Walkinshaw may be best known for its hot Holdens under the HSV banner, but following the closure of the Lion brand it’s had to diversify, and it’s found success in big vehicles.
On top of its Walkinshaw Andretti United team in the Supercars Championship, the Walkinshaw Automotive Group owns New Age caravans and converts vehicles for multiple brands from left- to right-hand drive, all in Melbourne.
Soon the latter task will be done at a new location, after Walkinshaw’s new ‘super site’ in Dandenong South was officially completed.
According to Ryan Walkinshaw, head of the business his father Tom founded, the new site is one of the five largest manufacturing facilities in Australia, spanning 100,000 square metres to house up to 1500 employees.
Walkinshaw claims it’s also the most advanced engineering centre in the country, while more than six production lines will be capable of manufacturing in excess of 20,000 vehicles per year.
At present, Walkinshaw handles the left- to right-hand drive engineering and conversion process for Toyota’s Tundra pickup, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500HD pickups, plus the GMC Yukon SUV.
Walkinshaw also owns the Clayton facility where Ram converts its 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups, under the roof of what formerly was the HSV production lines. It’s not yet clear whether this too will move to the new facility.
The firm also recently dipped its toes back into modifying vehicles to be sold in showrooms, producing an off-road focused version of the Isuzu D-Max called the Blade, while it also made a limited-run Ford Ranger with the same ethos.
In April, Walkinshaw teased that it will once again collaborate with Volkswagen to sell a hotter version of the Amarok ute (now based on the Ranger) in local showrooms.
Walkinshaw previously offered on- and off-road focused versions of the first-generation Amarok between 2020 and 2022, and announced the new model will “go even further than we went before”.
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