CarNut: did Commodore kill Holden?

Saturday, 18 April 2020

The CarNut lads take a look at three very different Holden Commodores.

In the newest video from CarNut, Blu, Cam and Steve take a look at three very different Commodores, and lament the loss of both the iconic Commodore nameplate and Holden entirely.

The Commodore was in production for 42 years before Holden finally dropped it earlier this year, with Australian production finishing in 2017 followed by the introduction of the fully-imported ZB Commodore that the lads look at here.

To compliment the ZB, Blu also rolls out his own VF SS-V Redline, while Cam brings along his VZ ute for good measure. Steve, being a Euro-snob, doesn't own a Commodore.

Tuning in to ZB: new German-built Holden Commodore is a polarising machine.

While the video here is a shorter version, you can watch the full-length version on Play Stuff by clicking here.

**READ MORE:

* Sunday Drive: Holden's last blast

* Five awful Aussie-built cars

* Five great Holden racing cars

Commodore has always had a big personality.

* Five iconic Holden concepts**

While the ZB caught a lot of flack from traditionalists who simply shouted 'If it's not built in Australia and doesn't have a V8, it's not a Commodore' loud enough that they couldn't hear anyone who actually drove one saying that it was quite a good car, the fact is it was a good car with the wrong name, in the wrong market at the wrong time. People stopped buying large cars and started buying SUVs, and the ZB was just one victim of that.

Stuff Motoring ran a long-term VE SS-V Redline and ZB VXR back-to-back and, while the VXR lacked the SS-V's visceral V8 charm, it still impressed us vastly, particularly its agile handling, impressive technology and build quality that was the best seen in any car to wear the Commodore name.

You can read some of our SS-V long-term reports here:

* We're saying farewell to the Aussie Commodore the only way we know how

* Can the earth sustain commuting in a Holden Commodore SS-V Redline?

* Here we come in our Holden Commodore SS-V Redline, wave and toot

* The day they took our long-term Redline away (it's okay, it came back)

And some of our ZB VXR long-term reports here:

* From Central Otago to central Auckland in our new ZB Commodore

* Out with Commodore SS-V, in with VXR

* Last call for our long-term Holden Commodore VXR

Like all cars there were some great Commodores and some, well, frankly awful Commodores over the years, but it still holds a big place in Australia and New Zealand's collective consciousness, with a lot of kids spending a big part of their youth on road trips in the back seat of a Commodore.

When it launched in 1978, the Opel Rekord-based Commodore faced a lot the same obstacles the ZB faced - it replaced a much larger, much-loved car - but it didn't have to overcome the 'not made here' stigma the ZB had and eventually went on to become a much-loved icon in its own right.

Would the ZB have eventually achieved such results? Probably not, but we will never get the chance to find out now, following Holden's sudden, but inevitable, demise.