The Holden Commodore (VK) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1984 to 1986. It was the fourth iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and introduced the luxury sedan variant; the Holden Calais.
Overview The VK series was in production between February 1984 and February 1986 and was the first Commodore to have plastic (polypropylene) bumpers and introduced rear quarter windows for a six-window design (styled by Holden, but similar in appearance to the Opel Senator) as opposed to the four-window design on previous Commodore models. Apart from the bumpers and "glasshouse", other changes for the VK Commodore included a front grille redesign and revamped dashboard instrumentation that included a full digital (vacuum fluorescent display) arrangement for the new luxury version, the Calais.
The exterior of the VK Commodore was also updated with a more modern and aggressive appearance. This included a new grille design very different from previous models, with three bold strips rather than a metallic grille, the now plastic front and rear bumpers/skirts replacing the obsolete metal guards, and a new rear tail light assembly, whereby they now spread from one side to another with a black panel in between. This all added up to a more prominent, sharper look for the mid-1980s. Changes were also made to the interior whereupon the panel of instruments were now square-shaped rather than the more conventional circular layout. In total, 135,705 VK Commodores were built.
Powertrains Engine choices (not necessarily available on all cars in the VK range) were two versions of a 5.0-litre Holden V8 engine (replaced by the 4.9-litre V8 when Group A rules entered Australian motorsport in 1985, with the SS Group A being introduced in March 1985) and two versions of a 3.3-litre Black straight-six engine (essentially a refined Blue straight-six with slight increases in power and efficiency), the latter of which was now available with either a carburettor or fuel injection. The 3.3 EST (Electronic Spark Timing) carburettor engine was standard equipment for most VK Commodores, with the 3.3 EFI injection engine nominated as standard equipment for the Calais sedan. The EFI engine was originally not available in the station wagon, as the fuel injected model's electric fuel pump is located in the fuel tank (the EFI VK Commodores' fuel pump is external; they have no in-tank fuel pump). The reengineering of the wagon specific fuel tank was not finished in time for the VK's release, requiring around another eight months.
The 2.85-litre six-cylinder and the 4.2-litre V8, mainstays of the previous Commodore ranges were dropped, hence unavailable to the VK. However, Holden's 1.9-litre Starfire inline-four unit was offered on New Zealand-assembled VK models, sedans as well as wagons.
Models The VK range introduced new names for the specification levels, with Executive now a stand-alone nameplate alongside the base model SL. The Commodore Executive was basically a Commodore SL appointed with automatic transmission and power steering, and was aimed at capturing the fleet market, a market that Holden had lost its share in when the smaller bodied Commodore originally replaced the Kingswood. Also introduced was the Commodore Berlina (replacing the SL/X) and the Holden Calais (replacing the Commodore SL/E). The station wagon body style was available in SL, Executive or Berlina variants only, however the limited edition Vacationer name plate was also continued over for a period from the VH Commodore. Other variants produced were the Commodore SS sedan which featured its own specification – courtesy of HDT – high-performance 4.9-litre V8, and the limited edition – available only through affiliated HDT Holden dealers – LM 5000, SS Group 3, SS Group A (502 made) and Calais Director sedans.
New Zealand assembly The VK was assembled by General Motors New Zealand at their Trentham assembly plant, near Wellington.
New Zealand VKs were similar, but had slight differences to their Australian sold counterparts, notably smoke-tinted taillights, the lack of emissions gear, and that a Holden Starfire-powered four-cylinder model was also available, utilizing 13-inch wheels which had a slightly smaller wheel stud pattern. The four-cylinder was considered an economic car; however, from its lack of power it tended to use more fuel than a six-cylinder model when laden down. It was however remarkably successful in this market, unlike in Australia, which is why GMNZ bought in a sizable stock of Starfire engines to use in assembling Commodore 4s after the engine was discontinued in Australia.
The four-cylinder was offered in SL, Berlina, and Royale (sedan only) trims and in combination with either the five-speed manual or the three-speed automatic transmission. The four-speed manual was not available on any New Zealand-assembled VKs. Positioned below the Calais, an upmarket model badged Commodore Royale was sold exclusively in New Zealand, available with both four- and six-cylinder engines. After the tax on engine displacement was removed in 1984, sales of larger-engined Holdens began to command a larger share of the market. The luxury options included with this was air conditioning, electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors, and velour upholstery. Small numbers of Calais and V8 Commodores were brought in fully built-up from Australia.
Towards the end of VK production in New Zealand, a limited run of 120 "GTS" sedans were produced. All featuring identical specs of 3.3 EFI engine, "Midnight Blue" paint with silver bumpers, 15-inch alloy wheels as per Royale/Calais, a unique "Cerulean Blue" interior with same cloth as VK SS Group A, black rubber boot spoiler, black Momo steering wheel, GTS badging, and red pinstripe. These cars may have also been fitted with FE2 suspension.
SS Group A The Commodore SS Group A was heavily modified by Holden's official performance tuner, originally the Holden Dealer Team. The SS Group A existed primarily as a homologation special, created specifically so a racing optimised version of the Commodore could be utilised for Group A touring car motor racing. The regulations set down by the international governing body FISA for Group A motor racing specified that a minimum of 5,000 base models (1,000 in Australia due to the smaller market) and 500 evolution models were to be built to a certain specification prior to said vehicle being allowed to compete. Group A regulations governed many touring car series at the 1980s and 1990s including series in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Germany and the European Touring Car Championship as well as the one-off 1987 World Touring Car Championship. At the time, Group A was also the main category for a number of significant races such as Australia's own Bathurst 1000, the Spa 24 Hours at the famed Spa Grand Prix Circuit in Belgium, the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone in England and the Guia Race at Macau. The Commodore SS Group A model run (starting with the VK) ran from 1985 until 1992. The four models have since become highly collectible amongst Holden and performance enthusiasts. Between August 1984 and early 1985, the less powerful 5044 cc SS Group Three was built.
Unique amongst all products produced by both the Holden Dealer Team and Holden Special Vehicles, these cars were referred to as Holdens, rather than as HDTs or HSVs.
As the first model to be produced (March 1985 – February 1986) represented Holden's increasing efforts in Group A racing. Available only in blue associated with the corporate colours of the Holden Dealer Team's principle sponsor Mobil, which gave rise to the cars nickname, the "Blue Meanie". Production began in early 1985, but part supply problems saw the HDT fail to build the required number of 500 and it missed the 1 August deadline for it to be eligible for racing that year. Production still continued and the VK SS Group A was available for motor racing from 1 January 1986. 502 cars were available only through Holden Dealer Team-affiliated Holden dealerships.
Visually the VK Group A SS had the addition of a rear spoiler, larger front air dam and a more aggressive front grille over the standard VK Commodore. Other changes included a double row timing chain (eliminating the car's inherent weakness of 1985, a single row chain), as well as stronger conrods and suspension mountings.
Power for the road going Group A SS with its 4.9-litre engine was rated at at 5200 rpm, with a top speed of . Transmission options were four-speed M21 manual, or optional five-speed Getrag T5. Although the T5G transmission was not an option with the VK Group A - some cars did get it fitted at the Bertie Street workshop by special arrangement with HDT, and in certain circumstances it was fitted by the dealer. The car was assembled at the Holden Dandenong Plant by Holden and modified at Bertie Street Port Melbourne by HDT.
Motor racing
Touring Cars
The VK Group A SS Commodore was originally intended to be ready for racing in early 1985 to replace the near standard VK competitors had been forced to use. However, after virtually wasting 1984 on other pursuits including the HDT's ill-fated attempt at Le Mans which took up the focus in the first half of the year, then Holden's desire to send their Group C touring cars out with a win at Bathurst, left them little time to get the Commodore road cars ready to be homologated for Group A racing. This, plus delays in parts from suppliers meant that the HDT had not even begun to build the road going Group A cars to pass homologation on 1 January 1985, and did not have enough of them built to be homologated by the next FISA homologation date of 1 August which meant the new car would not be approved in time for that years Bathurst, although the Confederation of Australian Motorsport did relent and allow the Commodores to use the smaller 4.9L V8 in order to save some .
Peter Brock later recalled that after the 1985 James Hardie 1000, long time HDT driver and Brock's right-hand-man at the Special Vehicles operation John Harvey had remarked that their personal road cars (the SS Group A) were in fact faster and more reliable than the 1985 race cars.
As a comparison, the VK Commodores run by the HDT at the 1984 James Hardie 1000 under the old Group C regulations (which saw the cars have much larger wheels and large aerodynamic spoilers front and back) produced over and were recorded at on the long Conrod Straight. The near standard 1985 Group A race cars only produced around and were recorded at on Conrod. This difference was also reflected in lap times with Peter Brock's fastest 1985 qualifying time being 8.811 seconds slower than he was in 1984.
In early 1986 the HDT gave the car a dream debut when Brock and new co-driver Allan Moffat won the Nissan Mobil 500 at the Wellington Street Circuit, while teammates Harvey and new team engineer/driver Neal Lowe won the Pukekohe 500 in the second race of the New Zealand series a week later. Of note, the two winning HDT Cars were not brand new SS Group A models, instead they were the teams 1985 Bathurst Commodores, upgraded to 1986 specifications.