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10-06-2007, 01:02 PM
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#1 (permalink) | |
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5.3 Liter Vortec V8
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Melbourne (no, not that one!)
Drives: Monaro Barbados 6M
Posts: 1,346
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A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
By Australian GMI Member BBDOS CV8 7 October 2007  1997 VT Holden Calais To many people, the most important Holdens were landmark designs – like the iconic FX/FJ, as a sophisticated consumer-manufactured product, the first Holden represented growing nationhood and self-confidence out of the ashes of World War II for a country that up until then was a mine and a farm. If you’re a baby boomer in Australia, it’s said to be a fair bet you may have been conceived in the back seat of one! But in reality this endearing little car, important though it was, was a failed Chevrolet prototype, redesigned for Australia but developed by GM US – even the prototypes were assembled in America. Or the 1964 EH – a car of extraordinary toughness easily capable of 200-300,000 miles in Australias’ harsh conditions, with no special care except maybe a Repco cylinder head at 100k or a GEM short motor @ 250K. If the rust can be kept at bay, they can be immortal. Just throw brakes, gearboxes and diffs at them with the odd shocker or kingpin. Again, while a great vehicle for they day, which solidified Holden at the peak of Australian auto manufacturing, it represented cutdown corporate styling between Vauxhall and Chevrolet and was fairly pedestrian in specification. Very nice cars to own and operate - but no new ground broken. Then there’s the 1972 HQ, another car of legendary strength and durability, which coupled interesting design features for an ordinary vehicle. A big, solid comfortable car, and giving birth to the luxurious Statesman and Caprice which wrested longwheelbase dominance from Ford for the first time. Again, it represented nothing really special, just modern contemporary engineering. For my money, the most important Holden to date – the VE has made a good start but hasn’t quite won its’ spurs yet – is the no-so-humble VT-VZ, a variant of the Omega, V-car or GM2800 platform. Why? Not for the initial design, which was openly derived from Opel. But for what was in it, on it, and what it became, which was so much more. The Opel designer who penned it maybe intended it would be a smart mid-large executive sedan or family wagon/estate with a four or six cylinder motor. It had a wheelbase of about 108”, a maximum power of about 210hp and a maximum speed of about 150mph with a maximum gross vehicle mass of 4500lb. After Holden was finished it was a coupe, utility, crewcab, left- and right-hand drive, all-wheel-drive, luxury limousine - in three simultaneously-made wheelbases of 108”, 115” and 125”. It used two different V6 motors (cast iron OHV 3800, all-alloy DOHC 24-v 3.6) and two V8s, two fuels, petrol and liquid petroleum gas. In some forms, a gross vehicle mass of 5900lb with a payload of 2200lbs, and a towing capability of 5000lbs. It had motors of up to 400hp, and the fastest production variant was independently tested to a maximum speed over 180 mph. And it all came out of a smallish factory sited in dry paddocks about 20 miles West of Adelaide, Australia, with a maximum output of about 220,000 vehicles per annum. How did this come to be?  1999 WH Holden Statesman Commodore – a Chequered History Born out of the oil crisis of the 70’s and the need to modernize manufacture, Holden was directed by the GM mothership to build a downsized passenger car out of two Opel models spliced together, which became the first Commodore – smaller than the HZ Holden it replaced. But by the time it was released, the oil crisis was over, and by dumb luck the competing Falcon was not only bigger and more rugged with gruntier motors, but a better car which seized control of the Aussie car market for nearly ten years. Holden was in dire straights, nearly being bankrupt around 1983 and bailed out by GM – who cut Holden loose and warned it was the last time. The last small-bodied cars used the Nissan 3.0 litre six as the Holden OHV inline six could not be realistically updated. Holden was then directed to build the Opel Omega – but they had learnt their lesson and were not going to build any old Opel. Instead, they gutted the car, and although they didn’t have budget to widen the track, the body was stretched every which way. Combined with a tough new Buick-derived 3800 V6 mounted north-south and driving the back wheel, the VN Commodore coincided with the EA Falcon; where Ford snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a car that had some questionable teething issues that blunted it in the market. The 1988 VN was a bit rough and ready with the gravelly V6 and plagued with small problems – but it was tough, performed well and was very economical. The pendulum swung back and within four-five years the succeeding models had clawed back market share to be decisively leading the Falcon and returning Holden to profitability. There is no question that the VS Commodore was a much better car than its’ Falcon competitor.  2001 VU Holden Commodore Ute VT – ‘Just another Omega’ (?) When Holden went to upgrade the VS, it had a conundrum: the VS had a lot of content and was leading the market – but it was also at its’ limit in many ways. And Holden knew Ford was working hard to come up with a better package to regain supremacy. So they really went the whole hog: to the casual observer, the VT Commodore just looked similar to the previous cars. Really, it was all-new and aeons away from the Opel ancestor. Holden redeveloped the old 3800 into the ‘Ecotec II’, with enhancements that lasted until the motor was replaced in 2006 by the HFV6. The Holden 308 was revised into a smoother and more powerful motor – the ultimate development was the 180Kw 5000i which was a 304c.i. homologation special for Australian touring car racing. Longer, wider and lower than any Commodore made previously, the VT had a completely new structure with a longer wheelbase and new suspension, brakes, interiors, safety features. It introduced semi-trailing-arm IRS as standard on all passenger vehicles including the wagon. This was a revelation in not only ride and roadholding, but also steering and handling. It jumped Holden several rungs up the competence ladder, and roadtesters started praising rather than bagging Holden for feel at the wheel. It certainly made most other large cars feel clumsy and unrefined including Mercs with their recirculating-ball steering – even base Holdens actually felt enjoyable rather than a chore to drive. The Holden V6 and V8 were both grunters rather than screamers and made for surprisingly good economy – manual 3800 VTs were known to have a potential range of over 500 miles, 35-36 mpg (imperial) being achievable on a legal-speed cruise. Holden also took the opportunity to refresh the factory with new equipment, and the car with new features and materials. It won numerous awards for design, construction and application of new materials. Holden has worked for decades with the Monash University Accident Research Unit who have been assessing thousands of damaged Commodores. Their findings were incorporated comprehensively into the VT shell. Part of their research included the formulation of depowered airbags which help avoid needless injury to passengers by reducing severity of deployment. Within a year of release, the Gen III 5.7 litre LS1 motor became available, with the T56 six-speed manual. The cops were happy, as people stopped trying to outrun Police SS Commodores; which gained 20-30mph in top speed and a lot of acceleration as the motor jumped 60hp in one hit. Coupled with the IRS suspension and longer wheelbase with wider track, a VT SS Commodore became a fairly competent guided, rather than unguided, missile. For a garden-variety grocery-getter/taxi, a VT is a pretty good thing in terms of ride and dynamics. No wonder they sold 303,000 of them in Australia. Alone, that makes it the most numerically-important Commodore model.  2002 VY Holden Commodore Wagon SS The Detroit Connection – What Goes Around, Comes Around At some stage, Head Office noticed its Antipodean affiliate was going gangbusters and making money when the company was bleeding red ink. It had somehow, like its’ unique wildlife, avoided the extinction of RWD fullsize passenger cars. GM was busy pumping out trucks and SUVs for America. It looked at what Holden was doing and decided a Commodore with IRS might make a good Buick – after all, the motor and trans would be familiar and the car was a handy size. And GM products like the Corvette already used the same PBR brakes. So when Holden was developing the VT, GM slotted them some extra funding to make a left-hand drive version. Then they realised Holden could not possibly supply them with the 200+K cars they’d need a year. Plus with import duty at the time would be too dear to be viable as a midrange Buick. Just when the Chev Caprice was wrapping up in the US around 1996, GM Arabia noticed someone else was making a LHD version. They started importing ‘Chev Luminas’ in June 1998 and it has grown as a business every year – the Holden VZ Caprice won the Arabian Car of the Year in 2006 as the Chevrolet Caprice, and it is anticipated some 40K cars will go there this year. Holdens are engineered for wide open spaces, heat including arid deserts and rough roads – bingo. And inadvertently, this proved to be a back-door for Holden into the US after all.  2005 VZ Holden Commodore SS-Z More Varieties than Heinz Baked Beans At one stage this one set of pressed VT floorpans was being manufactured in no less than 63 varieties of model and being exported to every continent on earth except Antarctica. It bore the brands Holden, HSV, Chevrolet, Daewoo, Buick, Pontiac, Vauxhall. Toyota had used the '88 VN- '96 VS Commodores as the Lexcen, but Holden wasn't giving them it's new toy. A set of chassis stamping dies apparently costs about $200M to create. Many factories can only make one wheelbase car, and making big changes to hardpoints is a no-no. Once those presses are made, you'll be making them a long time to pay for them. Someone at Holden worked out you could slice the chassis floorpan ahead of the rear wheels, and then weld in a fillet. The stamps for this only cost $60M. And it gives a lot of flexibility. Adding up to a foot in the wheelbase, you can make a longer-wheelbase Utility, station wagon or luxo-barge. All of a sudden, you could buy a long Statesman that ergonomically and dynamically shamed a Mercedes limo and gave a lot more real estate inside plus features like DVD players and tri-zone aircon. Or your wagon could double as a bivouac just by folding the backseat down. Your Ute could carry two dirtbikes or jetskis or most of the contents of your apartment when moving. And the Stateman/Caprice is not only big enough to party in, it’s actually comfortable and stable enough to sip martinis or champagne. It's the limo of choice for Ambassadors, government ministers and functionaries in Australasia. Holden had also done some work on an AWD model. Specially modified transmissions enabled an AWD version to be built. This came out as a SUV-type vehicle called the Adventra, which unfortunately was seen as too much an AWD wagon and failed in the marketplace. Maybe with the swing to smaller more compact Crossovers it might just have been ahead of its' time and return in the VE Sportswagon? There was also an AWD Crewcab which again got not much acceptance. Australia doesn’t get much snow so basically people don’t want AWD sedans much. The HSV Coupe4 was an all-paw Monaro-based device with alloy suspension members. It holds the unofficial lap record at Holden’s speedbowl despite being 60hp down on the latest E-series HSVs, and can go 0-60 in six seconds – on dirt!  HSV allwheeldrive Coupe4 Will there be an AWD future for Commodore? Not so far, but time will tell.  2003 VY Holden One Tonner (above) and 2005 VY Holden Crewman Cross8 (below)  Taking On The Germans in Their Own Back Yard. Australia has always had a fixation with doorslammer-based racing. Even today, the V8 Supercar category, Australia’s equivalent to NASCAR, uses white sedan shells sold out of Holden or Ford with fully functioning doors, lights and openings. They fit racing suspension, engines and drivelines. This creates a huge, tribal atmosphere of Red (Holden Lions) vs Blue (Ford) V8 Supercars. As I'm typing this the Bathurst 1000 is on network TV running live in the afternoon on a Sunday for 7 hours to a viewing audience of millions! Racing up and down a 6,000 foot mountain 161 times has been described as the automotive equivalent of bungy-jumping. They've been doing it for 45 years. The VT-VZ chassis won 1999-2005.  Lap 1, Hell Corner Bathurst 1000 - October 2005 Fast forward to 1997, and for the VT Series II, GM gave Holden the LS1 5.7 all alloy motor. To provide an upgrade path, the first ones used were the 220Kw or 305hp trim. Each successive model gained HP. HSV got to use a higher-spec premium fuel ECU code with free-breathing intake and exhaust. Also, for a number of years HSV had been providing a highly modified motor for models usually known as GTS. GM could not supply the LS6 in time, so HSV went to Callaway and chose the C3B, with modified heads, cam and other changes producing 400hp. Fitted into the HSV GTS with bigger brakes and wheels/tyres it was quite a weapon. In 2000, Motor magazine in Australia wanted to test the new E39 BMW M5 against the AMG E55 Mercedes. They took along a GTS to the Nurburging as a test mule and camera car. Anders Olafsson, Danish rally and Euro touring car ace along with Australian V8 Supercar Champion Mark Skaife were on hand to assist with high speed driving. Imagine their shock to discover the HSV ‘taxi’ had the measure of the two German cars! Quote:
2001-2004 HSV GTS Coupe - 300Kw, 185 mph Motor Magazine (Australia) annually runs ‘Performance Car of the Year’ where they test the fastest cars on the local market. The highest-speed locally-produced standard car they ever tested was a HSV GTS Coupe in 2004 which did almost 185mph in fifth at the fuel shutoff. It would not pull the 0.57:1 overdrive top gear any faster.  2000 HSV GTS (above) and 2005 HSV ClubSport (below)  To Kill a Falcon, Give it the (VT) Coupe de Grace! Ford was due to release the AU Falcon at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show. Holden has a long record of concept cars – often they’re used as spoilers. For this one, they had a doozy. But it had an unintended consequence. The AU Falcon self-imolated, with its’ Taurus styling rejected by the Australian market. Mike Simcoe, a designer working on VT (and now in charge of design for GM cars in North America) drew the fullsize outline of a two-door coupe based on VT on his livingroom wall – then mapped it onto graph paper. He got some fellow designers interested, and in their own time they worked on drawings and plans. Normally to get a car to clay model requires signoff. These guys did it themselves – then showed it to their head of department. He was flabbergasted, but enthusiastic and presented it to senior management. They took about 3 nanoseonds to approve the $million$ it cost to build even the concept. The coupe started out as a top-secret after-hours project hidden away in the upstairs design centre at Holden's headquarters in Port Melbourne. It was so secret, in fact, that even some of the engineers involved in the project were unaware what car they were building.  Holden 1998 VT Concept Coupe The car was then 'smuggled' into the Sydney Motor Show under cover of darkness so that it could be unveiled to the media next day to get maximum impact and maximum coverage. It worked – the Monaro was front page news for the rest of the week. Every news channel seemed to carry stories and conjecture – customers were insistently presenting cheques to dealers as deposits. Holden was embarrassed – they really had a lot on their plate, with a new Ute, longwheelbase cars and exports to the Middle East. They were the plane-jane, exec/taxi/family sedan company. Not in the business of building swish and expensive personal luxury coupes. Everyone persisted with calling the car ‘Monaro’. Holden was none too sure. The last Monaros in the 70's had been 4-door sedans of ordinary smog-motor spec with 180-measly hp. And some limited coupes with garish mauve paint and gold Firebird TA rims, but AM radios! They were concerned a negative reaction to the name would kill it stone dead. Even after the car was confirmed, Holden insisted it just be called the ‘Coupe’ – HSV going so far as to call their models ‘Coupe GTO’ and ‘Coupe GTS’ because the badges were already minted. Holden had only recently returned to profitability and the investment on a limited, fashion-sensitive product such as a coupe was really a big risk, and a diversion away from mainline product. But such was the public enthusiasm Holden relented and announced the car would be built in 1999. In 2001 the first cars were delivered. It sold to expectations (in fact stayed in production 5 years instead of 3 anticipated), and was exported to 5 continents, with a 'moving production target' of 1, then 10,000, then 45,000. Close to 60,000 were made. Not bad for a living-room wall sketch...... Two GM US engineers working at Holden emailed recently installed GM product supremo ‘Maximum’ Bob Lutz and suggested he should come check out what Holden had come up with. He visited, and there are pics of him ‘getting kinda squirelly’ with some Top-Gear-style driving of a new Monaro. He immediately ordered it be sent to the US. Holden execs probably went white when he told them, as at that stage the Monaro was quite expensive to make, with low-volume ceramic body dies which wore rapidly - about 5,000 panels and you need new ones; and a lot of hand-assembly. Whether it was a smart move to call it GTO is open to conjecture – but it has opened the door to Holden as a product partner. Holden showed it could deliver on time and at a pittance of a budget a more-than-competent car. 40,000 cars were sent to the US in the three model years of the GTO. While it’s styling and the import status of this car were controversial, as Oscar Wilde said – ‘the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about’. Importantly, the Monaro was the first Holden extensively developed and prototyped in cyberspace, on GM's virtual FEM (finite-element-modelling) workstations. The tooling was ordered, 6 pilots built and tested and then assembly begun. This computer wizardry showed Holden that moving the b-pillar a few inches virtually doubled side-impact crush strength on the VT shell, and the 2003 VY was altered accordingly.  2001 V2 Holden Monaro (above) and 2005 Pontiac GTO (below)  Postscript While the VT-VZ V-car chassis is now gone with the advent of the VE Commodore on the new Global RWD chassis AKA Zeta, it can be argued Holden really came of age during its’ lifetime, as a maker able to achieve a lot from a little. It may have started as Opel Omega, but it certainly outlived its’ namesake. Holden moved from a quirky, backwater designer to a company capable of getting attention and solid respect if not adulation for its’ work. No wonder GM is allocating Holden a lot of RWD development work. Even the former head of Toyota Australia called the VZ Commodore the ‘best motoring value in the world’, based on what you got compared to what you paid. No wonder then, that in its' home market the VT-VZ Commodore is one of the few cars to fight off the all-conquering Camry and its’ derivatives to hold on to the best-seller status for ten years. GMInsideNews Holden News Page A Brief History Of The Holden Commodore 1978-1997 (by MonaroSS May 2005) GMI Concept of the Month: Holden Torana TT36 (by BBDOS CV8 May 2007) Thanks go to The Unofficial Holden Commodore Archive for many details gleaned.
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Barbados Series III CV8 'VT Coupe' 245kW LS1 - T56 six-speed manual Last edited by BBDOS CV8 : 10-07-2007 at 10:44 PM. |
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10-07-2007, 12:02 AM
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#2 (permalink) |
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1.8 Liter ECOTEC
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 36
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Brilliantly written and a great read. Thanks!
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www.cgiautomotive.com |
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10-07-2007, 02:04 AM
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#4 (permalink) |
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3.6 Liter V6
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Colorado, USA
Drives: 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero
Posts: 1,190
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Thanks BBDOS CV8, a great read, some info in there I never knew about, thanks for the work in writing this up.
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Talk is cheap, sometimes it is on sale! |
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10-07-2007, 02:14 AM
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#5 (permalink) |
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6.0 Liter Vortec V8
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Douglas County, NV & UC Davis, CA
Drives: 98 Chevy C1500 4.3 V6
Posts: 1,827
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
This should be a sticky in the Holden section. It's a great education for us ignorant yanks.
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10-07-2007, 03:14 AM
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#7 (permalink) | |
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3.6 Liter V6
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mess with Texas.
Posts: 1,026
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Did the Australians fight under the British in WWII?
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10-07-2007, 03:40 AM
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#8 (permalink) | |
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5.3 Liter Vortec V8
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Rosemeadow, NSW Australia
Drives: 1984 Holden VH Commodore Vacationer 253 V8
2006 A
Posts: 1,433
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Quote:
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RedVee8 Current Holdens. VH Commodore Vacationer 253 V8; AH Astra CDX 1.8; CG Captiva LX 3.2V6 (work). Previous Holdens. 1969 HT Kingswood 186; 1975 HJ Premier 202; 1977 TC Gemini; 1985 JD Camira SL/E 1.8i Keep Holden On. |
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10-07-2007, 05:11 AM
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#9 (permalink) | |
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3.6 Liter V6
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mess with Texas.
Posts: 1,026
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Start the revolution.
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10-07-2007, 06:10 AM
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#11 (permalink) |
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GMI's Holden Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Wollongong, Australia
Drives: 2003 Holden Monaro CV8
Posts: 4,718
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
A good read. Any person interested in the Commodore's recent history will find it very informative.
 Another informative article was written by MonaroSS a few years back - Opel To Holden: A Brief History Of The Commodore 1978-1997
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10-07-2007, 06:37 AM
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#12 (permalink) | |
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5.3 Liter Vortec V8
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Melbourne (no, not that one!)
Drives: Monaro Barbados 6M
Posts: 1,346
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Quote:
Australian divisions took the African fortresses of Bardia and Tobruk against large Italian forces taking 65,000 prisoners in 1941. They held out at Tobruk against the Afrika Korps for six months - their British replacements didn't last six weeks. RAAF squadrons dropped six percent of bombs dropped by Bomber Command during the air war in Europe. Many Aussies volunteered and served in RAF squadrons. While our remembrance day commemorates the failed 1915 Gallipoli campaign where Australians under British command were landed in the wrong place, under heavily-defended cliffs and ultimately were withdrawn, many people consider Australia came of age at the Kokoda Track where two desparate reserve divisions held the Japanese at bay. Ultimately the Japanese were driven back into the sea.
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Barbados Series III CV8 'VT Coupe' 245kW LS1 - T56 six-speed manual Last edited by BBDOS CV8 : 10-07-2007 at 06:39 AM. |
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10-07-2007, 06:49 AM
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#13 (permalink) | |
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3.9 Liter V6
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Brisbane Australia
Drives: 2005 VZ 190kW 5 speed auto Calais.
Posts: 998
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Quote:
 
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“For the looks, I think the Charger tries too hard to look cool. It's the fat guy with a bald patch wearing fiery tattoos and a muscle shirt. The G8 is the mixed martial arts champion that strolls around in dockers and a golf shirt because he knows how to fight and doesn't feel the need to impress anyone with a tough guy outfit." Michael_S |
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10-07-2007, 06:55 AM
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#14 (permalink) |
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2.4 Liter ECOTEC
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Van Diemen's Land
Drives: BA XT Wagon
Posts: 98
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Thanks for the trip down memory lane mate. I don't think I'll ever forget picking up a copy of the Telegraph in Sydney with a huge " MONARO" headline and a pic of that concept car on the front page. Brings a smile to my face even today. Holden - the best car company in the world - oooh yeah.
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10-07-2007, 08:42 AM
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#15 (permalink) |
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3.8 Liter V6
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Queensland Australia
Drives: '07 Suzuki SX4 Hatch
Posts: 349
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Re: A Success Story: A Salute To The VT-VZ Holden Commodore (1997-2006)
Call me crazy but my dream after the Monaro was released was to buy one and convert it back to this...
 I love the original tail lights; the blue/black paint and the chrome headlights. Just the whole damn thing really. Last edited by from oz : 10-07-2007 at 08:47 AM. |
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