While automakers once famously, or perhaps infamously, destroyed concept cars after they outlived their usefulness for auto show displays, some manufacturers, recognizing the appeal of old iron, have begun revisiting past glories.

The Ford Motor Company restored Edsel Ford’s 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster in time for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance in August, and General Motors recently honored its 1938 Buick Y-Job concept with a full makeover. Add to these a group of volunteer workers at G.M. Holden, the Australian subsidiary of G.M., who recently completed restoration work on the 1969 Holden Hurricane, a concept car that was, by any measure, well ahead of its time.

The Hurricane is a special concept car in that it is much more than a styling exercise, incorporating a considerable number of innovative features that, with the benefit of hindsight, appear rather prescient.

The car is equipped with automatic air-conditioning and a guidance system that provides directions by detecting magnets embedded in the road. A camera mounted in the rear bumper transmits rear-view video to a monitor in the center console. Safety features include a foam-lined fuel tank, an integral roll bar and a fire warning system.

The midengine rear-drive sports car has a fiberglass body with a canopy that lifts to admit a driver and passenger. Standing less than 40 inches high, the Hurricane is driven from a semi-reclining position. A sleek and powerful-looking automobile, the Holden features a sloping nose, pronouncedly arched front wheel wells and a truncated rear deck that suggest modern Corvette styling.

The car is powered by a 253-cubic-inch Holden V-8, a precursor of the automaker’s production V-8, which followed soon after the car’s initial showing at the 1969 Melbourne auto show. G.M., in a news release on Wednesday, described the engine’s 262-horsepower output as “towering” and its four-barrel carburetor as an “advanced design component.” They are odd descriptors, given that many earlier G.M. engines produced more power per cubic inch and more overall power; the automaker’s 327-cubic-inch V-8 of 1964, for example, generated 375 horsepower, and G.M. used four-barrel carburetors as early as 1952.

Kate Lonsdale, a Holden spokeswoman, elaborated in an e-mail that the descriptors were appropriate in light of what was, and wasn’t, available on the Australian market of 1969. For that time, the engine’s output was considerable, and a four-barrel carburetor had never appeared on a Holden until that point, she said.

Inarguable, though, was the achievement that the Hurricane represented. The plaudits are duly shared now by Rick Martin, Holden’s former chief studio engineer, and his volunteer team, who spent five years restoring the car.

Ms. Lonsdale said that the concept remained in Holden’s possession after its auto-show appearances, and was then loaned out to dealers. A partial restoration was carried out in the mid-’80s, and in later years, Holden apprentices attempted some restoration work. The car was on loan to the Echuca National Holden Motor Museum from 1992 to 2005 and was also exhibited at the Powerhouse science and design museum in Sydney during that period. The current restoration was undertaken in 2006.

The Hurricane will appear during the Motorclassica concours and car show at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building from Oct. 21 to 23.