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The Holden Commodore ute that never was! The secret ute, cab-chassis and Subaru Outback-style SUV years ahead of their time that may have turned Holden around and rewritten its future

Holden never released a ute version of the original V-car Commodore, but it came very close. (Image credit: William Vicente)

A recently unearthed photo has revealed never-before-seen Holden models that – if put into production in the early 1980s instead of discarded – might have altered the course of GMH’s history and even changed the Australian family car.

Lurking in the background of a full-sized clay proposal for the 1981 VH Commodore that was also eventually rejected, they include drawings of a Commodore utility and one-tonne tray behind the model, along with a raised crossover wagon version hanging on another wall.

The ute and cab-chassis tray are clearly based on the first-generation (VB/VC/VH/VK/VL from 1978 to 1988) ‘V-car’ Commodore sedan and wagon, and even carry the giveaway ‘V-Truck’ title as proof.

Taken at GMH’s design studio at Fishermans Bend in around late 1979 or early 1980 when the VB Commodore was still selling up a storm, the pictures suggest that Holden was planning to release Commodore commercial variants by about the mid 1980s (VK Commodore era).

This clay proposal for the VH Commodore was evidently rejected. (Image: Holden) This clay proposal for the VH Commodore was evidently rejected. (Image: Holden)

These were likely replacements for the WB Kingswood-based utes and van, which were waiting in the wings at the time, but were actually very obviously based on the 1971 HQ Kingswood, so already nearly a decade old at the time this photo was taken.

Sadly, the V-Truck ute and tray never happened, and Holden went on to suffer a catastrophic sales decline against the high-flying Ford Falcon range – including the fresher XD-XF Falcon ute and van ­that the dated WB range was too old to properly challenge – until GMH finally faced bankruptcy and had to be bailed out by US parent General Motors in December, 1986.

These easter eggs suggest Commodore commercial variants were planned for the mid ‘80s. (Image: Holden) These easter eggs suggest Commodore commercial variants were planned for the mid ‘80s. (Image: Holden)

Reorganised and free of its crippling debts post-bailout, Holden did not make the same mistake twice, launching the 1990 VG Commodore ute two years after the second-generation VN Commodore arrived, playing a pivotal role in the company’s 1990s rejuvenation.

Based on the VN wagon (using its coil sprung rear end – the first-ever ute in Australia not to feature leaf springs out back), the VG ute was a rushed program completed for just $10 million (around $20 million in 2021 dollars) – a paltry sum that barely buys a tail-light redesign nowadays.

Give it the caption: The first production Commodore ute didn’t arrive until 1990 with the VG. (Image: Holden) Give it the caption: The first production Commodore ute didn’t arrive until 1990 with the VG. (Image: Holden)

Whether Holden dusted off the ute renderings for VG is not known, but the tray drawing bears a marked resemblance to the third-generation Commodore-based ute, the VY one-tonner cab-chassis tray released in 2003 – more than 20 years after the V-Truck sketches were born.

The first production Commodore one-tonne ute didn’t arrive until 2003 with the VY. (Image: Holden) The first production Commodore one-tonne ute didn’t arrive until 2003 with the VY. (Image: Holden)

20+ years before Adventra

Meanwhile, Holden’s other first-gen Commodore-based proposal – the Commodore wagon crossover – is even more astonishing, given how ahead of the game it was back in ‘79/’80.

Apparent from the rendering are off-road 4WD capability, chunky wheels/tyres, bulging arches, a high roof and Land Rover Discovery-style skylights, suggesting that this would have been a Commodore-derived 4WD wagon some 15 years ahead of the original Subaru Outback of 1996, and over 20 years before Holden’s very own VY Adventra crossover wagon launched in 2003.

The actual Holden Adventra didn’t appear until 2003 (VZ model shown). (Image: Holden) The actual Holden Adventra didn’t appear until 2003 (VZ model shown). (Image: Holden)

Was this the inspiration for the Adventra? While the latter failed in the marketplace against the altogether more-ambitious Ford Territory launched several months later in 2004 (as Australia’s only-ever SUV), it might have been a different story had Holden found the resources (and courage) to break new ground in the early-to-mid 1980s with this.

At that time, SUVs were not a thing and the only comparable car-based crossover rival was the American Motors Concord 4WD and – to a lesser extent – the smaller Subaru Leone 4WD wagon. Both sold strongly.

Whether this Holden crossover concept was meant to be based on the V-car Commodore wagon or related V-Truck ute is difficult to ascertain from the sole low-res image, as it most closely resembles a scaled-up version of the Matra Simca Rancho – though that was a front-wheel-drive ute-based three-door wagon proto-SUV made in France from 1977 to 1984.

Was Holden inspired by the Matra Simca Rancho? (Image: Archives) Was Holden inspired by the Matra Simca Rancho? (Image: Archives)

As a new piece of long-lost Holden history, it is a bittersweet thing to behold this recently discovered photo. As production models, the renderings’ potential to have staved off plummeting market share and push GMH into fertile new markets decades ago is clear with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, especially as SUVs command over 50 per cent of total volume in Australia in 2021 and pick-up trucks nearly 25 per cent.

More importantly, they prove that Holden had the foresight and will to accurately predict where Australian new-car buyers were heading in the future.

As for the car in the foreground – what do we make of the failed VH Commodore proposal?

The six-window profile was postponed for the September 1981 launch of the actual production VH sedan but saved for its VK successor released in early 1984.

We reckon GMH did the right thing to reject this proposal, because the apparently carryover VB/VC headlights are even less altered than the more-slanted and sleeker VH front end – and the latter was blamed as being too ‘samey’ for Australian large-car buyers to trade-in their earlier Commodores for, adding to the VH’s stagnating sales issues. Plus, the narrow slated grille sits uneasily and is unnecessarily fussy in our eyes.

That said, the bumpers seem like plastic facsimiles of the steel items they replaced, which would have visually approximated what the XD Falcon featured at the time, so it’s understandable why Holden’s designers experimented with that.

Back to the pictures on the wall… what are your thoughts? Do you think Holden should have developed and produced a VH-VK-VL-era Commodore ute and Adventra-style crossover wagon?