Holden VL Commodore turns 40!
By Byron Mathioudakis · 28 Feb 2026
This month marks the 40 anniversary of the launch of the Holden VL Commodore in Australia.The fifth and final iteration of the original, German Opel Rekord E-derived (and ultimately HZ Kingswood-usurping) VB Commodore series released back in October 1978, it ranks alongside the most revered Holdens ever.Now a cultural phenomenon, it’s become, to Gen Xers and Millennials mainly, what the 1963 EH is to Baby Boomers. Peak Holden. Here's why.The most changed Commodore to dateThat 1970s-era VB changed little through its VC (1980), VH (1981) and VK (1984) facelifts, though the latter did adopt an extra side window, plastic bumpers and truly ugly square instruments to set it apart.Frankly, buyers became bored, rivals were trying harder and sales were in a worrying downward spiral.Stylistically, then, the VL’s strikingly low, sloping bonnet, featuring slimmer yet far-more effective headlights, seemed almost revolutionary compared to any previous Commodore.Inspired by the mid-sized JD Camira’s facelift of 1984, they also provided a welcome change after seven years of samey front-end design themes. The flagship Calais, meanwhile, added pop-up light covers for dramatic visual demarcation. How Eighties is that?And while the mid-body and cabin sections carried through from the preceding VK, save for a tacky rehash of the upper-dash architecture and refurbished seats in Calais, further back, a small kick-up at the trailing edge of the boot lid gave the sedans a distinctive duck-tail silhouette, for a five-per-cent aero improvement. The wagon, meanwhile, made do with a bumper that merely hung back there like a full nappy. Never mind.But the VL’s defining change lurked underneath the bonnet.Breaking with traditionWildly controversial leading up to the launch, to meet unleaded petrol requirements, the VL ditched Holden’s venerable 3.3-litre overhead-valve iron-block in-line six-cylinder (I6) Black petrol engine (in 86kW carburettor and 106kW fuel-injection guises), for Nissan’s more-advanced 114kW 3.0-litre overhead-cam RB30E, which also debuted soon after in the locally made R31 Skyline.Remember when they actually made Skylines in Australia?Dubbed Powertech 6Ei and imported from Japan, it was 33 per cent more powerful yet 15 per cent more economical than the previous 3.3 base, bringing with it a GM-H-first electronic four-speed auto.Fitting the Nissan I6 in “Australia’s Own” was seen as a betrayal amongst some loyalists, politicians and unionists (since the switch meant a Holden engine factory closed), though it quickly became the literal heart of the VL’s enduring appeal.Especially the cop-car-favourite 150kW RB30ET turbocharged option that followed from July, which even blitzed the 122kW 4.9-litre V8 (an unleaded revamp of the 1969-vintage original still stuck with a three-speed auto option) – as well as anything arch rival and market-leader Ford bothered to muster.Perhaps that’s why the contemporary XF Falcon generally commands a fraction of this-era Commodore’s resale values. Burn!Too little, too late, for GM-HYet, for all intents and purposes, the VL helped end General-Motors-Holden’s (GM-H) as we knew it.Firstly, the Commodore failed to reel in the high-flying Falcon, which was comfortably Australia’s most popular car at the time, owning some 15 per cent of the total vehicle market at its peak. Though more popular with private buyers, only once, in April 1986, did the VL hit the top spot, and only by three units. The end-of-year tally was nearly 55,000 versus over 66,000 registrations. The 1987 results were worse: 53,000 against nearly 70,000, in the XF’s favour.Fleet buyers preferred the visibly-wider (by nearly 140mm) Falcon over Commodore because of the former’s greater size, perceived higher-quality interior (Holden’s build quality was dreadful) and more-predictable road manners. No doubt Ford’s brilliant marketing helped, too.Secondly, the VL also suffered at the hands of an increasingly more-aggressive Mitsubishi, which burst back into the large-car segment in 1985, after a four-year absence following the end of the ancient Chrysler Valiant it inherited, with the innovative, wide-bodied Magna – the first of its kind among medium-sized cars anywhere in the world.A massive hit, the latter embarrassed the VL for interior space and set new local standards in refinement, and continued to challenge Holden and Falcon for the next 20 years.Thirdly, that Nissan engine was a financial disaster for GM-H, reportedly costing more than twice as much per unit than when the deal was struck years before, due to unfavourable currency fluctuations. Unable to make a profit with the VL, Holden couldn’t catch a break.That, along with mounting debt partly accrued due to the over-capitalisation and long-term sales underperformance of the also-Opel-based Camira project – a doomed endeavour given how close in size and price the two Holden family cars were – effectively bankrupted GM-H.On December 9, 1986, GM in Michigan bailed Holden out, and split the operations into the Holden Motor Company (manufacturing) and Holden Engine Company, the latter becoming a key export earner later on, allowing the brand to be less-encumbered with debt in the lead-up to the larger, second-generation Commodore’s release in August, 1988.The car behind the complicated legacyWhether the VL was a success or failure depends on your point of view. Commercially it under-performed, but critically… well, things were complicated.Available in government cheapo-spec SL, fleet-fodder Executive, private-buyer-baiting Berlina, luxury Calais and performance SS grades – with the latter trio being sedan-only bar one brief exception – it offered a broader choice than a very-complacent Ford.Actually, that’s a little harsh, as Ford was stretched developing the largely new-from-the-ground-up EA Falcon, along with the SA Capri convertible.What Holden desperately lacked were responses to the XF-based ute, panel van and long-wheelbase luxury car (Fairlane rival), as these were the provenance of the full-sized WB line-up that ceased in 1985. The VN-derived VG ute and VQ Statesman/Caprice twins wouldn’t surface until 1990.Contemporary reviews loved the Nissan I6’s BMW-levels of power delivery and straight-line performance, especially at the SL’s price point, and swooned over the turbo’s sensational speed and smoothness. But many also criticised the VL’s retrograde steering and suspension revisions that were meant to fix previous models’ sharp steering, but instead resulted in duller handling, excessive body movement and a lumpier ride. Fail.Holden was praised for solely offering a cheap V8, since Ford dropped theirs years before (and not rectified until 1991’s EB series), giving caravanning and boating-obsessed Australians an affordably torquey towing option, which nobody could match.To stoke VL sales, a Vacationer special arrived by mid 1987, while another – badged ‘200 Series’ in time for Australia’s Bicentennial – largely served as a spoiler for the EA Falcon the following March.HSV is bornThis was also the era of Holden’s very public breakup with racing hero Peter Brock over his infamous Polarizer engine-efficiency enhancer that GM-H wanted no part of. This led to the in-house Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) replacing Brock’s Holden Dealer Team, resulting in the HSV VL SV88 as the first in a long line of hot Commodores.An early standout was the HSV VL SS Group-A SV, unkindly branded the Plastic Pig or Batmobile despite boasting up to 231kW, developed to meet racing homologation regulations by Walkinshaw. But, with its outrageous body kit and pricing, sales stalled (it was released as VN came on stream), though now they’re a highly sought-after.VL afterlifeWith so much at stake, the VN arrived with huge fanfare in August 1988, and immediately addressed many of its predecessor’s perceived shortcomings, being equal-largest in class with Falcon, far-more modern inside and out and dynamically a better-behaved proposition.A more suitable family car for Australia, in other words.But the thing is, with the financially debilitating Nissan engine deal cancelled, the VN’s powertrain replacement – this time to a rough old Buick 3.8-litre V6 from North America – sealed the VL’s place in Holden folklore. Even with the very non-GM engine code name, RB30E is now considered one of the greats.If nothing else, the Commodore’s quick ascension to the top (a position it would continuously swap with the Falcon until the disastrous AU a decade later, but that’s another story) proves that Australians are basically size queens.Overall, 151,008 VLs were made over about 30 months, a record for any Commodore at the time, with 134,795 built for Australia, 4322 exported mostly to South East Asia and 12,720 in assembled from completely knocked-down components in New Zealand and Indonesia.The final first-gen Commodore may have lost the battle against the XF, but the big Holden eventually overtook – and outlived – the Falcon. The journey back began here.More importantly, it won the affection of Australian enthusiasts and loyalists like no other before or since – thanks ironically to that controversial Nissan heart within, saving the Commodore for 33 more years.Happy 40 birthday, VL.
.jpg)
