You’ve got to love the sheer attitude of the HSV Gen-F Maloo.  This is not a car for the faint-hearted – no HSV is for wimps.  This ute is big, bold and brash.  It’s fun.  It’s cheeky.  It’s the sort of thing that could probably convert my Ford-loving ex-neighbour into a Holden fan.

The HSV Gen-F Maloo has what you’d have to call a work hard and party hard appearance.  From behind, it looks very much the modern Australian ute, with just a hint of pizzazz in the form of the four chrome-trimmed tail pipes.  From the front, there’s no mistaking this for anything but a muscle car.  It’s got the aggro to appeal to your inner bad boy (or bad girl, although there’s something about the HSV Gen-F Maloo that makes it more of a guy car – and that’s coming from a female writer).  The HSV Gen-F Maloo is into big: big 20-inch wheels, a big 6.2-litre engine and big front air intakes.  About the only thing that isn’t big is the cabin.  Not that the HSV Gen-F Maloo is going to cramp a driver; this single-cab just isn’t built to take passengers.

What’s more, the V8 engine under that very macho bonnet lives up to the looks: 6.2 litres, 325 kW of power and a thundering 550 Nm of torque.  Are you smiling yet?  Increasing your chances of grinning in anticipation, the HSV Gen-F Maloo is fitted with a pretty nifty driver preference dial that allows you to fine-tune all of the different electronic systems: the electronic stability control, the traction control, the launch control (manual transmission only), the power steering, the bi-modal exhaust and the magnetic ride control. This means that you can set things to suit your driving style, ranging from mild to wild.  Some of these systems are worth looking at in more detail.  Take the ESC package.  This is known as the Competition Mode ESC and is designed to be a sort of safety net that allows you to get better lap times as you can go hard out into the corners.  Fun, fun, fun!  The launch control helps to prime things for maximum acceleration that shoves you right back into the cloth-trimmed driver’s sports seat.  Needless to say, the brakes inside the HSV Gen-F Maloo are also very impressive: 4-piston affairs that were originally developed for NASCAR and V8 Supercar racing.

Although only the manual version of the HSV Gen-F Maloo has the launch control, those who prefer automatics get something else that will make their driving lives a little easier:  they get the passive keyless entry and remote start. This means that the door will unlock all by itself as you approach it with the key and the engine will start when you press the button – even when you’re outside the car.  Don’t worry – the HSV Gen-F Maloo isn’t quite smart enough to drive itself away, although it does have automatic parking assistance, a head-up display, forward collision alert, rain-sensing wipers, lane departure warning, hill start assist, hill hold control and blind zone alert.

Inside the HSV Gen-F Maloo, you will, of course, see a nice big 8-inch touch-screen display.  This doesn’t just tell you bits and pieces about what’s on the six-speaker sound system or the dual-zone climate control.  It also tells you plenty about what the car itself is doing: it can tell you about longitudinal and latitudinal G-force, the different bits of the stability system (traction control, ABS and so on), information to help you pick the perfect RPM, dynamics and a GPS-based logging system used for monitoring your lap circuit times.  You’ve also got Bluetooth prep and USB input.

The HSV Gen-F Maloo isn’t the car for everybody.  But if you like it big, powerful and fast, then you may well be in the category of those who it is for.

Current model series include:

• HSV Gen-F Maloo

For any more information on the HSV Gen-F Maloo, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of HSV dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!