under the terms of the charter the flag and crew would remain Dutch. Volendam was assigned to the Children's Overseas Reception Board, a British Government scheme introduced in 1940 to evacuate UK school children overseas. She sailed from Liverpool on Thursday 29 August 1940 as one of 33 ships in Convoy OB 205. On 30 August 1940 whilst several hundred miles off Malin Head, Northern Ireland and heading into the Atlantic, she was attacked about 2300 hrs by the German submarine U-60, firing two torpedoes that hit No. 1 hold and damaged and caused flooding in No. 2 hold. Captain Wepster then gave the order to abandon ship, and despite rough seas all 18 lifeboats got away safely.In 1947 she was used in the Australia emigrant service and in June 1948 made her first Rotterdam – Quebec sailing for the Netherlands government with capacity for 1,500 single class passengers. On Tuesday October 17, 1950 she departed Rotterdam for Sydney, arriving 6-weeks and 1 day later at her destination on Wednesday November 29, 1950. She brought with her a ship-load of (mainly Dutch) immigrants, all eager to forge new lives in Australia. In September 1948 she started her first Rotterdam – New York sailing and commenced her last voyage on this route in February 1951.A framed oil painting of the MV Volenda,Volendammv volendam, migrant ships, troop ships, u boat attack

Inge KING (26 November 1915 – 23 April 2016) Born Berlin, Germany Arrived Australia 1951 Inge King trained as a wood carver and studied at the Berlin Academy (1937-1939), Royal Academy London (1940), and the Glascow School of Art (1941-1843) . She moved to London in 1847 and began carving organic abstract forms in wood and stone. In 1949-50 she went on a study tour to the United States of America where she was inspired to work in metal . Inge King arrived in Australia in 1951 and she completed several large scale public works. Between 1861 and 1875 Inge King lectured at the Institute of Early Childhood Development, Kew. From 1976 to 1987 she lectured in Sculpture at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She was a founding member of the Ceminal Centre Five group, and she actively lobbied architects, governments and State galleries to include modernist sculptures in their plans and displays. In 1991 Inge King joined the first National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Public Art Committee, advising on public art at risk and worthy of Trust classification. The Australian Women's Art Register describes Inge King as having been at the forefront of developing a non figurative vocabulary in Australian Sculpture. Welded bronzed steel sculpture painted black and red. This sculpture by Inge King was purchased in 1967 with funds raised by staff and students of Ballarat Teachers' College, a predecessor institution of Federation University Australia. During this era a collection was made which resulted in an annual purchase or commission of an artwork of note. The Federation University Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007. Signed 'I. King' on the lower steel plate. art, artwork, inge king, king, sculpture, ballarat teachers' college collection, welded metal, metal sculpture

Articles include the production of Christmas cards for purchase, the departure of Mr Davey as treasurer due to commitments in his personal life and that his property was completely burned out by bushfires and would be far more attention, catering difficulties at the Christmas party required improved facilities in the kitchen and this, as well as changes to seating and emergency exit changes due to meet building inspection, has seen an increase in bookings for the Hall, bathing box house at Chelsea still in good repair, two successful Braille Reading competitions held, J. Williams - a transcriber- visited American and returned home with a Perkins Brailler as she uses for the library and provided another one to the library, and although no response has been forthcoming from the Free Library Service Board of Victoria, the government inquiry into the Victorian Library Service has recommended that financial support be given to the Braille Library of Victoria.32 pages of text with drawingsbraille library of victoria, corporation records

GEOFFREY RICARDO (1964- ) Born Melbourne, Australia 1984-86 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art), Printmaking, Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melbourne 1987-89 Printing Assistant at Bill Young Studios, Editioning intaglio prints, King Valley, VIC 1988 Full-time Studio Technician at Printmaking Department, Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melbourne 1989-90 Graduate Diploma (Fine Art), Printmaking, Monash University, Melbourne 1991 Traveled to England, France, Spain and USA (Winsor & Newton International Travelling Bursary, National Students Art Prize) Worked in private studios in Gaucin, Spain and New York, USA 1994-95 Master of Fine Arts, Monash University, Melbourne 1995 Guest Lecturer, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne Traveled to Europe and America 1996 Guest Lecturer, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne 1990-98 Sessional Lecturer, Monash University, Melbourne 1998 Traveled to America and Mexico 2001-05 Sessional Lecturer, The Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne 2003-10 Printmaking Workshops, Warrnambool TAFE, Warrnambool, VIC 2004 Traveled to Europe, Mexico and Cuba 2005 Lecturer, National Art School (Summer School), Sydney Sessional Lecturer, Monash University, Melbourne Lecturer, Institution of Koorie Education, Deakin University, Geelong, VICFramed etching with aquatint depicting a silhouette of man in front of a bonfire. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Programme by Katherine Littlewood.LowerLHS 'State AP' Lower RHS 'Ricardo'geoffrey ricardo, bonfire, printmaking, available

The VN Commodore was available in Executive, S, SS, Berlina and Calais specification levels, although a more basic SL model (opt. code A9K) was supposedly offered to government and fleet buyers, as it was not officially listed as part of the Commodore range. Changes in the relative values of the Australian dollar, the Japanese yen, and the US dollar made it impractical to continue with the well-regarded Nissan engine of the VL. Instead, Holden manufactured their own 90-degree V6 based on an old Buick design from the US, although initially it was imported. The 5.0-litre V8 remained optional and received a power boost to 165 kW (221 hp). Both these engines used multi point GM EFI and the V6 using 3 coil-packs for ignition. Holden and HSV developed this car as the basis for racing in Group A Confederation of Australian Motor Sport events. While the minimum number of cars built to qualify in Australian Touring car Championships, with modified body kit, brakes or engine is 500, only 302 VN were built but CAMS granted an exemption allowing them to compete.Holden and HSV had worked hard to develop this car to be a serious competitor to the Skyline, Ford Sierra and the BMW which had dominated in the previous years. This was to be the Holden’s answer and coincided with the return of Peter Brock back to the Holden team from 1987.Mechanically the cars were fitted with reworked version of Holden’s 4.9 litre V8. The engine block was cast for additional strength, modified cylinder heads roller rockers and high fuel flow fuel injection was applied. Output was 215 kw at 5200revs and, though at today’s standard, that is not that much it was very impressive at that time. The drive was through a six speed ZF gearbox with a heavy duty racing clutch and a limited slip differential.Under the Hawke government's Button car plan, which saw a reduction in the number of models manufactured locally, and the introduction of model sharing, the VN Commodore was rebadged as the Toyota Lexcen, named after the late America's Cup yacht designer, Ben Lexcen. Subsequently, the Toyota Corolla and Camry were, similarly, badged as the Holden Nova and Holden Apollo.Red executive 4 door sedanHolden Lion and stone emblem grille centre, Commodore boot LHS, Lion and stone emblem boot RHS.vehicle, vn commodore, holden, car