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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 13:02
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Just thought some of you guys would enjoy it. 
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 13:13
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I remember channel 10 had an episode of the targa series dedicated to the 2 old sweeds that were driving the GT4 in the 2004 targa tasmania. If you look closely you can see their names too.
Apparently the car was sourced from Japan (I think it was Japan) and brought up to race spec for these 2 old guys to compete in the rally. I think it was the TA22 the 2 old guys used to rally when the TA22s first came out in the 70's and it was sort of a then and now thing.
1 thing I would like to see though is a full list of cars that take part in the targa tasmania race each year. Some pretty interesting stuff competes and also gets smashed up 
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 21:44
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goto the targ tassie site and they have a full entrant list with what their car us. also many of the teams have a link from that page with some info about the car.
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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 22:15
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Yup, Targa Tassie site is teh b0mb.
I was trolling through it last night when I came upon that pic.
http://www.targa.org.au/
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 22:51
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2 old sweeds?
Ove Andersson had recently retired as the head of Toyotas F1 team, and before that headed TTE in Rally for many years. But he Did start out as a driver for Toyota.
Ben.
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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Mon, 24 January 2005 23:25
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So that's the car Ove Andersson drove!
Makes sense now that I think of it...
Would've loved to have seen that story on him in the Targa.
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Location:
brisbane
Registered:
February 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Wed, 26 January 2005 09:17
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i think you will find that the car is the same one that neal bates ran in targa a couple of times, he was forced to retire with o'heating probs on 1 occasion the other i cant remember if he won the event or not but i know he led for most of the event
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Club Member
Location:
sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
September 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Wed, 26 January 2005 13:49
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oh wow man, i need to find that in hi-res!!!!
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Thu, 27 January 2005 07:02
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someones racing a giocattolo!!!  
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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Thu, 27 January 2005 09:09
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Yeah, I saw that too... 
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I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Thu, 27 January 2005 12:19
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one mistake and the giocattolo population goes down even further
whats they're population now? like 8/9 from 11 or so
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I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Thu, 27 January 2005 12:49
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I guess...
I kinda just have the opinion that something which is built for high performance should be driven that way..
Didn't actually realise they were quite *that* rare..
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Location:
UK at moment
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Thu, 27 January 2005 21:24
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So ... don't crash!
hehe .
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Location:
Gold Coast, QLD
Registered:
April 2004
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Fri, 28 January 2005 04:24
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weren't they meant make like 80 or 90 giocattolos? why did they shut? i'm guessing $$$
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Location:
Gold Coast, QLD
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Fri, 28 January 2005 05:39
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I don't know how many they were planning on making (as many as possible I guess) but I suppose there would have been a break-even number they were aiming to build. The reason they shut down was indeed $$$, directly due to lack of sales. Their main problem was that had to market the car all on their own, they couldn't sell it thru any dealers or anything (since it was a hybrid of Alfa and Holden).
The guy behind the Giocattolo was Paul Halstead, who used to assemble DeTomaso Panteras in Australia using the locally built Ford Cleveland 351 V8. When Ford stopped making that engine arouund '83, he devised a new sports car to manufacture and sell in Australia based on the Alfa Sprint. The initial plan was to convert the car to mid engine/rear drive using Alfa's 3 litre V6, with a twin turbo version planned for later down the track and to sell them in Alfa dealerships. Alfa Romeo however wanted to charge $30,000 per engine (a huge amount in late 80's dollars) which was out of the question, since Halstead wanted the car to be relatively affordable.
The solution came in the form of the Holden V8, specifically the engine from the recent Walkinshaw VL Group A. Thus the car was born, but since it now had a Holden engine and not an Alfa one, selling them in Alfa dealerships was no longer possible. Neither was selling them in Holden dealerships either, due to the newly-formed HSV. So they were left to market it by themselves, sales never really took off and by July 1989 they were gone.
Sad story, but it's been the same one for pretty much every attempt to build an Australian sports car. But at least I got a ride in one! 
Matt
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Photo from Targa Tasmania 2004
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Fri, 28 January 2005 11:15
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lucky bastard...I'm sure you soiled your pants too.
The one you went for a ride in might even be the one in the photos...
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