AUSSIES love a big V8 ute: even today, half of Holden’s Commodore-based load lugger sales pack eight cylinders under the bonnet instead of the default six.

But what if you wanted a bit more of a statement out of your ute?

You know, the business is doing well, you’ve recently made the ranks of middle management, and you want to show the blokes on the worksite you haven’t quite lost your tradie roots?

This is where HSV steps in with the strangest vehicle name on the Australian market: the Maloo.

Maloo, we’re told, is an Aboriginal word for thunder, and we can tell you now it’s a pretty appropriate definition of what this car is.

The HSV Maloo gains the same clever interior enhancements as the VF Commodore on which it is based, and the Gen-F range of go-fast cars that it emulates.

The ute is also the cheapest way into the HSV range, with the base model Maloo starting from $58,990 before adding on-road costs – the same price as it was before.

You’d want it to be better, because Holden stripped up to $5500 off the price of its ute range, including $2500 off the entry-level model.

Let’s see how it carries the load of expectation for a whole new generation of buyers, then.

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