Start with what the Holden Apollo is: a 4-door sedan / 5-door estate, built from 1989 to 1997, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Holden Apollo is a compact and later mid-size car that was distributed from 1989 to 1997 in Australia by Holden. As a successor to the GM-engineered Holden Camira, the Apollo was a badge engineered version of the Toyota Camry, also sold in Australia. In paralleling two generations of the Camry—the V20 coded as the JK and facelifted JL series Apollo—and the XV10 recoded as the JM and updated JP—there were minor cosmetic differences in the grille, lights and trim.
This model sharing occurred due to the United Australian Automobile Industries (UAAI) joint venture between Toyota Australia and Holden starting in 1987 that resulted in model sharing between both automakers from August 1989. UAAI was in turn a result of the Button car plan, which aimed to make the Australian motor business more efficient and eliminate import tariffs. Production ceased in late 1996, although enough cars remained until the replacement Holden Vectra arrived in mid-1997. It was produced at Toyota's Port Melbourne plant until 1994 and then at Altona.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door sedan / 5-door estate — and the layout: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
In the Holden line-up the Holden Apollo has a clear place: it replaced the Holden Camira; it handed the line to the Holden Vectra; the factory was Port Melbourne, Victoria. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Subaru Legacy, the Lexus LS, the Mazda MX-5. Nearby in the Holden catalogue sit the Holden 48-215 and the Holden Adventra.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Holden Apollo has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.