HOLDEN VN-VP COMMODORE/CALAIS
Developed under the black cloud of the 1970s fuel crises, the first-generation Commodore (1978 VB to 1986 VL) was smaller than Holden’s Kingswood. By the early 1980s Holden’s sales suffered against its main competitor, Ford’s Falcon, especially with company/fleet sales. Holden realised its fleet/family Commodore needed to be bigger – as big as Falcon – to survive the 1990s.
The company’s confidence in its 1988 VN Commodore/Calais was evident in its straight-to-the-point, superlative-free advertising: “The Big New Holdens”.
Thankfully to develop the VN, Holden had the international General Motors parts bin to raid. Australia is a small market so parts-sharing was, for decades, a sensible low-cost way for the ‘big three’ (Holden, Ford and Chrysler and later, also Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota) to develop unique models for Australia. Holden looked to its German sister company Opel for the late-1980s Omega aero-era flush-fit door and glass hardware and spliced the doors to a wider body. Under it, the basics of the Aussie-tough VB-VL suspension was retained – with a few tweaks – and the wheelbase lengthened and rear axle/track widened. The engine bay carried a new 3.8-litre V6: With 125kW, it was Holden’s most powerful family-car six.
The result was a uniquely Australian car; an Aussie-tough, aerodynamic and big new Commodore that by 1988, put Holden back into a fair fight with
