Project V.. Development of the Australian VB Holden Commodore.

[@2DogsVlogs]

We nearly bought one in 1986 but nearly every one we looked at was a rust bucket in Adelaide. We settled for a 1983 Sigma which was a rust bucket by 1988. One Commodore we found was yellow and immaculate. Sadly it just sold. We should have kept looking for one. The Sigma ended up being a mistake. It was so gutless.

[@carsnstuff83]

Should of got a Nissan Stanza 🤣

[@davidturner3300]

Hey mate.just read your message and I have a factory original 83 sigma sitting under my carport.99 percent rust free dark metallic blue with blue velour interior.

[@2DogsVlogs]

@@davidturner3300 One thing I have to say about the Sigma is it handled really well through the twisty stuff. 50 around 25 corners not a problem. Mine was an SE with the 2.0 auto & air. It was always outside and between the Adelaide rain and the Gold Coast salt it had a few rust holes. Sold it in 1996 after getting some rust cut out for $3k. Paid $8k for it. Was used as a factory test car for the two tone gold paintwork on the Super Saloon. Was a 1 of 1 build. Shame it wasn't worth much as it would be a bit of a collection item.

[@davidturner3300]

@@2DogsVlogs if it was one of one the ol girl was worth a quid.mines a 2•6 liter and goes like hell.gotta watch the Speedo.

[@shanehosking8582]

Gudday mate, thanks for uploading this! It bought back alot of memories.. I remember watching this as an 8 year old as we were invited to a dealership release of the VB. The dealership had the launch at a nearby club. As you entered the room there were a selection Commodores on display. After a presentation from the dealerprincipal, this video played on a big screen and then drinks & nibblies. Thanks for the trip down memory lane and I subbed! (Oh yeah, dad ended up trading our powder blue UC Torana for a Firethorn Red VB SL)

[@micksss7444]

I really enjoyed watching that. Thank you.

[@carsnstuff83]

Your Welcome .Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@glen20rainman56]

Thank you, I have been waiting to see the end of this for a long time.

[@alfinpogform4774]

Wonderful little documentary, thanks for posting this. I did much prefer the Falcon's during the eighties because of their larger size. Now my two daily drivers are a VT Berlina and an AU Falcon ute, so I have a foot in each camp these days.

[@carsnstuff83]

Thankyou so much ..Even though I do have a VH Commodore It was a big mistake by GMH to go with project V . Still think it's a great little film and a glimpse into what was the Aussie Car industry.

[@alfinpogform4774]

@@carsnstuff83 VB to VL, all great cars, and now 40 years on any of these cars of that era are wonderful to see on the road. Back in the 90's my mate had a VB with a 253, big motor in a medium size car, went like a rocket!

[@EveryThingCars53]

Very interesting video. It's a shame that Holden is gone but we still have the great cars they produced.

[@shane2026]

RIP our Holden, what a car

[@Hitman-ds1ei]

Can remember watching this back when it first released as a young bloke i was impressed but learnt the car didn't measure up to the hype

[@VirtualR]

A lot of claims that the car came to Australia as the Opel Rekord Series E and they just put a Opel Senator front on it, but both were actually in production at the same time before launch, Opel's launched a few months earlier in 77. It would be interesting to know what we got from Opel and how much was shared on the global car development, it's not as clear cut as they just dumped some finished Rekords here and we changed the driveline and suspension.

[@miketran4289]

Project V became the weapon of choice for all the hoons and bogans.

[@ntal5859]

My first car was VC commodore, and it was roomy on the inside and rather small outside... was a pleasure to drive and own.

[@peterkirgan2921]

I had a vb & vh commodore both brilliant

[@psycho0002]

i used to sell to the X shop at port Melbourne , saw the VE ute & Camaro

[@PaulHayman-tq5kb]

Would like to have a brand new car shell for a VB/VC commodores and put the parts that are just Clean and Fix to make New again

[@bigbannana4949]

Yes I like these holdens up too vr vs utes

[@jamieshields9521]

Nice vid n who say you need 4WD to get around Australia but might need refuel tanker especially with 202 six LOL. I had VH SLX with 202 six, awesome off road car, great handling n comfortable seats. Wish I had VH SLE with 308 V8 n those nice back seats with headrest.

[@carsnstuff83]

Thanks Think its a great glimpse into how Australian car manufacturers tested there cars . I know lots who show there dislike for the early model Commodore's but I still like my VH with its 202 have to agree with the comfortable seats and ease of handling.

[@zeropaloobatheuber1572]

I’m old enough to remember these when new. There was a real buzz about them. A European car that wasn’t an important. Tight, modern, comfortable interior. If you weren’t wearing retrospectoscopes they were very aspirational.

[@MeaHeaR]

This is it Unt this time I know its for real "My freind has oné" Ahh WSC, Hogés, Cop Shop, Prisoner und I'm not even Arse-traylian 😁😁😀😰😰😩😧😧

[@davehad-enough2369]

Bagshaws requirements really weren't met until the VR came into being. It, along with the VS Commodore fulfilled what most people wanted in a car for size, maneuverability and performance. Sadly those vehicles after the VS, as good as they were, went down the same path that necessitated the need for the VB in the first place.

[@MitchZero9]

WTF is Bagshaws requirement?!?!?!

[@chisel83]

@@MitchZero9 John Bagshaw, European handling and braking…

[@robertmorris6529]

​@@chisel83wasn't he MD ? Peter Hanenberger , Suspension ,Ride & Handling , responsible for RTS on HZ & LH

[@judgedread-q4t]

VB was streets ahead of the ancient HZ and that turkey called Torana. But, like the Torana, it was based on Opels and not adaptable to a commercial platform, but it gave Holden a new image it badly needed.

[@chisel83]

@@noelgibson5956 the hatch is Chevy Vega all over

[@thunderbird1454]

VB wasn't as far ahead as you think. It still had the same engine and drivetrain as the HZ.

[@peterb121]

So where did all that development money go? . Holden Australia just added some reinforcement plates here and there to accommodate that torquey beast of a 6cyl and that game changer 4.2 and 5.0 ltr .

[@southerndiy1]

The budget went to safari suits and mustache wax

[@robertmorris6529]

@peterb121 probably more to stop severe / terminal engine compartment vibration .

[@lancegraham7722]

14 commodores I've owned, from vb to ve. All felt the same as the last, yet better at the same time, that's progress. Never owned a vf,have driven them bur went euro instead...shows the commodore was always a generation behind. At least they sorted the floor tearing issue from the first generation.

[@thomasclayton169]

That's pretty cool I wish I had the privilege. I only have a WM1 series 1 HSV Grange and series 1 VF sv6 sportswagon that I've had now for 11 years. Best car I've owned for reliability and running costs abroad none. VF feels like modern European but without the maintenance costs.

[@lancegraham7722]

@thomasclayton169 a bloke I know has a vf ssv and new injectors set him back $3500, so certainly not cheap when it comes to repairs

[@Pablo668]

I think this is guilding the lily a bit. I am under the impression that Holden tried out the Opel version of this car and it didn't end well. This would have been after all the engineering done by Holden to make the car rugged enough to survive here. Did they do side impact crash testing back then? Anecdotally I know of a couple of accidents with these cars copping a side impact, and it wasn't good.

[@thunderbird1454]

The Opel when sent out to the outback, literally broke in two. No autobahns out there !!!!

[@michealriseley6261]

Sad that people actually believed it was Australian. It was identical to the Opel Commodore in every way, right down to the standard Eurovox cassette player.

[@richlawrence4160]

lengthened forward of the firewall, modified front suspension and some strengthening, I believe to accommodate 6 and V8 engines to replace the Opel/ Vauxhall 4 cyl units. The later star fire holden 4 cyl was different and the car retained the lengthened australian body,.

[@michealriseley6261]

@richlawrence4160 not lengthen, just the front cut off a different model, it was essentially an Opel Commodore C with and Opel Rekord front, carried over Kingswood engines, and suspension from the GM parts bin. But some extra welds to stop it shaking to bits on our brilliant roads

[@michealriseley6261]

@richlawrence4160 the Opel Commodore C is listed as being 4732mm long, 1722mm wide and 1415mm high, the VB Commodore is listed as being 4725 long, 1722 wide and 1371 high. Which contradicts what you've claimed

[@borismcfinnigan3430]

​@@michealriseley6261suspension was completely specific to the car. If it was identical in wvery way, explain the rack and pinion steering? Explain why the euro car had a steering box/drag link. Explain why the brakes are completely different?

[@MeaHeaR]

I hadda VH Wagon 3.3 Blué I "edited" the Namé-Platé badgé onn thé Tail-Gaté to Read "Commodé"

[@wendymorgan6651]

Everyone had a commondore.👍

[@SirGregg]

Opel with a 186 and BINGO! a new car.

[@carsnstuff83]

If you say so

[@Holdenman83]

Bit more to this story than that ..Do some Research..

[@russellpinkie9775]

Wish I never sold my VB sle, 😢,

[@peterm1826]

Bogandore been boganised so much That I refuse to own one.

[@PaulHayman-tq5kb]

The VB Commodore could have taken on Audi A6 Quattro if there are to spend more time to develop sle was a good word car

[@ceedoubleyou]

watching this doco, you would think Holden designed this car from scratch.

[@paulsz6194]

That’s what they wanted you to believe… i remember as a child seeing a VH brochure indicating it had computer controlled ignition, and calling it a black box … 😂

[@GlowingTube]

It’s a shame it was so poorly built and finished. It also suffered from McPherson strut failures and old engines that lacked performance and fuel economy. It handled well through.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

VB,, Very Bad Commondore was a Euro car updated in Australia so as not to fall apart on the first dirt road. Second one probably! Many parts were built stronger because the Euro car was junk,, like all Euro Holdens. LC LJ 4 cyl cars. Terrible! Look at the work Holden did to build the 6 cyl ones from that junk. And they were still far from good. Plus ofcourse fitting Holden engines to cars with Fugly Euro engines. I have seen a UK import and it is a little different in brackets etc. And weaker in an around the pogo stick towers. A South African one which had that horrid 1.9 Opels junker and a steering box. I suspect probably an Aussie body as it had the bolt to support the booster/ M/C but no booster. The last true Holden was the HZ, even WB was screwed up. All the Bombadore was was an inferior car that was too small and everything failed. Inc the engines because of front well pans. Stand on the throttle and all the oil runs away from the pick up. A Ford issue as well but their pans were a little better. Pogo sticks got weak and waddles all over the place, racks were abysmal and p/s racks always leaked. brakes were a good deal less than HZ, standard models got bicycle tyres. And all the heater and A/C controls failed. Towing?? 6x4 trailer maybe. That is IF the boot floor had not rusted out!! And that was very common at 5 years old!

[@davidhusband5022]

Australian? you know its based on the omel omega from germany right?

[@whybother-q9q]

Yeah, just like the xd foulcan was a copy of a Granada.

[@mattnbin]

What a pity the top and bottom have been chopped off to make it fake 16x9 widescreen. Please just show the old stuff I’m the original 4x3 that it was originally produced in. 😢

[@thefinisher2010]

Holden vs Ford vs Valiant, and the Valiant beat em both down the 1/4 mile with a 6 cylinder,

[@paulsz6194]

But it didn’t have the drive to survive long term… Valiant sold out to Mitsubishi. I remember the first Generation Sigma’s being sold as Chrysler sigma’s…

[@thefinisher2010]

@paulsz6194 what about the Chrysler centura, beast of a car with a 245 str8 6

[@Imagineering100]

VD version.

[@paulgardiner68]

And the pissing contest still continues. Die hard Aussie and Ford fans still think of their “brand” as the winner. Some news for ya fellas. The marketing geniuses at Ford and General Motors had you all sucked in. We were just buying septic crap. Good old American crap. No innovation. Nothing here to see. But we all fell hook line & sinker for their crap. The innovation always came from elsewhere. But we were too blindsided to see that something from Europe (or low and behold) something from Japan, might of even been better. So before you blokes have a heart attack, tell me what are your neighbours are driving? Let me guess. Is it South Korean?

[@kylebutler7142]

This is pure propaganda. No mention of Opel. This tries to make you believe it's a car designed from scratch in Australia. No other vehicle was tested as much as the VB? I call BS. My old man's VB had two 6cyl engines replaced under warranty in its first year plus other issues I forgot or didn't understand because I was just a kid. GM is and always was style over substance.

[@whybother-q9q]

Holden grafted the nose of the senator onto the record body and heavily re-engineered it for local conditions. It was at the time, vb, the most tested vehicle in Australia.

[@stephentaege6255]

My late mother and father bought a beautiful midnight blue vb Commodore when it was 4years old i learnt to drive in old bluey dad never had it garaged in 15years Of owner ship only bit of rust size of a 50cent piece i believe it to be a bloody great vehicle 👍👍🇦🇺🇦🇺🤠🤠🐨🦘

[@carsnstuff83]

Great stuff and sounds like your Family got good use of this car .. 👍

[@Bohemiahotrodandcustom]

PROJECT 5

[@mordeth1964]

Like every car Holden ever made, they got someone else's design, engineering (and more often than not names), stuck a shit red motor (or two thirds of one) in it and then tried to convince us it was all their idea(s) Perfect example was RTS that Holden claimed to develop, which in fact they pinched from Pontiac. Sadly, the Holden trade papers Wheels, Modern Motor etc went along with it and just about everything else.

[@Holdenman83]

Why not just say you don't like Holden's instead of writing this biggest load of BS .. About Holden pinching Pontiac RTS from them. all GM owned D...HEAD

[@whybother-q9q]

Yeah just like the first foulcans we're American copies.

[@Hapkido82AUS]

Must have been a Holden promo. Barely mentioned the German origins..

[@area51isreal71]

I reckon those early Commodores were quite good, VB to VK that is. Clearly the public thought otherwise and bought Falcon's because of their extra width and bigger sixes that gave the same or better economy. Commodore's from the VN to whenever they made the last one are a joke. Badly finished, noisy rough V6 engines the list goes on. Now they are just somewhere to place a P plate.

[@paulsz6194]

Now why don’t they make you editor of wheels car magazine, with such well- researched opinions..LoL🤔

[@chisel83]

Amazing, took an opel and whacked in a basically 30 year old straight six and the dumb kent Aussies ate it up 😆

[@phillipm1039]

And the dumb kent poms drove Leyland crap even funnier.

[@chisel83]

@@phillipm1039 don’t worry plenty of Aussies drove Leylands too.

[@phillipm1039]

@@chisel83 only ex pats from mother england who didn't go back for a repeat purchase .

[@Imagineering100]

I thought this was a comedy at first.

[@thegoingthing]

Tweaked opel for the Aussie market. Little wonder the completely aussie designed Ford Falcon absolutely killed it in sales. Was a significantly better car.

[@woosha10]

And the Falcon was a Blackwood from the USA!!

[@FromTheGong]

​@@woosha10Thought the XD was based on a British designed production ford of similar shape and like the Commodore the engine bay was lengthened to shoe horn the straight 6 and V8 into it.

[@FromTheGong]

Nah mate, a pommy designed and manufactured ford if similar size and shape was remodeled as the Aussie XD Falcon. Basically the same car from the firewall back just lengthened the engine bay to fit the 6 and V8 into it. It contained no more than 10% local design.

[@timothyiorlano1996]

​@@FromTheGong not true at all. The ford grenada and falcon share absolutely nothing apart from the same design language. All X series falcons share the same platform. An XK falcon and an XF are the same platform.

[@timothyiorlano1996]

Not really, the commodore was a far better handling and riding car. The falcon only killed it in sales due to fleet buyers wanting more space (taxis). Build quality was much of a muchness, although the commodore was significantly better in its main touch points. I prefer falcons by the way, but theres no denying the commodore was technically superior and far more modern.

[@paulfromperth5713]

I had two VB Commodores. They were crap.

[@carsnstuff83]

Probably why they called the first model VB. (Very Bad )😁

[@jamiehope4580]

Biggest mistake taking that euro crap opel and calling it aussie. Should have stuck with the Kingswood model a way better car in everyway. Still own two HQs HJ and HZ. Driven the new commodore on its release as dad had gotten one as company car and he hated it. They kept giving him those crap boxes until vn and he said keep it I rather drive my Kingswood as it was way more reliable. Old man is right couldn't get me to look at them so called dunnydoors just piles of crap

[@jacobhaussmann90]

Holden Australian? haha

[@saneman8147]

Build quality was average, painted poorly and the interiors fell apart in Australian conditions.

[@maxrockatanksyOG]

From VB to VZ, Commodores were nought more than rebadged Opel's with names swapped around, implanted with the worst engines under GM's name, and were far poorly built compared to their European namesakes.

[@BatMan-oe2gh]

The Holden Commodore was NOT a rebaged Opel. The Holden was longer, wider and taller. And the engines were fine. A choice of two 6 cyls and two V8s that had been proven. Many VBs did over One Million kilometres on the same engine. GM was doing the World car and Holden and Opel used the same design as GM owned both, but that is where any similarity ended. Under the skin, the Holden was very different to the Opel. And the Holden was manufactured in Australia, including all parts.

[@marcpaola1371]

Max You are so wide of the mark, and wrong it's not funny. Go back to driving your Ford Granada....ohh sorry I mean XD Falcon...

[@bobbritten5673]

The Holden Commodore was mostly opal with some changes front and rear boot !and steering and cross member!rack and steering and other minor changes!including Engines gearbox and rear diff system was redesigned

[@BatMan-oe2gh]

@@bobbritten5673 It was not. The Holden was bigger, and had a totally different chassis, suspension and drive trains. No parts were interchangeable between the Holden and the Opel.

[@marcpaola1371]

@bobbritten5673 add a different stronger chassis, better and stronger suspension, different more durable interior materials to name a few. There were no interchangeable parts between the Holden and open, research some more.

[@jadesmith6823]

LOL.... Then GM CLOSED local production and we now look at EV'S 🙌🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦

[@ToranaA9X308]

Made the outdated pile of crap re bodied XA pretending to be an XD look light years ahead

[@EveryThingCars53]

Very interesting video. It's a shame that Holden is gone but we still have the great cars they produced.

[@carsnstuff83]

One of my favourite videos on how the development of this Holden was done . Glad you found it interesting as well Mate . Holden maybe gone but certainly not forgotten

[@billeves4627]

They took a German Opel and retro fitted obsolete GM mechanicals and passed them off to the Australian consumer as 😮world class. Take a 1978 Opel Senator. Delete OHC engine, overdrive automatic, IRS and 4 wheel disk brakes (most models).