Holden Commodore 1988 News

A sought-after 1988 Holden Commodore VL Walkinshaw SS Group S Sedan (build No. 479) brought $57,750 at Shannons Melbourne auction. It was being hotly pursued by a number of muscle car enthusiasts. The Walkinshaw or Walky was created in 1988. It had a number of other nicknames, including the Plastic Pic, Winged Warrior, Plastic Fantastic and Batmobile  to name a few. The Walky came about after Holden and Peter Brock's HDT parted ways in 1987. Holden needed someone to build performance cars and it turned to Tom Walkinshaw's British based TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) and that's how HSV was born. With the resources of TWR and a much bigger wallet, HSV had the necessary ingredients to show it was able to match, if not better, HDT's previous cars. It didn't disappoint. The VL SS Group A SV was its first task. To meet International Group A homologation rules, 500 had to be sold. This wasn't a problem as they sold like hotcakes, and HSV decided to build another 250. But sales slowed as the release of the VN Group A SS drew near. The story goes that HSV was left with many of the cars, and there are reports of some being sold without the entire body kit and of some being raffled off. Apart from the outrageous body kit, the Walky became the first Holden V8 to be fuel injected. It also came with four-bolt mains and twin throttle body inlet manifold. The body kit was designed to minimise drag and maximise down force. It was designed and tested extensively in a wind tunnel by TWR in Britain. At $47,000 the Walky was by no means cheap, but has held its value reasonably well for a car built over 20 years ago. It's certainly a head turner wherever it goes, which is part of its appeal and has cemented itself as one of Australia's true muscle cars.For more information on Walkinshaws, check out www.walkinshaw.net

SEVENTEEN of the top 20 cars stolen in Australia in the past year are early model Holden Commodores that can be started with a dipstick. The other three cars in the top 20 are the 1997 and '98 Hyundai Excel (eighth and 17th) and the 1991 Toyota Camry (20th), according to National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction figures. Executive director Ray Carroll says Commodores are over-represented because there are so many on the road and the early models lack adequate security. ``In some of the early models you only need a key vaguely of the same make and model; the locks are so worn anything with a similar profile will start them. Some even start with a dipstick,'' he says. ``Holden introduced immobilisers to Commodores in 2001 but the early versions were pretty poor quality in terms of effectiveness.'' The Commodore has been Australia's most popular-selling car for more than 10 years and the models which top the theft council's ``most-stolen'' list range from 1989 to 2003. Most stolen is the 1992 Commodore with 393 going missing in the past year. Of these, 332 are short-term thefts for joyriding, vandalism, transport or to commit a crime while the other 61 are classed as ``profit-motivated thefts'' where the cars are ``rebirthed'' and sold, usually interstate, or broken up and sold as parts. Carroll says V8 and six-cylinder Commodores are an attractive target for joyriders because they are ``good for doing wheelies and donuts''. They are also targeted by thieves for their value as parts on the black market, he says. Theft council figures show car thefts have plummeted 65 per cent in the past 10 years from a peak of 129,923 in 2000-01 to 53,588 last financial year. ``There is a lot of speculation about the reasons for this trend,'' Carroll says. ``One is that the fleet is becoming more immobilised, but there are still something like five million unsecured non-immobilised cars in the country. ``Also, as the theft rate comes down, there are less offenders doing it which means police can concentrate on more intelligence-led policing of high-rate offenders. ``There is a small number of offenders committing a large percentage of car theft, so police can have a big impact on theft rates if they take these criminals out of action.'' Carroll says another major contributing factor to the drop in car theft is the increasing vigilance of motorists. ``When we started 10 years ago the typical old-fashioned statement was `no one would ever want to steal my old bomb','' he says. ``There has been a lot of work done by us, the police and others to educate people that it's the older cars - or bombs - that get stolen the most. ``People are more security conscious now.'' MOST STOLEN CARS 1992 Commodore 393 1990 Commodore 343 1991 Commodore 330 1998 Commodore 323 1989 Commodore 319 1995 Commodore 295 1999 Commodore 294 1997 Hyundai Excel 282 1997 Commodore 282 1996 Commodore 275 2000 Commodore 266 2002 Commodore 261 1993 Commodore 257 1987 Commodore 245 1994 Commodore 240 2001 Commodore 229 1998 Hyundai Excel 229 2003 Commodore 220 1986 Commodore 219 1991 Toyota Camry 215 (2010-11 National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council) CAR THEFTS Fin Year     Short term    For profit 2000/01      114,766          15,157 2005/06       55,995           12,231 2010/11       34,155           11,659 BIKE THEFTS Fin Year     Short term    For profit 2000/01        2295              3863 2005/06        2392              4263 2010/11        3036              4738

Don't you love the way Holden's PR machine handles bad news - namely the possible end of a locally designed Commodore - by preceding it with good news the day before. In this case it was a feel good yarn about the restoration of the first 48-215 Holden, built in 1948 and owned by legendary BHP boss Essington Lewis. Clever, but we saw straight through it. Cynics might suggest Holden is simply kite flying to see how much heat a possible end of local large car production might bring. And there's been plenty already from all quarters, including government and unions. Is it pure chance that Ford is hinting at something similar in a similar time frame - canning local production of Aussie designed (and built) six cylinder rear wheel drive sedans to be replaced by rejigged front wheel drive American imports. In Holden's case the donor country could even be Korea. After Mitsubishi's "death by a thousand cuts'' withdrawal from local production, could we be seeing the start of a protracted strategic withdrawal from Ford and Holden - a PR campaign aimed at letting us down slowly (but surely). Or is it a case of sabre rattling to scare up more subsidies. Neither Holden nor Ford would be happy with the Federal Government when the Green Car Fund was boned. It was essentially a bribe paid to the Australian car industry to maintain car production in this country. The Green Car sweetener cost tax payers tens of millions of dollars for which they get Aussie jobs. Naturally, all profits are repatriated to parent companies in the US and Japan.

The battery-powered Commodore is the first of seven being built by EV Engineering in Melbourne. Chief engineer Tim Olding, who spent 19 years with Holden, says the first test car is completed and would conclude validation testing by February. It will be joined in June by six more test cars built as a "proof of concept project to demonstrate technical viability". The eight-year project is a partnership with companies specialising in electronics, charging infrastructure and fleet vehicles and has been partly funded by a $3.5m government grant under the now-axed Green Car Innovation Fun. Olding says they have also received assistance from Holden but "no promises". "Holden gave us all the CAD (computer-aided design) for the base vehicle, access with their engineers to make the car function in the same way and access to their proving ground at Lang Lang," he says. "But there have been no promises from Holden about building an electric car. This is a feasibility project to look at all the components. No promises are guaranteed." Olding also said their conversion architecture could effectively be transferred to a Ford Falcon but refused to comment on approaches to, or from, Ford or any other manufacturers. For the first time, Olding provided details of the electric car concept and the reasons for choosing the Commodore. He says the Australian car industry's strength is in large rear-wheel-drive cars and the ability to build a variety of different models from the same architecture such as sedans, wagons and utes. "It (the EV) should be able to be built on an existing production line alongside ICE (internal combustion engine) models," he says. "Rear-wheel drive is perfect for balance and for the placement of the electric powertrain." Their EV Commodore concept replaces the Commodore's engine and transmission tunnel with 210 40amp-hour cells from Bosch; the same as used in BMW's electric concept cars. Olding says the modules can be built into the unusual engine/transmission tunnel shape. The fuel tank is replaced by the power electrics module and the differential is replaced by the electric motor and gearbox between the rear suspension. "Even the upcoming Tesla Model S has a similar configuration," he says. "There should be no major change to the engineering; that's the key component. This is the most cost-effective way to make an EV in Australia. "They should cost about the same as an ICE car, plus the cost of the battery." Olding says the battery is anchored with quick-release connections so it can be swapped easily to alleviate anxiety over the estimated 160km range. The car would also be chargeable from a home mains output. EV Engineering's consortium includes Bosch, Continental, Futuris, Better Place, Air International and GE, one of the largest owners of feet vehicles in Australia. The consortium is headed by Rob McEniry, former CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Olding says GE will help conduct testing over the next two years. However, he says it is also feasible that an EV car could be produced for public sale before the official end of testing. While Holden has no current plans for an EV Commodore, it will release the Volt next year which has an electric motor with a small petrol-powered "range extender" motor.

... as the Australian car industry returned to normality last month. The official Vfacts figures for July are released tomorrow and are expected to show that the Japanese-based carmakers have finally shaken off the production delays arising from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. That was evident in June when the mid-sized Mazda3 led sales on the back of orders taken after the natural disasters that the company hadn’t been able to deliver. That spike dropped in July but the Mazda3 was only just beaten into top spot by the Commodore and the duo are battling for bragging rights as the best-selling model of 2011. The Commodore is about 120 vehicles ahead in the year-to-date sales race but should get another shot of sales when the LPG versions go on sale later this year. Ford’s new turbodiesel Territory outsold the petrol model for the second consecutive month since its launch. The result proves both the pent-up demand for a diesel in the big SUV and that Australian buyers are accepting diesel as a smart alternative to petrol. Diesels are an increasingly popular choice, BMW's diesel-engined vehicles are outselling petrol versions for the first time this year. See this week's Carsguide for the full Vfacts details and a rundown on the diesel v petrol debate.

The company last week announced plans to suspend production of the car for two weeks in July and August to run out the current model and make way for a refreshed Commodore. Apart from engine tweaks and an E85 model, the Commodore is set to get a new interior. But the next Commodore’s crown as best could be overtaken by the rising star in the GM-Holden ranks. New GM-Holden chairman and managing director, Mike Devereux, says the chance of the Cruze small car knocking off the Commodore as the nation's best-seller will be decided by buyers. "It really comes down to consumer preferences," he says. "You have to follow what people want. People want great style, value and quality and fuel efficiency is obviously becoming important. Our SIDI engines in Commodore are critical to that, we've got ethanol Commodores coming... but Cruze versus Commodore, that's going to be up to the marketplace." In recent years the Commodore sedan has often been beaten by the Toyota Corolla in the monthly sales race. By contrast, the Korean-built version of the Cruze has been a strong seller since its introduction last June with the company regularly selling more than 2000 a month. Devereux, who has just taken over from Alan Batey, says Holden is on track to launch the locally-built four-cylinder Cruze early next year. After the Cruze was launched, Batey was bullish about the small car's potential. "I can see a time when Cruze will be eating Epica's lunch," Batey said. Since then it has consistently outsold the Epica. The Cruze is currently imported from Korea but GM-Holden is on track to start local production early next year. Apart from the sedan, it is well advanced with a hatch version to compete in the hotly contested small car segment, which is traditionally a strong hatch market. However, Devereux is not too worried about the Cruze ending the Commodore's 14-year reign as the country's best selling car. "If folks want to buy more Cruzes than Commodores then I guess that's okay but it will be up to the marketplace," he says. Last month, Holden sold 2125 Cruzes, about half the number of Commodores retailed. The Commodore still remains overwhelmingly the most popular Holden. So far this year 11,364 Commodores have been sold versus 6418 Cruzes.

Last year, the Commodore retained its title of Australia’s best selling car for the 13th year in a row, albeit by a diminishing margin.

Ryan Moloney likes going around corners fast.  The 28-year-old actor, better known as Jarrod "Toadfish'' Rebecchi in Neighbours, loves throwing himself and his Honda VFR 800 motorcycle around the Black and Reefton spurs in the Yarra Valley for fun.Moloney, who has been in Neighbours for 13 years, prefers two wheels to four and believes our roads would be a lot safer if everyone spent time on a motorbike learning just how dangerous our roads can be.What was your first car?A red VL Commodore, and I absolutely loved it.What do you drive now?A mix between my motorbike, a Honda VFR 800, and a mountain bike. So bikes all round.Do you have a favourite place to drive and who would you take?My favourite ride is through the Mount Dandenong ranges, then off to Warburton or the Yarra Valley. And, just to scare myself, the Black and Reefton spurs. All stunning scenery, with lots of corners for fun.How far would you drive in an average year?I have no idea, depends how busy work gets.Do you have a favourite motoring memory?My first trips to the Great Ocean Rd -- every P-plater's rite of passage. I also loved my next car, a Nissan Pathfinder. I had it when my wife Alison and I first met, and she loved it too.What would you buy if money was no object?An F1 team. No preference for which one, as long as I got to drive them.What music is playing in your car?None. I like to hear the screech of the car's tyres before it hits me.How much is too much for a new car?No more than $15,000. You are going to thrash it, bash it and crash it. And you can get some really good cars for less than $15,000.What should be done to make driving safer?Everyone should ride a motorbike first. It gives you a feeling of just how dangerous the roads are and that you are not invincible. You develop a keen sense of reading traffic and can often tell what a motorist will do by subtle behavioural changes to a car. Above all, be courteous, obey the road rules, try to remember you are only trying to get somewhere. It's not worth the money if you crash, the anger and stress, or your life, even worse, someone else's.Are you sponsored by a car company?No, but I'm open for anyone to give me one.

After being a smiling model on quiz shows The Price Is Right and Temptation, McGregor has landed a gig hosting the Foxtel reality show, Blood, Sweat & Gears."It was always the next step," McGregor says. "I meet people saying they love Temptation, but it's so hard to get your personality across when you're just smiling in the background."A graphic designer by trade, 26-year-old McGregor spent the past two-and-a-half years in Nine's Temptation family with Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon.McGregor admits he's not "the craziest car fan," but didn't hesitate when it came to auditioning for BS&G."To be honest, I got a phone call from one of the guys at Foxtel asking me if I would like to audition for it," he says. "I never knock back an audition, even if I don't think I'm suited to it."He may not be a revhead, but the Aussies on the show certainly are."They're absolute nuts. It's like a religion to them. Since I have had the gig, I have had so many people come up to me and tell me a story about their cars," McGregor says.The show pits seven guys and their beloved cars against each other.The contestants are;Andrew: Japanese Import (Nissan 200SX)Andy: American Muscle(Chevy Corvette)Dave: Classic Australian(Holden LJ Torana)Dimitri: Classic Australian(Ford GT Falcon)Dominic: Performance Rotary (Mazda RX7)Jeremy: Australian Muscle (Holden Commodore VL HDT)Mohamed: High Performance European (Ferrari 350 Modena)Official judges are Ian Luff, a former race driver, and Nathan Luck, a motoring journalist. Each week, the revheads and the cars will be put through a series of tests. While the drivers will know who wins each stage, they never find out their placing on the leaderboard. McGregor says it adds to the tension."They don't know who is doing well and the challengers get a little angry and eaten up inside," he says."These guys think their car is the best. But they find out a few things about themselves as drivers - maybe they're not as good as they thought. I think it will get people into the show."While McGregor is enjoying his debut as TV host, he is unused to seeing himself as a presenter."You're always your own biggest critic and it is still kind of strange when I see myself. But I love hearing feedback, even when it's bad. It makes you better at what you do."