For the first time since 1969, when it arrived in the marketplace, the Holden V8 Commodore looks like it will be discontinued.
Rumours from the Holden discussions in South Australia that have been leaked to the Adelaide Advertiser are apparently saying that future commitments being made by the manufacturer in return for continued funding and support will be for the creation of two two-wheel drive models only.
‘It [the report] says the company is not likely to have a rear-wheel-drive car – and therefore a V8 – beyond 2016, or 2018 at a stretch,” says a news.com article.
Introduced in 1969, the Holden ‘bent eight’ was the first and only Australian-designed and built V8 engine to be produced in volume. More than 541,000 Holden V8s have been produced over a 30-year period. These versatile and muscular performers were successively re-engineered to embrace such advances as unleaded fuel and multi-point fuel injection and powered every mainstream model from the HT Holden to the top-selling VT Commodore.
The Holden Commodore has been manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors (GM) in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand.
Rivalry has come predominantly from the Ford Falcon—also locally built. Prior to the 1988 onwards second generation Commodore, the Holden was positioned a full class below the full-size Falcon.
Let enjoy some of the oldest V8 Commodores… Did you ever own a V8 Commodore?
Proudly Australian owned and operated