Final Commodores for 2017

Sioso · 22-11-2016, 03:59 PM

Limited info at this stage:

http://www.carsales.com.au/editorial...modores-104713

Three niche models to be rolled out during the last year of production

Confidential details are emerging of Holden's final, limited-edition Commodore models for MY17, the final year of local production at the company's Elizabeth plant in South Australia.

Ahead of official disclosure to the media, select customers have been contacted by Holden, offering three distinct performance models built in limited production numbers.

One is a 'racetrack-ready' sedan based on the SS-V Redline, available with either manual or automatic transmission and likely to be called the Bathurst Edition.

Heralded by Holden in a confidential document seen by motoring,com.au as coming “Direct from the boardroom”, another sedan is a tweaked version of the Calais V V8 automatic that's likely to revive the Director nameplate.

The third product is an amped-up SS-V Redline Ute that's offered as manual or auto, and we understand it could be called the Magnum.

Each vehicle will be distinguished from run-of-the-mill production models by a unique build plate, and will feature upmarket equipment, including some items shared with the US-market Chevrolet SS.

For now, Holden is not revealing further details than those, but invited customers are required to leave a $2000 deposit prior to 5:00pm on November 25 (this Friday).

As we've reported, HSV is also readying its send-off for Australia's homegrown Commodore, which will be replaced in 2018 by the all-new Opel Insignia-based model we've already driven in prototype form, headlined by the LS9-powered W1 limited-edition.

Sioso · 15-12-2016, 12:20 PM

https://www.carsales.com.au/editoria...e-today-105106

Holden's final Aussie Commodore goes live today

MY17 Commodore special-editions teased as Holden microsite invites expressions of interest

Members of the public will be invited to register their interest in purchasing a final edition of the locally-built Holden Commodore at a microsite on the company’s website that goes live at 4:00pm today.

The link is www.holden.com.au/cars/commodore/limited-edition.

A photograph on the microsite shows three covered cars, two of them clearly sedans and one a utility.

It also confirms the three limited-editions are based on the SS-V Redline sedan, Calais-V sedan and the SS-V Redline ute.

The microsite promises more information will be released on January 19.

motoring.com.au reported on the three-model line-up after Holden wrote to selected customers in November offering them the chance to place a deposit on the limited-editions that have been created to mark the final year of Australian production by Holden.

The SS-V Redline-based model was described as “racetrack ready” by Holden. At the time we suggested it could be called the Bathurst Edition, but you can rule that out.

The Calais-V based vehicle has been widely reported as being dubbed the Director, the name Peter Brock gave his final ill-fated HDT road vehicle, while the ute should be called Magnum.

Each vehicle will be distinguished from run-of-the-mill production models by a unique build plate, and will feature upmarket equipment, including some items shared with the US-market Chevrolet SS.

We can confirm Holden has given select automotive media, including motoring.com.au, more details of the cars, briefings from the engineers involved in developing them and even a chance to drive them at speed.

But we have been asked to abide by a January 19 embargo on releasing that information.

It probably doesn’t help if we assure you these three cars will be worth the wait.

commodorenutt · 15-12-2016, 01:25 PM

Love how the media release names the Director as Brock's "final ill-fated HDT road car" but fails to mention that post-split HDT also produced the Bathurst model.....

And the fact that the Magnum was used by HDT on the WB series, and later on the Gen2/3 HDT utes....

And all will feature build plates.... just like HDT cars bearing the same names....

The irony of how they shafted PB, and will revive his model names 30 years later.
A cynic may well see this as simply riding on the publicity train of PB.....

GT450 · 15-12-2016, 03:13 PM

PB caused his own demise...he took on the General and lost but he is remembered through rose coloured glasses by many. It's just not true........
GT450

commodorenutt · 15-12-2016, 04:26 PM

While he is far from faultless, and defied an order from Holden, you cannot deny the legacy he left behind with approx 4200 road cars, and a string of race victories.

Those road cars have skyrocketed in value, and now Holden, who wanted nothing to do with him by Feb 1987 are now blatantly pulling his model names out of the cupboard to throw onto "special" models.

Nothing seen through rose coloured glasses here. I've collected enough literature over the years, as well as countless conversations with people who were there, to see where everyone stood, and the underhanded tactics used to 'relieve' Holden of the HDT pain.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FTE · 15-12-2016, 05:10 PM

Holden have always owned the Director name so they have the right to use it.
its not like Holden sacked Brock then cashed in on the name. Remember Brock did work for Holden's offical race team again in the 90s.
i think the name use is a fitting fairwell to the last Aussie built cars and i think fans of the brand deserve it

bangm001 · 15-12-2016, 05:26 PM

Yes I agree, for factory holdens, thats a pretty good (sad) farewell.
Excuse my ignorance, what was brocks issue for not giving holden its fuel polariser thingie? Was something more sinister going on with his cars for racing?? Or was it just a falling out between a few big egos?

FTE · 15-12-2016, 05:42 PM

Brock fitted the polariser (a box full of crystals) to cars which he claimed it made them run better.
Holden told him to remove it to avoid lawsuits against them.
Holden warned him not to use it but he did anyway.
the Director (which caused the split) not only had the Polariser but also had IRS fitted without approval from Holden and hadn't had any testing done either

FGX-351 · 15-12-2016, 06:17 PM

The crystal allowed him to run the tyres at low pressure as well apparently.

Express · 15-12-2016, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTE

Brock fitted the polariser (a box full of crystals) to cars which he claimed it made them run better.
Holden told him to remove it to avoid lawsuits against them.
Holden warned him not to use it but he did anyway.
the Director (which caused the split) not only had the Polariser but also had IRS fitted without approval from Holden and hadn't had any testing done either

This is the real reason along with engine mods that didn't meet or hadn't been tested against the Australian Design Rules, the Polariser was just the excuse to not draw attention to the legalities putting Holden at risk of future litigation that also had the added advantage of making him look like a nutter.

MITCHAY · 15-12-2016, 07:54 PM

The link doesn't work, it just goes to the standard Commodore page. Apparently technical issues as mentioned by the comments in the article.

bigwil · 15-12-2016, 09:17 PM

There's a picture of what appears to be a ss v, but you can only see a bit of the front bar and rim but it looks like there doing a version of the black FPV GT r-spec with the red highlights around the rim and front bar.

2011G6E · 15-12-2016, 09:33 PM

Wait...

They're only just now, as the model is dying, bringing out a "Bathurst Edition" special model??

Come to that, why has Ford never done that either with the Falcon??

Remind us again how puzzling it is that they both could have dropped the ball so badly with public image and advertising over the last decade or more....?

tranquilized · 15-12-2016, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Wait...

They're only just now, as the model is dying, bringing out a "Bathurst Edition" special model??

Come to that, why has Ford never done that either with the Falcon??

Remind us again how puzzling it is that they both could have dropped the ball so badly with public image and advertising over the last decade or more....?

Perhaps because their parent companies - you know, those guys in the U.S.A. who ultimately made all the decisions and couldn't give a rats about Bathurst or any kind of Australian motorsport, or anything Australian full stop really - had a big-picture-plan that didn't involve local manufacturing, or racing, or appealing to aussie bogans?

2011G6E · 16-12-2016, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranquilized

Perhaps because their parent companies - you know, those guys in the U.S.A. who ultimately made all the decisions and couldn't give a rats about Bathurst or any kind of Australian motorsport, or anything Australian full stop really - had a big-picture-plan that didn't involve local manufacturing, or racing, or appealing to aussie bogans?

Well yes...after following the great wailing and nashing of teeth on Facebook pages from car magazines that is the change from large rear-drive sedans that no one is buying, to slightly smaller (outside size) front drivers that people could seem to want if the success of the Camry/Aurion and various offerings from Mazda/Kia/Hyundai etc...I agree with you.
Our local Ford and Holden industry was always sort of a charitable effort grudgingly allowed to continue by the parent companies in America, sort of a virtual "Aww come on...let the little puppy have a bone to chew on while the big dogs tuck into the huge chunks of meat...it makes him look so adorable that he honestly thinks he's contributing something important to cleaning up the carcass".
We should be thankful we ever even had local manufacturing of cars here instead of just factories putting together CKD kits.

The government has said...quite rightly...that it says something about an industrialised modern countries technical expertise that they can design and build their own cars (which...technically...we only ever sorta-kinda did).
But those other modern industrialised countries don't have tiny population bases like we do, less people than some large overseas cities have. It would be like New York City (30 million people in the greater New York area) to have it's own personalised car making industries...two major ones that no one was buying anymore in sustainable numbers...just for New Yorkers, while ignoring the massive manufacturing of vehicles going on around them being done far more profitably.

But back to the "final Commodore", I'm still amazed (and sadly even I never thought of such a car being made) that it's taken this long for one of the big makers to come out with a Bathurst Special. Probably speaks volumes about the local car industry that they never thought of it either.

Ford17 · 16-12-2016, 10:24 AM

Wonder if Holden are in any way compensating Mr Champion (current owner of the HDT business & name) for the use of the Brock model names?

lra · 16-12-2016, 10:42 AM

This is a comment from a forum member, who followed Brock and his career from the time when he was an unknown A30 driver, regarding the debate about use by Holden of Brock inspired car names.
There a probably few members of this, and other car forums under the age of 40 who would be aware of the ‘Polariser’ split, and reasons behind it at the time.
Brock had some very influential friends within Holden at the time, and they did their best to dissuade him from the directions that HDT cars were going, but he virtually told them to get stuffed, and made fanciful claims about the future of the cars, and their export sales potential that just were not true.
If possible, have a read of Bill Tuckey’s book “The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock” which puts a lot into perspective from a historical view.
If PB he was still alive today, he would probably be featured in the current Commodore adverts, rather than his TV series actor lookalike. He was a marketing genius that Holden recognised, and it is a shame that his irrationality during the late 1980’s, spoilt that reputation, no matter how much he thought he was correct at the time.

Express · 16-12-2016, 10:49 AM

A Bathurst Special would only be special to me if the model had actually been raced at Bathurst.

AKA a 1969 HT 350 Monaro

GT450 · 16-12-2016, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

Love how the media release names the Director as Brock's "final ill-fated HDT road car" but fails to mention that post-split HDT also produced the Bathurst model.....

And the fact that the Magnum was used by HDT on the WB series, and later on the Gen2/3 HDT utes....

And all will feature build plates.... just like HDT cars bearing the same names....

The irony of how they shafted PB, and will revive his model names 30 years later.
A cynic may well see this as simply riding on the publicity train of PB.....

Nobody shafted PB his partner ( she was never his wife ) got him involved with Eric Dowker, then came the polariser, Bridgestone told him not to run their tyres at 22psi, which he subsequently ignored, then the director with IRS which was the straw that broke the camels back.
As for names GMH holds the rights to them all.
Read the Bill Tuckey book, the Rise and fall of PB it may enlighten you.
AS for his exploits on track , just check how many races he won after the rules made the weighing of cars mandatory , it may surprise you.
GT450

commodorenutt · 16-12-2016, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford17

Wonder if Holden are in any way compensating Mr Champion (current owner of the HDT business & name) for the use of the Brock model names?

Yes, he was approached by Holden, invited down to Melbourne to meet with them actually, as HDT - ergo PC, do in fact own a trademark on a model name, and Holden had to seek legal permission to use it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GT450

As for names GMH holds the rights to them all.

Not so. See above.

And while I've read TRAFOPB a number of times, as well as numerous other Tuckey productions - one of the most revered journos this country has ever seen, there's also a helluva lot more that went on as well.

FTE · 16-12-2016, 02:02 PM

GM have Director trademarked. The number is 1653620

2011G6E · 16-12-2016, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford17

Wonder if Holden are in any way compensating Mr Champion (current owner of the HDT business & name) for the use of the Brock model names?

That's the same Champion who owned the ill-fated Brock Museum out near Yepoon isn't it?
Yeah...that was a failure on so many levels. Sad really. He had a collection of cars and memorabilia from one of the most legendary and popular racing drivers in modern history, and what did he do with his "museum"? Only open on appointment, to special groups, and virtually hidden away like it was King Tuts treasure house.
It should have been SO much more...a proper museum where you could just turn up and walk in like any other "motor museum".
Lots of unhappy people and tourists up here who turned up eagerly to have a look at the collection they'd heard so much about only to find closed doors and "by appointment only" on the bloody door...

commodorenutt · 16-12-2016, 04:54 PM

The cost of running it was more than it could ever make, so it was always going to be more of a hobby for him. Just the monthly aircon cost alone far outstripped the financial benefits over a much longer period. Add in previous staff who seemed to think a working day was about 2-4 hours long and consisted of several coffee breaks and a long lunch (all posted on FB) and you can see where the opening inconsistency came from.

However, if you did call ahead & found out what days they were open, you could plan around it, and a number of my friends did just that. It would have been a consistent 5 day operation if he didn't allow his best staff to work part time & have maternity leave, but you can't treat good workers like that. It was the person supposed to cover her while she was off that let the team down badly.

But for those of us who did organise a trip up there, it was well worth the trek, and I'm very grateful that PC chose to share his personal collection (for a fee of course). Do the right thing by PC, and he'll double it back to you. A simple question & compliment when the '87 VL Bathurst car was in HDT in Sydney, and he offered to lift it up on the hoist so several inquisitive fans could get a closer look. Other owners of these precious pieces of history are rarely as generous.

Some of the collection is now on display in Dreamworld - far more accessible to a larger population of Queenslanders, and interstate travellers to the region.

You can't blame him for wanting to house the museum on the doorstep of where he chose to live - it's one hell of a nice place, but it was a missed opportunity to showcase it to the greater population.

pottery beige · 16-12-2016, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

That's the same Champion who owned the ill-fated Brock Museum out near Yepoon isn't it?
Yeah...that was a failure on so many levels. Sad really. He had a collection of cars and memorabilia from one of the most legendary and popular racing drivers in modern history, and what did he do with his "museum"? Only open on appointment, to special groups, and virtually hidden away like it was King Tuts treasure house.
It should have been SO much more...a proper museum where you could just turn up and walk in like any other "motor museum".
Lots of unhappy people and tourists up here who turned up eagerly to have a look at the collection they'd heard so much about only to find closed doors and "by appointment only" on the bloody door...

punching out the quality rants

cbf the post above this one

blue meanie, walkinshaw, group A etc

how many you own??

2011G6E · 16-12-2016, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pottery beige

punching out the quality rants

cbf the post above this one

blue meanie, walkinshaw, group A etc

how many you own??

Those ones you name were specialist models with names that means nothing to any but full on car nuts.
What was the last one named a "Bathurst Special"? It's a name which would appeal to even the most ordinary car person. Probably the GTS 350 Monaro, but even then it was only commonly nicknamed "Bathurst" and not actually called that officially. Amazing that no car maker actually put a badge on the car saying it loud and proud.

FTE · 16-12-2016, 05:42 PM

HDT (post Brock) did a VN Bathurst Group 3

pottery beige · 16-12-2016, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Those ones you name were specialist models with names that means nothing to any but full on car nuts.
What was the last one named a "Bathurst Special"? It's a name which would appeal to even the most ordinary car person. Probably the GTS 350 Monaro, but even then it was only commonly nicknamed "Bathurst" and not actually called that officially. Amazing that no car maker actually put a badge on the car saying it loud and proud.

cool back pedal bro

https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sour...q=homologation

keep up the good fight ;)

MITCHAY · 16-12-2016, 09:30 PM

Lol WTF. All this BS about Brock and crystals.

I registered my interest for one. If it is just wheels and stickers I don't care but if they throw down some upgrades I'm definitely in for one.

Only thing that sucks is I'm also in the market for my first house so could be tricky trying to work all this **** out but I won't have another opportunity to buy one so better to be on the list than not.

Ford17 · 16-12-2016, 09:59 PM

Peter Brock did more for Holden's Commodore than any one person has ever done for a single model, mass-produced vehicle, anywhere in the world. General Motors' top US marketing executive - John Rock - said as much back in 1997.

Consider the Commodore was almost unfit for Australia - a small European design placed in the land of large - this was no mean feat.

That he won so many races in one (all legally BTW - cars were indeed weighed back in the Group C days) cemented its popularity.

Any recommendations for reading "The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock" are also largely irrelevant, as John Harvey (who was technically employed by Holden at the time) has subsequently claimed responsibility for largely writing that book.

For Holden to pinch Brock's HDT model names does seem to be a bit opportunistic - given they were working on organising their own HSV operation back in 1986 - well before the polarizer/Director issue hit the headlines.

Hope the current HDT operation and the Brock family are at least being remembered with this current marketing exercise.

Bossxr8 · 17-12-2016, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Well yes...after following the great wailing and nashing of teeth on Facebook pages from car magazines that is the change from large rear-drive sedans that no one is buying, to slightly smaller (outside size) front drivers that people could seem to want if the success of the Camry/Aurion and various offerings from Mazda/Kia/Hyundai etc...I agree with you.

Why do you spit so much rubbish all the time. The medium segment is as tiny as the large segment. Take out the camry that mostly sells to fleets and the rest just fight over tiny scraps. Mazda 6, Mondeo, Liberty, Optima etc all sell in fewer numbers than Falcon did at the end. Only reason Holden are releasing a car that will match them for size is cause they are stuck with whatever Opal give them. And i gaurantee they will still try to call it a large car.