It wasn't the temperature - it was the rumour mill grinding out reports that Chevrolet will take the Holden Commodore into the US and rebadge it as Chevelle.
It may represent a revival of a stars and stripes Commodore after the car last year ended a 20-month stint as the Pontiac G8.
The G8 - which sold 38,159 in its three-model guise - was pulled from showrooms in July 2009 as General Motors imploded and Pontiac dissolved. Now that GM is almost back on its financial feet, it has called on Holden to supply stripped versions of its long wheelbase Caprice to become police cars.
The Chevrolet Caprice police cruisers - under consideration by the police - will revive Holden's export program to the US. It has led to speculation that Commodores for public duty will follow.
Word of an export deal for V8 Commodores was triggered by upbeat GM chiefs at the recent Los Angeles motor show. In Australia, Holden spokesman Jonathon Rose says: "We have made no secrets of the fact that we're pursuing new export opportunities for our local product."
"At this point in time our focus is on exporting the Caprice to North America as a law enforcement vehicle and that program has a lot of potential. Beyond that we don't have anything to add right now."
The man pushing the police deal and who is fostering the restart of Commodore shipments to the US is former Holden boss Mark Reuss, now the president of GM North America.
Reuss was Holden's chief in 2008 and 2009 when the G8 program was running. He is completely aware of the program's potential and recognises that all the hard work has been done on Commodore to meet US vehicle design regulations.
If successful, it could lead to export programs for the ute and wagon - both of which were poised in 2009 to make the ocean voyage as left-drive Pontiacs but made stillborn by GM's bankruptcy.