Category: Holden

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SPECIAL EDITION CRAIG LOWNDES COMMODORE

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Racing legend Craig Lowndes will soon be honoured by the introduction of a Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Commodore

It only seems like a few years back that a brilliant new kid on the Australian racing car block arrived – and was promptly nicknamed The Kid. Yet it was 20 years ago that Craig Lowndes first grabbed our attention. His infectious smile, total modesty and willingness to chat to anyone, anywhere, anytime made him a household name – and not just with car racing enthusiasts. To celebrate Lowndes’ 20 years in top level V8 racing Holden has, somewhat cheekily, announced it is building a Craig Lowndes SS V Special… Read more

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HOLDEN ON TRAX FOR OPTIMISTIC FUTURE

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With Holden hurtling toward the closure of its Australian vehicle manufacturing, the company is looking to the future as purely a car importer. In line with this, Holden has perked up its Trax small sport utility vehicle range with the addition of turbo power. The Trax LTZ 1.4 iTi takes its spot art the top of the range with the addition of a 1.4-litre petrol engine mated with a six-speed automatic transmission, delivering 103 kW of power and 200 Nm of torque. Holden claims fuel consumption of just 6.9 litres… Read more

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HOLDEN ‘STATE OF ORIGIN’

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While the end of Holden manufacturing locally is still more than three years distant, the company is already gearing up as a full importer – while still pushing locally built products – in a strategy that is paying dividends. In May Holden was one of only two makers in the top 10 to increase sales over the same period in 2013 – the other being Hyundai. While the overall market was down 2.9 per cent, Holden was up 8.2 per cent with Commodore up 62 per cent, year to date…. Read more

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HOLDEN COMMODORE SS-V – 1960S MUSCLE WITH 2014 ATTITUDE

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The old football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars jingle is now more like Xbox, kim-chi, flat whites and imported cars. The world has changed and we’re moving into an automotive future devoid of Australian-made Holdens. As part of the Commodore’s last ditch at relevance, the VF scored some great new tech to finally bring the big Aussie sedan into line with some more expensive metal of the same size. Under the bonnet of the Commodore SS-V though, it’s still 1960. And thank goodness for that. STYLING Yep, it’s a… Read more

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HOLDEN SHARPENS DULL BARINA FOR RS WARM HATCH

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The words “Barina” and “sporty” have only lived in the same sentence when written by an ambitious copywriter trying to shift an asthmatic little hatchback with a shiny set of alloy wheels and an attractive price tag. Let’s be honest – the Barina is nothing more than a cheap runabout with a decent spec level to tempt you away from more accomplished offerings built by Volkswagen, Mazda, Ford, Suzuki and Toyota. Except, that is, when you hand the car over to a global team inside GM with a mandate to… Read more

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HQ HOLDEN

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The 1960s and early ‘70s were periods of frantic change in the car industry and, amazingly, the HQ Holden was the fourth all-new Holden body in just 10 years. The pace finally slowed and HQ-based variants lasted into the mid-1980s. The first major change was the increase in size of both six-cylinder engines.   The 161 cubic inch motor grew to 173 cubic inches and the 186 grew to 202. Both of the Australian 253 and 308 cubic inch V8s continued unaltered as did the Chevrolet 350 V8. In the suspension… Read more

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HOLDEN CRUZE 2002 – 2006

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The Holden Cruze SUV was launched in Australia midway through 2002 and was imported until 2006. It didn’t enjoy the success anticipated for it, partly because most buyers in the 4WD class were looking for medium to large vehicles during that period. Though the name’s the same, these older models have no relationship with the Australian made Cruze sedans and hatches sold since 2009. Why use the same name for two completely different vehicles? We’ve no idea … put it down to the mysteries of marketing. Though the Holden Cruzes… Read more

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HOLDEN HSV COMMODORE VL

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HSV Commodore VL SS Group A

From 1980 to 1987 racing car legend Peter Brock had considerable input into the design of Holden special vehicles for sale by the Holden Dealer Team. Towards the end of 1986 Brock commenced fitting these cars with a device he called an `Energy Polarizer’. Holden engineers and Brock could not agree on the technical merit of such a component which was claimed to provide improved performance. In the end this resulted in a rather unpleasant spat that ultimately led to a split in February 1987. Because of the value seen… Read more

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2013 HOLDEN CAPRICE V REVIEW

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Big and bold on the outside, with plenty of bling in the cabin - there’s no mistaking the new Holden Caprice V Series

Holden Caprice V offers astonishing value for money. At $59,990 the big long-wheelbase Australian limousine costs about a quarter of the price of similar models from the big name German brands. We will freely admit the quality of finish of the Audi, BMW and Mercedes models is higher than that of the home grown Holden, but the local car gives you, in round numbers, about 85 per cent of the car for 25 per cent of the outlay. To be fair, on-road costs have to be factored in, and the… Read more

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HOLDEN MONARO 2001 – 2006

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2004 Holden Monaro VZ

A two-door Commodore Coupe in concept form was shown at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show and was the undoubted star of the show. Three long years later the third-generation Holden Monaro hit the road in December 2001. The new Holden Monaro shared most of its platform with the Commodore sedan, but the body was 100 mm shorter than the sedan’s. Monaro can seat two passengers in reasonable comfort in the back seat, headroom may be problem, legroom is fine for most people. The interior is more distinctive in its finish… Read more