Holden EFIJY Concept 'Rod

Holden is an Australia-based subsidiary of General Motors that designs and engineers part of its product line, the balance being sourced from elsewhere in GM.

It seems that, fifty years later, a soft spot remained in Holden's heart for its early 1950s FJ model, because it served as inspiration for a retro hot rod styling exercise called the EFIJY (background information here and here).

Gallery

Holden FJ (1953-56)
The original FJ had a rather simple design that looked like a slightly scaled-down version of GM's "torpedo" bodies seen on circa-1941 Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles and such.  Features included the line of the hood shoulder transitioning into a bulge just below the side windows that, in turn, transitioned to the "bustle back" trunk.  Fenders are separate, unlike the postwar flow-through style seen on 1950-vintage GM American makes.  The single flashy element was a grille featuring bold, heavy chrome sculpting in the spirit of contemporary American practice.

Holden EFIJY concept car - 2005
The EFIJY follows FJ styling themes in that it has (1) separate fenders, (2) a divided windshield, (3) a high, tapered hood with blending to the trunk area and (4) a close copy of the FJ grille design.

I think the design is a snazzy version of Retro, with one exception.  That exception is the rear, which I dislike. Well, maybe it isn't quite as odd as it looks in the photo which was probably taken with a wide-angle lens. What's wrong?  For one thing, the boat-tail plan-view taper of the trunk extends too far to the rear.  It ought to terminate at the rear fenders end-points or only very slightly behind them.  That defect corrected, then the back window should be a little bigger with larger radius curves at the outer edges.  The license plate box is poorly placed because a license cannot be read at that angle; be practical and tuck it under the boat tail lip on one side.  Then get rid of the chrome trunk-handle-cum-brakelight and put a discrete handle at the rear of the trunk opening.