Goodbye... Holden :(

[Fu Manchu]

The cool cars

 

[figjam]

Now that the ZB Commodore has been consigned to Holden history as an unwanted family child with dubious parentage, its b*st*rd cousins, Opel Insignia and Buick Regal are heading out of town within the next few years, if not sooner.
They are going to be replaced by some SUV / people mover electric thingy from Stellantis, the owner of of some of the best performing unreliable ****boxes from rundown brands across the motoring world.

Opel to replace Commodore ZB with SUV in 2024 - carsales.com.au

IF ..... Holden was still operating (as an independant) how would it have handled the sudden emergence of electric vehicles ........ the socially accepted saviours of the planet.
The ECOmmodore (4 door VT Monaro) was one of the first hybrids, which shows that Australian engineers were ahead of the pack at the time, but as usual with Australian industry, when you are on a good thing, somebody else will steal it, and the Australian input is forgotten..

 

[vc commodore]

I vaguely remember reading the Corvette might be coming to Australia....Can't remember exactly where I read that or when, but it was recently.

In the Birdwood motor museum S.A, there is a VB (might be a VC) Commodore with an electric motor fitted....(It might be a battery) ....Don't know whether it is a driver, but it was there last time I was there (about 10 years ago)...

So yup, Holden was definately ahead of its time with Hybrid technology

 

[Skylarking]

GM were supposedly leaders in EV propulsion, at various points in times going back to early days of motor vehicles... They dabbled with spark power but they always killed them off ...

Most notably was GM's (Delco Electrics) involvement in the moon buggy of 1971 and later their Chevrolet Electrovette of 1976. But probably the most know was the EV1 of 1996 - 1999. These vehicles were leased to end customers and in 2002 they were killed off by GM. All the leased cars were taken back by GM and the leese's were not offered a purchase option as their lease allowed, instead they wee sent to the crusher to the protest of those who loved driving them....

So it's not surprising that Holden, being a GM subsidiary, was allowed to also dabled with such stuff, presumably.... But i've not heard of the 1978 VB electric commodore so not sure if this was indeed done by Holden (though wouldn't be surprised if it was).

More interesting was Holden's small involvement in the 2012 Calais EV as built by EV Enginmeering Pty Ltd as documented on this RVD... The talk was Holden supplied the ICE vehciles and some engineering input and test facilities and that EV Enginnering (and the consortium it was part of) did the developement work. Supposedly the consortium spent @26M (including a $3.5M govco grant)... But were any sold?

Sadly, Holden being a subsidiary was probably told to pull its head in on many a developement to stop making GM developement look so bad...

Wonder how many managers who were pushing EV's are now grumbling "told you so" after seeing the explosive rise in Telsa and the equally explosive demise of GM and with it our beloved Holden...

It's a fcuked up world really and as a rsult we are back to digging holes and growing fleece while trying to sort out our trade imbalance... Can't go far as a country if we end up relying on Barist's and Brothels to earn a crust

 

[figjam]

Not new news, but this this idea / story has been revisited, and it still looks good after nearly 30 years.

https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/...d-have-been-an-aussie-holden-drive-flashback/

It may not have been a Holden sales success in 1996, but today it makes more sense than a lot of the fugly or ginormouse EVs which are promoted as planet savers.
Even our Minstrel for Moonbeams (Chis Watsisname) may approve of it.
Big drawback today would be ANCAP and it's BS which insists on all the electronic driver aids crap be fitted, thus increasing the price and decreasing the driving enjoyment.

Would I buy one today, as a shopping trolley and runabout ? Sure would. With a bit of re-arranging, could even fit it in the garage beside the 3 current planet destroyers.

 

[White beast 2023]

This was on the news earlier today very sad , luckily I haven't had major issues with getting parts for my car yet but I Know it's going alot harder from now on

 

[vc commodore]

This was on the news earlier today very sad , luckily I haven't had major issues with getting parts for my car yet but I Know it's going alot harder from now on

I piss myself laughing at this stuff..

When models were superceded, never did this crap come up....So why all of a sudden, Holden have left the building, it's come up?

It's so people can get rich quick on the gullible

 

[White beast 2023]

I piss myself laughing at this stuff..

When models were superceded, never did this crap come up....So why all of a sudden, Holden have left the building, it's come up?

It's so people can get rich quick on the gullible

I was very surprised seen in the on the news and it's never been on the news for a very long time since what happened Holden on a couple of years ago very odd.

 

[vc commodore]

I was very surprised seen in the on the news and it's never been on the news for a very long time since what happened Holden on a couple of years ago very odd.

Saw it myself and laughed my ass off....I really think the wreckers want to cash in on people being gullible.....

Don't be surprised if Rare Spares or alikes starts reproducing parts in the future, like they have been for years

 

[krusing]

Holden left the building on the 29th October at 10:45am in 2017,
And the last car sold for $750,000,

Holden is now just History in the making.