There's a very small chance for an Aussie car enthusiast to see a beat-up mid-1970s Holden Gemini on the streets because most of them are currently eaten up by rust while sitting in scrapyards all around the country. But a Gemini that can do 0 to 60 miles per hour in a swift 1.4 seconds is as rare as these things can get.
Marketed in Europe as the Opel Kadett, the little Holden was originally propelled by a less than potent 1,584 cc inline four-pot or a 1.8-liter oil burner. Needless to say, you could listen to an entire AC/DC album while this car struggles to accelerate to 60 miles per hour. But if you swap the aforementioned engines for a turbocharged Wankel, we advise you to put some diapers on cause it'll be a seriously wild roller coaster ride.
Powered by a 1.3-liter Mazda 13B FD rotary engine coupled to a ginormous Garrett turbocharger, the four-door 1978 Holden Gemini you can admire in the video below becomes a very capable drag machine with a whiff of danger about it. During its first run on the Heatchcote Park Raceway track, the car has shown skittish tail-happy behavior that could've translated in a high speed crash in the barriers.
Amusingly, the Gemini lost its rear window towards the end of the first quarter mile run. Because the Holden was in front of the ute driving rival when it happened, the ute driver was surprised by the flying piece of glass and assessed the situation like a pro with a light tap on the brake pedal and a very quick but gentle turn of the steering wheel to the left hand side.
Nevertheless, during the third run, the Gemini impressed the racing venue with a quarter mile run of 9.12 seconds at 152.13 miles per hour. Aside from the Mazda-sourced engine and the forced induction, this car's track credentials have been improved by adding wide tires at the rear, a custom Pro-Jay inlet manifold, E85 MicroTech electronic fuel injection, AMS 1000 turbo boost controller, a racing fuel tank and dry sump lubrication with a dedicated aluminum oil tank.
Scroll down and press play to admire the Holmes Performance tuned 1978 Holden Gemini in action.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News