HOLDEN VT-VX COMMODORE 1997-2002

HOLDEN'S VT COMMODORE WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS. NOW THAT IT'S CLASSIC-PLATE ELIGIBLE FOR MANY AUSSIES, HERE'S THE DRUM FOR GETTING ONE

- GLENN TORRENS

Sales success with its Wheels Car of the Year winning bigger-bodied 1988 VN Commodore and Calais gave Holden the confidence – and the cash – to begin development of the next big Aussie Holden, the VT, due around 1996.

As with the VN, the VT was an Australian design program that allowed Holden to cherry pick bits from GM’s international parts bin to create a unique vehicle that would suit, appeal to, and survive Australia at a relatively low development and sale price. In that regard, the VT also continued with a grunty Aussie/US drivetrain combination clothed in a body styled to Aussies’ European-influenced tastes. Led by Holden’s Michael Simcoe (best remembered for his role in the ‘new’ Monaro, based on the VT) the VT was styled by a bunch of mostly 30-something car nuts livin’ the dream at Holden. Glorious.

At the VT’s media launch in 1997, sketches of Buick and Toyota versions of VT hung on the wall of Holden’s design studios. The Buick version was evidence VT was developed from the ground-up for both right- and left-hand drive. In hindsight, GM’s Buick XP2000 show car of 1995 was recognisably VT. Sure, Buick (US) and Toyota (Lexcen for Australia) models didn’t eventuate but another opportunity for Holden came with the US Chevrolet Impala and Caprice models’ scheduled end in 1996. With short (Commodore) and long (our Statesman) bodies, Holden was in an ideal position to develop several left-hook rear-drive models for Middle East markets. The ‘world-class Australian’ slogan was used for Holden’s VK and VL Commodores in the 1980s, but for the late-90s VT it was a claim that really made sense.