Holden's SSX offers a practical outlook

Holden's contribution to the multi-purpose vehicle trend - the SSX concept - injects flexibility into the sporting hatch design.

The SSX all-wheel-drive crossover is a fully driveable luxury four-seater prototype that combines V8 performance with the convenience of a multi-purpose load area that can be extended by folding the back seats flush with the floor and dropping the fold-down end gate to create what could be described as a station wagon/sedan/utility hybrid.

Unveiled at the Sydney International Motor Show in October, the prototype takes its styling cues are VY Commodore, adding an extra edge at the front end by incorporating a deeper facia with twin projector headlamps, foglamps and exclusive grille. The body is finished in brilliant "Kryptonite" green and the jet black interior is completed by stainless steel wear strips and silver side storage compartments that become visible when the rear load compartment is in use.

The SSX (the X stands for "crossover") also features wheel arch extensions over 19-inch magnesium alloys, front fender vents, Venturi-style aerodynamic underpans and twin central exhausts at the rear, where the hatch is cleverly integrated and edged with a slim black spoiler.

Part of a broad initiative by the design team at Holden - the biggest ever concept car project ever undertaken by the company - the range will be expanded and experimented with the aim of providing niche models with a variety of powertrains, drive systems and innovative body styles and Holden expects that the new performance vehicles could become reality in less than two years.