Holden highlights in New Zealand: part 2

Sunday, 23 February 2020

By curtailing its right-hand drive programme, General Motors is also ending a long and rich history in New Zealand that began well before Holden came along. This weekend we take a look at some of the highlights of the last 94 years of General Motors and Holden in this country - click here to read part 1.

How much sway did the Holden brand have?

The 500,000th locally assembled GM vehicle was a Commodore, which is no surprise really.

A lot. An event in 1980 gives good example. This was the heyday of 'Think Big' and Prime Minister Rob Muldoon reckoned NZ stood a good chance of breaking free of oil by using the alternative fuels of LPG and CNG, whose merits were being hugely talked up.

GMNZ cannily put its hand up to conduct a consumption test, which Government probably hoped would give these 'wonder' fuels such credence every Kiwi would take to installing huge gas cylinders into their boots in preference to running petrol. Whereas may Holden saw it the other way, as a way of showing that petrol cars weren't as greedy as they were perceived.

The Minister of Transport Bill Birch (far right) was all about CNG in 1980. GMNZ was less so.

'The alternative fuel rally' comprising a North Island circumnavigation involving three sizes of car – up to 1.6, 1.6-2.0 litres, over 2.0-litres – and three fuels, the local brews, plus a type that was rare for cars in those days. Holden went to some effort to secure diesel models that could provide a barometer.

**READ MORE:

Holden New Zealand's legendary PR man Ed Finn on the ground at his world-first Chatham Island event last year.

* Holden highlights in New Zealand: part 1

* Holden was never really Australian

Watch: the day we drove an Acadia on the Chatham Islands.

* Holden NZ responds to Australian speculation

* Camaro to replace Commodore in Supercars?**

It was a big bucks exercise sanctioned by then Energy Minister Bill Birch roped in some top racers of the day, including Denny Hulme, with invited media and Government officials sitting in.

GM's Vectra prootion seemed like a good idea, but quickly became a PR nightmare.

And the result? Well, you know the answer: It's why we still have orthodox petrol stations. By halfway, it was not only clear the gas-based fuels are not doing the job but also that the most-hyped, CNG, is such a disaster the kit provider was trying to have the whole exercise called off.

Such a epic undertaking to prove a point: was that GM's style?

The 2.0-litre Starfire engine-powered Commodore may have been an awful thing, but to a 16-year-old called Greg Murphy, it was awesome, because his hero raced one that looked just like it.

Right to the end … Holden comms manager Ed Finn reminded why he is the top practitioner of his craft in this country with an event last year that made headlines everywhere and was a true world-first.

In recognition of 2019 being the 65th anniversary of Holden in NZ, took the brand to the only part of the country it had never previously officially conquered: Chatham Island.

Nine-months' planning went into a first vehicle event at the most far-flung corner of NZ that took two cars and three SUVs - including the first and potentially only Commodore (a Tourer) to ever touch its wind-blasted soil - this 20-year veteran of auto press PR (with Ford then BMW, prior to Holden) recounts, was 'my biggest logistical exercise ever undertaken to stage a press event.'

Shipping schedules and allowing for weather contingencies that would have kept the vessel from unloading meant vehicles that departed Napier on March 14 didn't come back until June 6. BTW, the launch fleet stands as the only passenger vehicles to not only go to the Chatham Island – but also return, having cumulatively clocked around 2700kms, mainly on gravel, but also across the fickle peat turf.

An amazing occasion, but GM has gone even bigger. For instance, when launching the Pontiac Le Mans (don't ask, it was rubbish) to dealers, HMNZ booked the then-new Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington and undertook a complete, carefully-scripted and choreographed singing and dancing stage show. What made the night truly memorable? Those 20 professional actors and a huge troupe of dancers being upstaged by the marketing manager walking on … then immediately falling off the stage. Despite being in considerable pain from his two-metre plummet into darkness, Terry McEwen delivered his speech.

Then there was the Vectra launch of 1990 ….

What happened there?

This surely stands as the biggest and most memorable car launch promotion every mounted in NZ. One million households are mailed plastic keys; 10 will work and their holders will own a Vectra. The biggest direct mail campaign NZ has ever seen. What could go wrong?

Everything. Dealers are overwhelmed. Keys are pushed so forcefully the locks either fail or are fouled. More than 10 cars are opened. When GM tries to argue that only winners with the correct keys will get their cars, the whole country turns feral.

Then big boss, Dan McCarthy, goes on Paul Holmes' show to defend his brand on live TV and then, somewhere between the Green Room and the studio, decides to back down. When Holmes' snarls 'why won't you give them all cars?' the Yank defuses the bloodlust by simply saying: 'We will.' Thirteen cars are given away.

Geek fact: The icon of the ad campaign, Robbie the Robot, is one of the first commissions for a new Wellington studio. Weta Workshops.

So now it's all over, what will we remember the Holden and GM for?

A whole lot of stuff. They delivered some epic cars, the Holden imprint enhancing with the first NZ-assembled car, an FE, coming off the Petone line in 1957 – and yeah, some total duds too – and a ton of interesting tech, from radial-tuned suspension to new-age intrigues (such as the first alcohol interlock devices for cars, back in the late '80s) and old-school delights with some of the world's best-sounding V8s. They ended the 'Aussie' Commodore era with the SS-V Redline, a performance sedan that could go toe-to-toe with any more exotic Euro V8 of the same calibre and which overshadowed anything of common calibre from Holden Special Vehicles.

They also ran hard in local motorsport well before most locally-represented brands immersed. On that note, hark back to 1988 when a Hastings 16-year-old has his first taste of a Holden Commodore. It's his dad's company car, in 2.0-litre format.

That 2.0-litre Starfire was easily forgettable – though Australia dumping its entire build run on NZ, after finding it unsaleable on home turf less so - but Greg Murphy is rapt to be behind the wheel.

'It was such a cool car because (Peter) Brock drove one and that was good enough for me. To think that a few years later we would be team mates.'