The original Holden Astra, introduced in August 1984 as the LB series was a badge engineered Nissan Pulsar (N12). The Pulsar, a Japanese designed model, sold alongside the unique to Australia Astra line-up. The Pulsar for Australia was essembled in Clayton, Victoria; however, for the Astra the body panels were pressed at Holden's Elizabeth, South Australia facility. In a way, this was similar to the Pulsar-derived Alfa Romeo Arna sold in Europe at the same time. Unlike its Nissan counterpart, the Astra was only offered as a five-door hatchback, with the three-door hatchback and four-door sedan body styles omitted from the range due to fears they would overlap with Nissan's own Pulsar range. However, Holden's continuation of the Gemini sedan range supplemented this.
bit of history of the Aussie Astra's