Overshadowing pretty much all of the other big "reveals" at the Melbourne International Motor Show was GM Holden's two door performance concept, the Coupe 60. Yes, it's smells like the next "Monaro", however at this stage it doesn't look like the Coupe 60 will see production.

The throbbing 6.0 litre V8 engine was one of the highlights of the show, and drew plenty of attention to the Holden stand. In true concept fashion the Holden Coupe 60 stands out on 21-inch centre-lock alloy wheels. The engine is also calibrated for E85 ethanol fuel.

The Coupe 60 features a whole host of features associated with race bred vehicles. These include full flat under body, rear underbody air diffuser, one piece carbon fiber bucket seats (featuring leather and suede pad design) and a sports-inspired flat bottomed steering wheel with integrated shift light display and LCD sports instrument cluster.

Highlighting the "one-off" nature of the concept, the Coupe 60 features an eye catching liquid aluminium finish.Unfortunately, for the moment at least, the Coupe 60 appears to be a concept only.

GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mark Reuss said, “Coupe 60 is Holden's 60th anniversary gift to its fans worldwide.

“It highlights Holden’s heritage of rear wheel drive performance whilst looking ahead to the potential offered by new technologies and materials.

“This is a vehicle I know our designers would dearly love to see go into production, but for the moment it has to remain a concept only,” he said.

From what I have seen, that's sad news for Holden fans.

Whilst a four star result is not bad, particularly in comparison to the Holden Barina result, there's no doubt it could be far better. In light of Holden's big safety push, particularly with the VE, anything less than five stars should be viewed as a failure.

In terms of safety, Holden are well and truly finding themselves left behind in the Australian new car market. Holden have only had one product to score a 5 star result, the Holden Astra CDXi (2004), which was a European model.

Lauchlan McIntosh, the Chair of ANCAP, said was not exactly heaping praise on the Epica's 4 star result.

"While a 4-star result is a reasonable outcome, several similar size cars are achieving 5-star ratings. ANCAP has been testing vehicles since 1992 manufacturers have been aware of the test program since then. We believe that high safety ratings should be seen as vital by manufacturers and consumers alike."

Mr McIntosh was also keen to point out that whilst the Holden Epica had side head-protecting airbags on all models, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) was not available on any variant.

"ESC has been shown to be highly effective in Australia in a recent analysis by Monash University Accident Research Centre. The analysis demonstrated that single-vehicle crashes causing driver injury were reduced by up to 66% in vehicles fitted with ESC. From 1 January next year, ANCAP will require ESC to be fitted to vehicles as a prerequisite to scoring 5 stars - this shows the importance ANCAP attaches to this valuable safety technology."

I'm not sure what excuse Holden gave for stripping ESC from the Epica, but when you consider that relatively low priced competitors such as the Mitsubishi Lancer offer the full fleet of safety features without hiking up their prices, you can only scratch your head at Holden's wisdom.

Holden might mean a great deal to Australia, but I wonder how much Australian lives mean to Holden?