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Commodore finally put to rest


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#1 hanra

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 03:02 PM

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooone........

 

Finally. 

 

Probably a good time to grab an ex-rental and stash it away for 30yrs. Wont be many left as they didnt sell any.. Or would it be like holding onto a JE Camira back in 1989?

 

https://www.news.com...707b0f542aeb1e5

 



#2 Ice

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 03:15 PM

Oh well it was coming

#3 Dr Terry

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 03:19 PM

. Wont be many left as they didnt sell any.. 

 

https://www.news.com...707b0f542aeb1e5

They sold over 10,000 units in 2 years, it wasn't a total failure.

 

It wasn't a bad car by all reports, it just wasn't a proper RWD car, like Aussies have become used to.

 

Dr Terry



#4 yel327

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 03:35 PM

We all knew it was coming when it was released. And if they keep selling the same other cr@p into the same segments that other brands sell into the whole Holden name will be gone too. They need to sell what others don’t. A V8 dual cab for one. The Corvette and Camaro in factory RHD. K1500 in factory RHD. Those will sell, look at the Mustang’s success as an example.

#5 hanra

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 04:04 PM

They sold over 10,000 units in 2 years, it wasn't a total failure.

 

It wasn't a bad car by all reports, it just wasn't a proper RWD car, like Aussies have become used to.

 

Dr Terry

 

Nothing like the VT in 98 with 95,000 units... 

 

Id say 9,500 of those 10,000 units sold went to Rental car companies or commercial customers. 



#6 Shiney005

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 04:58 PM

. Or would it be like holding onto a JE Camira back in 1989?

I had the JB..........for a very short period of time. My brother "borrowed" it one night and it came back looking like this.

 

Attached File  012.2.jpg   313.04K   7 downloads



#7 RallyRed

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 05:18 PM

Wow...roll the clock back 10 years and the good will value of the Holden brand would have been worth more than a lot of millions....today?...."will swap for good 2nd hand washing machine..must  have working spin dry".

 

A National tragedy, embarrassment etc etc



#8 Ice

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 05:34 PM

Wow...roll the clock back 10 years and the good will value of the Holden brand would have been worth more than a lot of millions....today?...."will swap for good 2nd hand washing machine..must  have working spin dry".
 
A National tragedy, embarrassment etc etc

Agree
Glad you bought the VF now i bet Col

#9 claysummers

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 05:38 PM

That is globalisation I’m afraid. Upside is you can order a Corvette I suppose. That washing machine might be the donor for your project driveline in another 20 years. Gulp!?


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#10 yel327

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 05:59 PM

Agree
Glad you bought the VF now i bet Col

Commodore might be gone soon but Holden Ute, Holden Berlina and the Statesman have been gone for over two years. I think most people here will miss the Holden Ute more than the Commodore anyway. Bloody US bankers and their GFC killed any real meaningful VE-VF vehicles for me. There was supposed to be dual cabs, cab chassis and coupe, but all we got was sedan, wagon, Ute and Camaro. Camaro only just made it too before the GFC hit, was meant to be tooled and assembled RHD. I think Ute was meant to be built LHD too like the Pontiac G6 and G8 and Chevrolet SS. If they’d built a VE-VF that could tow 2500kg I’d be driving one today, what they built cannot tow unfortunately.

Edited by yel327, 10 December 2019 - 06:00 PM.


#11 Ice

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 06:15 PM

So i gather you didnt buy a VF ute

Prob second best car I've owned

#12 yel327

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 06:23 PM

No. Would have liked to but really of little value to me as it really is only a 2 seat drive car. Wagon would probably be more suitable as it can carry more people or more weight and can at least tow 2100kg. But has FBT issues. Big shame that Holden never got to make a cab-chassis version.

#13 RallyRed

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 07:30 PM

Agree
Glad you bought the VF now i bet Col


100% Gene..you too?

#14 Ice

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Posted 10 December 2019 - 07:34 PM

100% Gene..you too?


Hell yes

#15 _Lazarus_

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 09:13 AM

I'm probably the only person around here who has never owned one. Bought a rusty VK for the engine and 5 speed once but sold it on for a hundred bucks.

 

I lost interest in new Holdens when the Commodore came out. It just wasn't a real Holden to me. Shame about what they did to the auto industry here but. The world is run by dickheads.



#16 hanra

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 09:27 AM

I dont think it was "only" the ZB that killed them, it was def a main player in the problem, however the GMH business strategy of rebadging crap and thinking that meat head bogan Ozzy's would just lap up what ever was handed out was poor form. 

 

I do wonder how much of that strategy was being driven by GM USA. I would imagine most of it.... It would be frustrating being up high in GMH Aust Management seeing the failure of the strategy and having your hands tied to be able to change it. Hence the recent stepping down of the CEO. 


Edited by hanra, 11 December 2019 - 09:28 AM.


#17 LXCHEV

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 10:06 AM

I’m personally very happy to see the Commodore nameplate finally being retired (it should have happened earlier though to coincide with local production ending). Time to close that chapter, and it now marks 41 years of Commodores, something Australia should be very proud of. Certain models will now become quite collectible.

Whatever they continue to sell now in future years and decades can be called by other names accordingly.

#18 yel327

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 10:17 AM

I'm probably the only person around here who has never owned one. Bought a rusty VK for the engine and 5 speed once but sold it on for a hundred bucks.

I lost interest in new Holdens when the Commodore came out. It just wasn't a real Holden to me. Shame about what they did to the auto industry here but. The world is run by dickheads.

I never really owned a Commodore either. I had VY and VZ Holden utes and Crewmans and a V2 CV8 Monaro, none of which are Commodores. Like you I have bought Commodores for bits like VH and VK 308 and a VC 3.3 4spd, but the cars themselves went to scrap. I did buy a VC 2.85 4spd once for $200 to see me through for a month when my HJ Ute was totalled, and drove it until the Insurance Company paid up. But I swapped it and $2000 for a HK GTS327 and a HK Kingswood sedan, so I don’t count that VC - it was a means to an end like a hire car.

Don’t forget either that real Holdens didn’t end when Commodore appeared. VB production started in 1978, and the Holden lineage that started with 48/215 through the F’s, E’s , and H’s continued right through VB, VC, VH and well into VK as the WB Holden. Holden did continue the lineage with later utes, coupes, cab chassis and stuff like Adventra but they were based upon the same platform as the Commodore sedans and wagon as we all know.

Edited by yel327, 11 December 2019 - 10:25 AM.


#19 Shiney005

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 10:48 AM

Well I have bought three new ones, including the last Aussie built one ordered in WA, and I have had dozens of second hand ones. I have loved them all, and the ones that I kept have turned out to be very good monetary investments.  Even now, two years after production was finished, you still can't buy a 4 door that had as much power, stopped, and handled as good for under sixty grand.  The only Commodore I didn't like was the ZB I hired earlier this year. It was no different to anything I have driven that was built in Korea or Taiwan. I was having a discussion about it with Rob Trubiani (test driver) at the Lang Lang proving ground and I made my concerns clear about the road noise, lack of steering feel and wooden suspension. I told him it won't sell. He said "I know".



#20 hanra

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 10:51 AM

Sounds like his hands were tied also... 



#21 Shiney005

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 10:57 AM

He was driving a 60,000 kay old "pilot" VF at the time. This thing had been flogged on the proving ground its whole life and there were no squeaks or rattles and it still went like a cut cat.



#22 Redslur

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 11:10 AM

Sad indeed for Holden. And maybe the end of them altogether. I currently have a VP Berlina 5.0L, 5spd and love driving it. Also have a mint low K VZ CV8 but am looking to sell it. 

 

I have had several Commodores over the years, and besides Torana's, have been great cars for me to drive and enjoy.



#23 _Lazarus_

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 11:18 AM

Yeah I 'm not putting them down. I just grew up driving the old ones and up until 10 years ago they were still cheap and readily available. Personal taste really.

 

These days a diesel 4X4 ute is what I need and prefer so haven't had much to do with the later ones. This may sound even harder to believe but the only Commodore I can recall ever driving was that VK wagon when I snuck it home along back roads for about 10 k's lol.



#24 VZ1_60

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 12:58 PM

Commodore nameplate should have been retired at the end of local production.

ZB Opel is a very good car as the Australian-ized version (drove one in Spain, European version very basic).

Having driven both 4cyl turbo and V6 AWD, they are very good albeit Camry sized in comparison to VF.

V6 has excellent road manners, but would not pay full retail, maybe low KM second-hand.

cheers, john



#25 hanra

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Posted 11 December 2019 - 01:14 PM

I was very surprised at how low down to the floor the front seats adjust to. 






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