Storm riders - Ford Falcon G6 vs Holden Commodore Berlina vs Toyota Aurion Prodigy
Peter McKay & Sean Poppitt
10 July 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au
The climate has already changed for Australian-made sedans, but do these big sixes still offer the right attributes for inhabitants of the lucky country?
Mind-numbing boredom accompanies us along the gun-barrel-straight road to Walgett. Bourke-based radio 2WEB keeps us company. Offerings of Dolly, Lee and Slim are served routinely, but the playlist also delves into rock, pop and, for the taste impaired, rap.
With dusk approaching, wind velocity picks up, bowling tumbleweeds hard and fast at our three-car convoy. The big skies overhead take on hues of navy, purple then charcoal. Surely not rain? A few drops of water dance across the bug-smeared windscreen, then accumulate long enough to require the wipers on intermittent. For the drought-ravaged north-west, it looks promising.
As the sun slips lower in the western sky, fiery reds and oranges light the leaden horizon. Photographer Thomas Wielecki is beside himself, whooping and dancing like a loon as he drags out his gear to capture nature’s artistry.
Within minutes the precipitation has blown away. We later learn this is an all-too frequent tease. “It comes over all promising, there are a few drops, and then it moves on,” a local tells us. So when was the last decent rain? “That’d be maybe eight or 10 years ago...”
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