▁ 1 9 8 2 ▁as ▁Australia ' s ▁version ▁of ▁G M ' s ▁medium - s ized ▁" J - car ". ▁▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁▁ ▁The ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁were ▁challeng ing ▁for ▁Hold en ▁and ▁the ▁Australian ▁autom ot ive ▁industry . ▁The ▁Australian ▁Government ▁tried ▁to ▁rev ive ▁the ▁industry ▁with ▁the ▁Button ▁car ▁plan , ▁which ▁encourag ed ▁car ▁mak ers ▁to ▁focus ▁on ▁producing ▁fewer ▁models ▁at ▁higher , ▁more ▁econom ical ▁volumes , ▁and ▁to ▁export ▁cars . ▁The ▁de cade ▁opened ▁with ▁the ▁shut - down ▁of ▁the ▁Page wood , ▁New ▁South ▁Wales ▁production ▁plant ▁and ▁introduction ▁of ▁the ▁light ▁commercial ▁R ode o , ▁s our ced ▁from ▁Is uz u ▁in ▁Japan . ▁The ▁R ode o ▁was ▁available ▁in ▁both ▁two - ▁and ▁four - w heel ▁drive ▁ch ass is ▁cab ▁models ▁with ▁a ▁choice ▁of ▁pet rol ▁and ▁dies el ▁power pl ants . ▁The ▁range ▁was ▁updated ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 8 ▁with ▁the ▁T F ▁series , ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁Is uz u ▁T F . ▁Other ▁cars ▁s our ced ▁from ▁Is uz u ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁were ▁the ▁four - w heel ▁drive ▁Jack ar oo ▁( 1 9 8 1 ), ▁the ▁Sh utt le ▁( 1 9 8 2 ) ▁van ▁and ▁the ▁Pia zza ▁( 1 9 8 6 ) ▁three - door ▁sports ▁h atch back . ▁The