VE/VF was the best car Australia made. VF was just a refined VE commodore fixing all the things that needed upgrading on the VE. It’s sad we don’t make cars anymore after we really proved we could build world class cars.
I had a silver VE 6.0 Calais with the white leather interior and 18" wheels. Absolutely beautiful car to drive and cruise around in. Wasn't going to win any land speed records but turned heads on more than one occasion because the sound of the 6 litre was quite biblical with a good exhaust. I was heart broken about 6 months in to ownership when a junky in a Range Rover Sport ran in to the back of me while I was stationary at traffic lights. I was the 4th car in queue but still ended up in the middle of the intersection after ploughing through the 3 cars in front of me. The RR was going about 70km/hr and I was completely stationary but received no injuries whatsoever. The rear number plate was pushed up against the back seats, and the front of the car was all but gone, but the passenger compartment was 100% intact, all 4 doors still opened perfectly and you could see how the energy had transferred around the cabin instead of in to the cabin. Remarkable engineering in terms of safety. I sent photos and a thank you letter to Holden at the time, I attribute the fact I can still walk to the fine work their engineering team delivered in this vehicle. I work as an electronic, electrical and software engineer myself, currently designing weapon systems for naval warships and other military hardware for the MoD and DoD so I understand the amount of work that must have gone in to such an epic cabin design that would withstand such an enormous amount of force. I miss my VE dearly, and while my M3 is arguably better in terms of performance, there was something special about owning a piece of Australia when I lived there and it will remain one of my favourite cars of all time.
Wow thanks for sharing your story. Really unfortunate what happened, but a great testament to Aussie engineering that you were able to walk away from it with no injuries - really happy for you as it sounds like it was pretty bad. Did Holden ever reply to you ?
@@Humannn8ss8naaa, not really appearance either. There was plenty of better and timeless looking cars at the time. As far as commodores go. It's a good upgrade for sure though
The VE was truly the best car ever sold in Australia, and probably the best there ever will be for the region. Exactly the perfect balance between practicality, performance, reliability (not in the v6 but v6 drivers deserve it), looks, driving experience, everything. The V8 VE is, IMO, the best four door car ever made.
I've thought about this, and I think one of the biggest factors of Holden going out of business was that for many years, they were a one car company - the Commodore company. Sure they pretended to have cars in other categories like the Barina, Astra and Colorado. But it was obvious to anyone who cared that those cars weren't real Holdens. Did people think the Land Cruiser wasn't a real Toyota? Of course not. Did people think the Territory wasn't a real Ford? No. But nothing Holden made that wasn't a Commodore was ever really given the same kind of respect as they were just other cars rebadged (though at least the Captiva had a real Holden Alloytec V6 engine in certain models - kudos for that). Holden didn't do anything about this for years because Commodore was king and while it was paying the bills, the rest of the line-up was just a distraction. But in my opinion, Holden should have been using those good years to create some decent real Holdens in other categories. E.g. An Australian made hatch that took on the Corolla or Golf. Or an SUV that took on the CX-8 or Sorento. Then in the future when Australian car buying tastes changed, they would have been able to pivot. But what happened was the large sedan / wagon category fell out of favour for SUVs and Dual Cab Utes. What could the Commodore car company do? Tell Australia they were wrong and to please come back? I know there were plenty of other factors at play, and probably the biggest killer of all for Holden was their lackluster export market. But even if all that was in top shape, the lack of diversification would have got them in the end.
As an ex Holden employee, I can say the whole reason both Holden and Ford Manufacturing was terminated was the deal Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey did with America was all part of the then free trade agreement, money for an SUV was available as was the employees nomination to forgo pay rises for two years in a bid to secure continuity in Automotive manufacturing, we were told as early as 2013 that the plant would close in 2017, some people blamed the Unions as they will always do but in this case deals were done behind closed doors to make sure the free trade agreement succeeded.
I mean yeah most models were nasty pieces of rubbish outside of the Commodore. The Captiva did get Alloytech but that was still a Daewoo through and through. Other than that it was generic GM shitboxes that nobody wanted.
I scored a VE SSV Z Series Ute. Turns out it came with Redline suspension. FE3, the best performance suspension Holden ever offered. And she had her radiator filled at Elizabeth on my birthday. I'll never sell her. Ever.
I have mine a 2012 HDT Gtoup 3 based on a fully optioned SSV and i have no plans of selling it anytime soon its a pleasure to drive and I've never driven it when someone doesn't come up to me raving over it, peter Brock may have been killed in 2006 but he is still alive and kicking in every holden guy in Australia 18 years later
Owned a new VE E3 GTS and was an ok car and traded it in on a new VF MY15 GTS and is next level and a crying shame Holden no longer manufactures here in Oz.
All that a money invested and now the plant sits idle and shut what a waste… I still have my SS Ute with 58k on it and I love the slightly unrefined feeling.
Bailout grants actually as stated above no money to be paid back a gift from the taxpayers to thank Holden for no longer manufacturing there 4 wheeled garbage that falls to peices after 100,000kms but at least they were cheap as chips to fix ohh up until the VE!!!!
Today July 16th 2023 is a 4-door Camaro anniversary Holden Commodore's VE Launch Anniversary On this day, 17 years ago, GM Holden launched the Australian market that would be the last model of Chevrolet Omega to land in Brazil.
40:06 I've never heard Brocky sound so by the script . One could be forgiven for thinking this was a promotional release. It makes no difference now as we produce nothing.
Just stepped up from VY Ute that was the most reliable car I’ve ever had to a MINT condition VE series 2 SV6. Factory option double hump hard lid and interior that looks like the day it was built and an underbody so clean you could eat your dinner of it. Full service history. It’s a beautiful car to drive and goes extremely hard. I’ve had over 30 cars mostly holdens VK VL VY VS but this car is in another league. DEFINITELY a keeper. And to all the FLOPS on here talking timing chains the series 2 used upgraded chain kits and I’ve had ZERO issues. It’s all about maintenance and oil changes. If you treat ANY car like shit it’ll repay you by being unreliable. And fords outdated shit boxes had PLENTY of issues.
You only have to Google what other big name car makers such as BMW and Mercedes spend on R&D orders of magnitude more for the euro cars making our $1 billion investment a drop in the ocean by comparison yet the VE/VF series is a bloody good thing and makes a joke out of a BMW or Mercedes in long term repair costs as you clock up the Kay’s. I have a 2013 VF Sv6 wagon with 185,000km on it and have done virtually no repairs except routine maintenance and still drives like a new car!
So at 12 minutes in, those body panels are all hand made? Because you have to have press dies already to have stamped parts. It all looks so stamped out? A video on this would be awesome! Ok much was explained. It is a huge shame it all finished with all that work! Surely the government played a part with all that imported junk. There needed to be a small car made in Oz though?
That one billion should have gone towards a locally developed twincab ute and an SUV unique to Holden......with a choice of different drivetrains. By about 2005, nobody wanted this type of car, bar a few hoons and motor racing fans. Mainstream buyers had moved on. It didn't help that tariff levels had dived and local labour costs were off the charts thanks to endless union demands. I'm disappointed that for the greater good, the different bodies involved couldn't work together and bring about a better outcome. Now we've got cheap Chinese EV's flooding our market.......... vehicles we could have done ourselves.
Too many sad cars made by the same manufacturer previously! In any case the Australian bogan progressed from the huge Commodore/ Ford falcon to an even bigger 4wd!!!!
To be frank, this car was way behind in both performance and technology compared to it's German rivals. The Yanks basically just dumped the left overs on Australia when they were down with the Lumina.
That's nonsense. In many ways the VE was equal to their German counterparts, cost being the factor in limiting the luxury bits you get in the big German brands. The driving experience, in the other hand, is one which shows that Holden got the equations right.
Nope it was cheaper and was no slouch in handling and ride quality and its gm drivetrain shits on anything European, go to a drag strip and tell me what engines are getting used 😂
wow... SO inaccurate.... i just moved back to Aus after 5 years driving these 'better performing european supercars'. bought myself a ve calais only a few months ago, if only i had this to drive on the autobahn, or through Italian and Greek coastal roads or in Sweden in Winter... the volvos, mercs and bmws i did drive there are damn lame and boring next to this 13 year old VE.. ive never had so much pleasure driving wish i could have bought one new.
This was good engineering but a commercial failure as GM decided to sideline the platform early. To be frank big thirsty low riding cars were already on the way out so this was not going to end well.
VE = 6L80E the worst 6 speed I've ever driven and the worst gear box I've ever experienced in a commodore. Doesn't know what gear it wants to be in. Doesn't down gear efficiently when reducing speed. A total piece of junk compared to the ZF in the FG's
The VE interiors were plain and boring. Horrible seats, horrible steering wheel, shit carpets and roof lining. The exteriors we're average at best. The 3.6 V6 are gutless and unreliable. The auto transmissions are slushboxes whilst the manual transmissions were rough and clunky and weak as piss differential. Absolute garbage.
I own a 10 year old VF and my neighbour keeps his 2018 outdoes all the time windows wound up and plastics and interior are still okay despite some shrinkage in seat leather but it’s not given much love.
Yeah but humans are touchy freely spatial creatures that prefer to touch and see something. Seeing something on a 2D screen is not like seeing something in the flesh!
I clearly see you’ve owned one (not). I have a 2013 VF Sv6 with 185,000km on it nothing has gone wrong and still drives like a new car. Could you say the same about a BMW or Mercedes of the same era without deep pockets? Nah don’t think so.
Yes, when bought to raffle, when the expectation was to sell $3million worth of tickets. The plethora of raffled cars a couple of years ago distorted prices a bit.
@@jimclarke1108 yes, and then raffled for large profit. The fact that virtually noone can afford a million dollar car but lots can afford a few $50 raffle tickets allowed the profiteers to step in and distort the purchase prices. Good on the early raffleres who made good money, but as with any good scheme it becane way over done.
Holden was GM's way of suckering in Australians thinking the car was Australian when really it was just imported and re-badged crap. It was all downhill for Holden once the import tariffs disappeared and actual car makers came to Australia.
Its a pitty holden put a crap v6 in them . Terrible engines . My ecotech with over 500,000 km still going strong . Thats a vs commy though . Holden lost the plot after the vs series finished . Its no use having a car that looks good and handles good but has a crap v6 in it that should have been in the bin . Gmh had lots of engines they could have used but chose the crap v6 .
I have a V8 WN Caprice I also had a VS for driving and handling the WN is leaps and bounds ahead even if I need to rebuild the engine which has done 365,000 Kays so far no problems I will do that than go back to a VS and the interior is nice also
The Alloytecs (especially early ones) and LLT engines weren’t great at all, the LLT was slightly better but it did still have issues with timing chains and water pump issues. The last of the VE Series 2’s made from late 2011 up had the same LFX V6 from the VF and they were excellent, I’ve seen many of those as taxis with 350,000+ kms on them on original chains and water pump. Mine has done 200k and still drives great and pulls hard. Never had chains done, and if I keep servicing it as I do I will more than likely never need one done.
@@jnthepassenger347 Hi, A mate of mine has a limo company and he has some 2007-2010 statesman - they have 400-650k on the clock and original engine and drivetrain, in all of them and they drive like new ( i borrow one most long weekend ) BUT he does oil and filter change every 5,000 k's
Man, it's just a Chev, a Chevrolet Lumina, nothing Australian about it, GM does the same thing in Europe with the Vauxhall brand. Your just esambling a Chevrolet. Holden started to exist as a horse saddle making company in Australia. The only thing Ausie about it is the name Commodore, that is an Ausie name for the model, bit it's still a Chevrolet Lumina, same as a Vauxhall VXR8, they all part of General Motors, even Opel and Isuzu Holden never had it's own cars, it's always been assembling debatched cars from proper car manufacturers.
Designed and built in Australia only, is your only problem that holden is a gm subsidiarie? If so your a moron, small car companies don't exist except for boutique companies, you cant survive unless your part of a bigger fish.
Does anyone really think GM really spent 1Billion on this vehicle?? A reasonable person would assume quite a large amount of this went overseas for possible testing of Australia's so called car . I suspect GM had a big party in America to laugh at how dumb Holden Commodore drivers and Australian tax payers were . Holden was never an Australian car it' was American from there early designs look at American cars at that time Aussie Holden's just smaller versions it not football, meat pies kangaroos and American cars
@@bobolulu7615 Get ya hand off it mate if it wasn't for the yanks and the Europeans this shitbox would of been an even bigger flop than it already was. Aussies couldn't produce crap without the rest of the world contributing.
It doesn't matter where it came from, it's still Australian because it was far Australians. Did they make exact same cars for or in America or Europe, no, in europe almost, but still no. They would be no Commodore for 40 years if not for GMH Australia. It was the best car GM ever made in the world
Thanks for uploading this 👍 I remember the magazine supplement which detailed the design and development process. I also read the 60 page supplement on the 2001 Monaro and fondly remember the supplement on the VN Commodore back in the eighties.
Holden should have produced a SUV car based on the ve platform from what i read it was in the works but GM did not give it the green light which is a shame because it might have saved holden. Also they could have made the commodore a smaller car and the statesman the bigger car
Pity they didn't test for the quality of the owners. Go to George Auto's channel, he purchased a Ford Falcon XR50 that had the characteristic Alloytec problems. It's down to servicing. I have an Alloytec powered VE with almost 190 000 kms on it and have never had the timing chain problem crop up. There's a lot to be said for servicing every 6 month or 5 000 kms, whichever comes FIRST.
@@BrentonCrude Why would a car manufacturer test the quality of owners...? That makes no sense. As much sense as someone who has serviced their vehicle at least 38 times in 190,000kms. Cars aren't supposed to be serviced that amount of times given their own handbook says 10,000k intervals. People should expect that the owner's book is accurate and servicing every 5,000 is over the top. But hey, if you want to spend twice as much on servicing good for you. I've owned plenty of cars where I have done 30K services as per the book and the vehicle easidly did 200+ ks before I sold it in mint condition. Renault Trafic is one such vehcile that had 30K service intervals. So yeah, Holden really needed to ensure the vehicle they made and advised on service intervals was able to handle what they were telling people they were designed for. Normal every day drivers and owners will service per the handbook.
The FG was an ugly outdated shit heap full stop. Rubbish interiors leftover tailgates on Utes from AU turds. The VE was FAR superior to an FG and the VF COMPLETELY wiped the floor with fords donkey garbage.
Funny thing is if you put proper quality oil in it treat it respectfully and service it on time there is no issue. My 2013 sv6 with 185,000 km still drives like a new car.
@@Zanelancaster20074 The interiors on VEs in general were bland, plain and boring. No support in front seats so very uncomfortable on a trip longer than 3O minutes and cheap plastic everywhere you look. They look and feel cheap. Nowadays they are clapped out shitboxes used by bogans as Meth chariots.
Riddle me this 1 billion spent on development and on multiple v6 engines with stretched timing chains thanks GM for designing them to fail. The sky is the limit, my my how far we can fall thanks Mary Barra (GM CEO)
Yes that was the early ones addressed from late 2007 onwards. I have. 2013 Vf sv6 with a LFX v6 with 185,000km on the clock yes always had a slight metallic chain rustle since new at idle but top quality oils and 7.5 to 10,000km oil changes this engine has performed faultlessly. I know of someone with a VE Series 2 with an LFX that has cracked 390,000km and is still going strong. Treat it right and it will look after you!
Its a gm sub and he was the most qualified for the job, this isn't unique for foreign people to be in charge, hell head of opel design was australian in Germany in the 80s and head of global gm designs in the u.s rn is australian and has been on jay leno to talk about old buicks and show rare gm cars multiple times now.
Why ??...these days the VEs are used by bogans as a Meth chariots. They are clapped out shitboxes now. What a waste of 1 billion dollars. No wonder Holden doesn't exist anymore.💯
Im pissed that the legacy doesnt live on.. thanks gm for killing Pontiac and Holden. Such a super diving experience .. what a useless sub-perfomance marketing by gm here in the states..
@@markhollis362 unsure what that has to do with the Falcon being a better car, drive them back to back the Falcon is superior in most ways, hell even a BF drives better than a VE
Bullshit I've got a ve and a fg in the driveway, ve is heaps smoother car heaps better IRS design etc fg slightly more refined than a ba. But the v6 alloytec is a pos flawed design all rev no go or torque. Ve/vf the roof pillars are a huge blindspot but tough af, they had to redesign the jaws of life because of the ve. Ss vs xr8 ss smoother to drift also. Reliability wouldn't go past the barra though can't kill em.
Too bad that the VE SV6 and Omega was absolutely trash. If you have to have one get one with a V8. The only thing that will be breaking is pieces of your interior.
Plus the slushbox auto transmission and weak as piss differential. Timing chains on Alloytec 3.6 V6 fail and then the engine lunches itself. Absolute trash.
@@victorpeirce4753 one of the worst engines I have ever had the displeasure to work on. Absolute pile of Garbage. Only the SS VE is worth buying because of the LS.
Should have designed it bolder. Aussie cars were often nice, but lacked stronger flare. It didn't sell in the US- pity. Most cars are downright ugly or really boring .
It was sold in the United States. Look for "Pontiac G8 GT". It was sold in Brazil also named australian "Chevrolet Omega" and "Chevrolet Omega Fittipaldi". It was sold in England as "Vauxhall VXR8" and was finally sold in the United Arab Emirates as Chevrolet Caprice.
@RicardoMNogueira Middle East Market got both long wheel base Caprice and short wheel base commodore badged as Lumina. The R8 was called CSV CR8 , caprice was also sold in Asia as Daewoo and Buick.
The VE/VF was really a good car but about 10 years too late. Also needed an AWD, twin turbo option. Bogan V8 hoons are a dying breed. Why make a new car only designed for them. Australians want more sophisticated cars that Holden were only just starting to realise.
VE/VF was the best car Australia made. VF was just a refined VE commodore fixing all the things that needed upgrading on the VE. It’s sad we don’t make cars anymore after we really proved we could build world class cars.
nah mate the best cars that holden ever made were the vk and vl. ve and vfs are crap in comparison.
Vl was like the vh and wb, the ugly duckling model. Best cars ever 🤣🤣
@@Kingslayer_auwake up!!!!
Yeah vf over ve any day
@@Kingslayer_auGoose 🤦♂️
I had a silver VE 6.0 Calais with the white leather interior and 18" wheels. Absolutely beautiful car to drive and cruise around in. Wasn't going to win any land speed records but turned heads on more than one occasion because the sound of the 6 litre was quite biblical with a good exhaust. I was heart broken about 6 months in to ownership when a junky in a Range Rover Sport ran in to the back of me while I was stationary at traffic lights. I was the 4th car in queue but still ended up in the middle of the intersection after ploughing through the 3 cars in front of me. The RR was going about 70km/hr and I was completely stationary but received no injuries whatsoever. The rear number plate was pushed up against the back seats, and the front of the car was all but gone, but the passenger compartment was 100% intact, all 4 doors still opened perfectly and you could see how the energy had transferred around the cabin instead of in to the cabin. Remarkable engineering in terms of safety.
I sent photos and a thank you letter to Holden at the time, I attribute the fact I can still walk to the fine work their engineering team delivered in this vehicle. I work as an electronic, electrical and software engineer myself, currently designing weapon systems for naval warships and other military hardware for the MoD and DoD so I understand the amount of work that must have gone in to such an epic cabin design that would withstand such an enormous amount of force. I miss my VE dearly, and while my M3 is arguably better in terms of performance, there was something special about owning a piece of Australia when I lived there and it will remain one of my favourite cars of all time.
Wow thanks for sharing your story. Really unfortunate what happened, but a great testament to Aussie engineering that you were able to walk away from it with no injuries - really happy for you as it sounds like it was pretty bad. Did Holden ever reply to you ?
VE commodore was ground breaking and was way ahead of its time.
Not really, they just finally caught up to everyone else lol
lolll
*And now VE Commy is an absolute shit box.💯*
@@Humannn8ss8naaa, not really appearance either. There was plenty of better and timeless looking cars at the time. As far as commodores go. It's a good upgrade for sure though
The VE was truly the best car ever sold in Australia, and probably the best there ever will be for the region.
Exactly the perfect balance between practicality, performance, reliability (not in the v6 but v6 drivers deserve it), looks, driving experience, everything. The V8 VE is, IMO, the best four door car ever made.
The VE is and always will be known as piece of shit.
I reckon the pinnacle of Australian manufacting is the Mitsubishi 380.
No, it’s the Toyota Camry.
@@VMRDY only if you are in a coma
@@LevyHappyClapper No, I just don’t think the Commodore boganmobile was Australia’s best car.
I've thought about this, and I think one of the biggest factors of Holden going out of business was that for many years, they were a one car company - the Commodore company. Sure they pretended to have cars in other categories like the Barina, Astra and Colorado. But it was obvious to anyone who cared that those cars weren't real Holdens. Did people think the Land Cruiser wasn't a real Toyota? Of course not. Did people think the Territory wasn't a real Ford? No. But nothing Holden made that wasn't a Commodore was ever really given the same kind of respect as they were just other cars rebadged (though at least the Captiva had a real Holden Alloytec V6 engine in certain models - kudos for that).
Holden didn't do anything about this for years because Commodore was king and while it was paying the bills, the rest of the line-up was just a distraction. But in my opinion, Holden should have been using those good years to create some decent real Holdens in other categories. E.g. An Australian made hatch that took on the Corolla or Golf. Or an SUV that took on the CX-8 or Sorento. Then in the future when Australian car buying tastes changed, they would have been able to pivot. But what happened was the large sedan / wagon category fell out of favour for SUVs and Dual Cab Utes. What could the Commodore car company do? Tell Australia they were wrong and to please come back?
I know there were plenty of other factors at play, and probably the biggest killer of all for Holden was their lackluster export market. But even if all that was in top shape, the lack of diversification would have got them in the end.
AGREED 100%...NO Car manufacturer could survive manufacturing only ONE Car
As an ex Holden employee, I can say the whole reason both Holden and Ford Manufacturing was terminated was the deal Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey did with America was all part of the then free trade agreement, money for an SUV was available as was the employees nomination to forgo pay rises for two years in a bid to secure continuity in Automotive manufacturing, we were told as early as 2013 that the plant would close in 2017, some people blamed the Unions as they will always do but in this case deals were done behind closed doors to make sure the free trade agreement succeeded.
I mean yeah most models were nasty pieces of rubbish outside of the Commodore. The Captiva did get Alloytech but that was still a Daewoo through and through. Other than that it was generic GM shitboxes that nobody wanted.
I scored a VE SSV Z Series Ute. Turns out it came with Redline suspension. FE3, the best performance suspension Holden ever offered. And she had her radiator filled at Elizabeth on my birthday. I'll never sell her. Ever.
I have mine a 2012 HDT Gtoup 3 based on a fully optioned SSV and i have no plans of selling it anytime soon its a pleasure to drive and I've never driven it when someone doesn't come up to me raving over it, peter Brock may have been killed in 2006 but he is still alive and kicking in every holden guy in Australia 18 years later
GMH employed a lot people. Sadly missed
Owned a new VE E3 GTS and was an ok car and traded it in on a new VF MY15 GTS and is next level and a crying shame Holden no longer manufactures here in Oz.
My15?
I love my VE SSV, though here in the US, it was the G8 GT.
All that a money invested and now the plant sits idle and shut what a waste… I still have my SS Ute with 58k on it and I love the slightly unrefined feeling.
and a big thankyou to all the hardworking tax payers who helped fund this for general motors in the form of australian government loans.
You beat me to it...
Yep. We ALL should've got one for free. After all, we did pay for it right ??
Grants not loans...it was never paid back.
Agree 100%. And in fords case they took a huge tax payer grant, closed their factories and banked it all back in the states.
Bailout grants actually as stated above no money to be paid back a gift from the taxpayers to thank Holden for no longer manufacturing there 4 wheeled garbage that falls to peices after 100,000kms but at least they were cheap as chips to fix ohh up until the VE!!!!
How do they put the boot floor in the spear wheel compartment
Vf is still a nicer shape these days, however I still love my wm caprice ve shape.
Today July 16th 2023 is a 4-door Camaro anniversary
Holden Commodore's VE Launch Anniversary
On this day, 17 years ago, GM Holden launched the Australian market that would be the last model of Chevrolet Omega to land in Brazil.
40:06 I've never heard Brocky sound so by the script .
One could be forgiven for thinking this was a promotional release. It makes no difference now as we produce nothing.
It really is sad. We make no cars here anymore, Holden is no longer a company, and Peter Brock has passed away.
@@OldAussieAds Tooright
Derr@TyaxComp
The bloke imported the Lada Niva into Australia and authorised Brock certified sticker be placed on them.He was a true mercenary.
Holden i remember them
Show me where the money was spent with receipts how much was sent to the general motors in The us to keep big SUV in production
checks to see if the CD skips 🤣🤣
Just stepped up from VY Ute that was the most reliable car I’ve ever had to a MINT condition VE series 2 SV6. Factory option double hump hard lid and interior that looks like the day it was built and an underbody so clean you could eat your dinner of it. Full service history. It’s a beautiful car to drive and goes extremely hard. I’ve had over 30 cars mostly holdens VK VL VY VS but this car is in another league. DEFINITELY a keeper. And to all the FLOPS on here talking timing chains the series 2 used upgraded chain kits and I’ve had ZERO issues. It’s all about maintenance and oil changes. If you treat ANY car like shit it’ll repay you by being unreliable. And fords outdated shit boxes had PLENTY of issues.
So where is the development money attributed? Tooling has to cost a lot. Where does it all go? That's what I want to know.
You only have to Google what other big name car makers such as BMW and Mercedes spend on R&D orders of magnitude more for the euro cars making our $1 billion investment a drop in the ocean by comparison yet the VE/VF series is a bloody good thing and makes a joke out of a BMW or Mercedes in long term repair costs as you clock up the Kay’s. I have a 2013 VF Sv6 wagon with 185,000km on it and have done virtually no repairs except routine maintenance and still drives like a new car!
So at 12 minutes in, those body panels are all hand made? Because you have to have press dies already to have stamped parts. It all looks so stamped out?
A video on this would be awesome!
Ok much was explained. It is a huge shame it all finished with all that work! Surely the government played a part with all that imported junk.
There needed to be a small car made in Oz though?
@7:10 ... Looks like a vx to me
I don’t know about the sv6 ve commodore, my car seems to just come up with problems after problems
And then GM bent us over and the rest is history.
That one billion should have gone towards a locally developed twincab ute and an SUV unique to Holden......with a choice of different drivetrains. By about 2005, nobody wanted this type of car, bar a few hoons and motor racing fans. Mainstream buyers had moved on. It didn't help that tariff levels had dived and local labour costs were off the charts thanks to endless union demands. I'm disappointed that for the greater good, the different bodies involved couldn't work together and bring about a better outcome. Now we've got cheap Chinese EV's flooding our market.......... vehicles we could have done ourselves.
For looks, the VX s*its on the VE
Billion Dollar Bungle 😅
Holdens VE baby is a story of stretched timing chains, excessively heavy weight and terrible fuel consumption.
And to think all those job tiles were made redundant.
Pretty strong sideways.
Holden's Last Billion Dollar Baby
Too many sad cars made by the same manufacturer previously! In any case the Australian bogan progressed from the huge Commodore/ Ford falcon to an even bigger 4wd!!!!
To be frank, this car was way behind in both performance and technology compared to it's German rivals. The Yanks basically just dumped the left overs on Australia when they were down with the Lumina.
That's nonsense. In many ways the VE was equal to their German counterparts, cost being the factor in limiting the luxury bits you get in the big German brands. The driving experience, in the other hand, is one which shows that Holden got the equations right.
Nope it was cheaper and was no slouch in handling and ride quality and its gm drivetrain shits on anything European, go to a drag strip and tell me what engines are getting used 😂
wow... SO inaccurate.... i just moved back to Aus after 5 years driving these 'better performing european supercars'. bought myself a ve calais only a few months ago, if only i had this to drive on the autobahn, or through Italian and Greek coastal roads or in Sweden in Winter... the volvos, mercs and bmws i did drive there are damn lame and boring next to this 13 year old VE.. ive never had so much pleasure driving wish i could have bought one new.
This was good engineering but a commercial failure as GM decided to sideline the platform early. To be frank big thirsty low riding cars were already on the way out so this was not going to end well.
Ive never really liked ve’s now I own a VE senator manual because the vfs are too expensive haha
Ve vf same same but different
Orrrsé-Strâylêan Lúv Thêrē Kommodé
GMH and QANTAS both shaft the public😅.
yea Ford won that argument.
Deb-Bor-Rah!
VE = 6L80E the worst 6 speed I've ever driven and the worst gear box I've ever experienced in a commodore. Doesn't know what gear it wants to be in. Doesn't down gear efficiently when reducing speed. A total piece of junk compared to the ZF in the FG's
Yeah I hate that gearbox ... easy solution ... buy a manual ... thats what I did
@@LevyHappyClapper Not everyone wants a manual transmission matey.
shit cars can barely do a skid because they’re so restricted, gas guzzlers & ticking time bombs. glad i got rid of mine
A billion bucks on a car that uses the cheapest plastics known to man.
Eh, that was GM in general
@@jonstechchannel no, this was premium for a GM!🤣😂
The VE interiors were plain and boring. Horrible seats, horrible steering wheel, shit carpets and roof lining.
The exteriors we're average at best.
The 3.6 V6 are gutless and unreliable. The auto transmissions are slushboxes whilst the manual transmissions were rough and clunky and weak as piss differential.
Absolute garbage.
What should they have used them, wood or steel?
I own a 10 year old VF and my neighbour keeps his 2018 outdoes all the time windows wound up and plastics and interior are still okay despite some shrinkage in seat leather but it’s not given much love.
What's the easiest way to totally blow a BILLION DOLLARS???...Build a Commodore!!!
They use clay models in 2009 i though computers took over
Yeah but humans are touchy freely spatial creatures that prefer to touch and see something. Seeing something on a 2D screen is not like seeing something in the flesh!
Testing a V8 crate engine from GM USA, what a lot of shit!!
These cars (the v6) were the ultimate POS...
I clearly see you’ve owned one (not). I have a 2013 VF Sv6 with 185,000km on it nothing has gone wrong and still drives like a new car. Could you say the same about a BMW or Mercedes of the same era without deep pockets? Nah don’t think so.
😉🤩😹
What went wrong?
Really.
Unions
*TIMING CHAINS ⛓️⛓️*
Or better still we should have gone it alone made the car our selves told the yanks to go back home and let have car Holden name to our selves
The Commodore Was Originally an Opel Name Plate The European Arm Of G.M.
and ?
Nearly a story there mate.
secret poo
$1M. for a GTS ute or sedan
Yes, when bought to raffle, when the expectation was to sell $3million worth of tickets. The plethora of raffled cars a couple of years ago distorted prices a bit.
@@chrisgregory4796 At auction
@@jimclarke1108 yes, and then raffled for large profit. The fact that virtually noone can afford a million dollar car but lots can afford a few $50 raffle tickets allowed the profiteers to step in and distort the purchase prices. Good on the early raffleres who made good money, but as with any good scheme it becane way over done.
@@chrisgregory4796 th-cam.com/video/_0BUpQbC4SA/w-d-xo.html
Have owned both the VE and an FG and the FG is the better car
Both are dead ~
Holden was GM's way of suckering in Australians thinking the car was Australian when really it was just imported and re-badged crap. It was all downhill for Holden once the import tariffs disappeared and actual car makers came to Australia.
Really ? Where was the VE imported from ?
@@LevyHappyClapper nowhere was designed and built in australia, driveline (engine, trans) was from the us though
@@LevyHappyClapper
Most Holden were along with the Vauxhalls produced by Opel in Germany.
@@Tobi-ln9xr The Opel versions were VERY different.
Well, you had different body stamps.
The only 100% Holden Commodore
It's not a Holden V8. It's GM.
Holden, the biggest lie ever!!!!
Great looking car , but the early v6 was a piece of junk in the ve model . The v8 engine was built excellent.
My sv6 vz was a far better car in comparison with my ve calais.
And now Holden is gone hahahaha
If you owned a VE or VF series you might think different. It’s a sad loss.
Audi Rs4, W204 C63 and E9x M3 were simply superior and still are
Yeh, superior in breaking down 😅
@@theanythingchannel2239 Lol Holden doesn't even exist anymore take the L and it's "yeah" not "yeh"
Its a pitty holden put a crap v6 in them . Terrible engines . My ecotech with over 500,000 km still going strong . Thats a vs commy though . Holden lost the plot after the vs series finished . Its no use having a car that looks good and handles good but has a crap v6 in it that should have been in the bin . Gmh had lots of engines they could have used but chose the crap v6 .
Agree, worst 6, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Ford had better motors. One guy in US rates the ecotec as best engine
The robots didn't do their job on the V6.
I have a V8 WN Caprice I also had a VS for driving and handling the WN is leaps and bounds ahead even if I need to rebuild the engine which has done 365,000 Kays so far no problems I will do that than go back to a VS and the interior is nice also
The Alloytecs (especially early ones) and LLT engines weren’t great at all, the LLT was slightly better but it did still have issues with timing chains and water pump issues. The last of the VE Series 2’s made from late 2011 up had the same LFX V6 from the VF and they were excellent, I’ve seen many of those as taxis with 350,000+ kms on them on original chains and water pump.
Mine has done 200k and still drives great and pulls hard. Never had chains done, and if I keep servicing it as I do I will more than likely never need one done.
@@jnthepassenger347 Hi, A mate of mine has a limo company and he has some 2007-2010 statesman - they have 400-650k on the clock and original engine and drivetrain, in all of them and they drive like new ( i borrow one most long weekend ) BUT he does oil and filter change every 5,000 k's
Haha what a flop
Pity the interior was trash. Plastic
ESP = forget how to drive.
Man, it's just a Chev, a Chevrolet Lumina, nothing Australian about it, GM does the same thing in Europe with the Vauxhall brand. Your just esambling a Chevrolet. Holden started to exist as a horse saddle making company in Australia. The only thing Ausie about it is the name Commodore, that is an Ausie name for the model, bit it's still a Chevrolet Lumina, same as a Vauxhall VXR8, they all part of General Motors, even Opel and Isuzu Holden never had it's own cars, it's always been assembling debatched cars from proper car manufacturers.
Oh dear, little do you know.
get off the meth buddy
Designed and built in Australia only, is your only problem that holden is a gm subsidiarie? If so your a moron, small car companies don't exist except for boutique companies, you cant survive unless your part of a bigger fish.
Does anyone really think GM really spent 1Billion on this vehicle?? A reasonable person would assume quite a large amount of this went overseas for possible testing of Australia's so called car . I suspect GM had a big party in America to laugh at how dumb Holden Commodore drivers and Australian tax payers were . Holden was never an Australian car it' was American from there early designs look at American cars at that time Aussie Holden's just smaller versions it not football, meat pies kangaroos and American cars
Totally wrong. The VE was designed and built in Australia.
@@bobolulu7615 Get ya hand off it mate if it wasn't for the yanks and the Europeans this shitbox would of been an even bigger flop than it already was. Aussies couldn't produce crap without the rest of the world contributing.
It doesn't matter where it came from, it's still Australian because it was far Australians. Did they make exact same cars for or in America or Europe, no, in europe almost, but still no. They would be no Commodore for 40 years if not for GMH Australia. It was the best car GM ever made in the world
It's Karen and ken 😂
Thanks for uploading this 👍 I remember the magazine supplement which detailed the design and development process. I also read the 60 page supplement on the 2001 Monaro and fondly remember the supplement on the VN Commodore back in the eighties.
As a g8 gt owner this is sick.
I’m on the hunt for one now. I’ve always loved them since I saw my neighbors as a kid. Such understated but menacing looking cars
@@brdllc I'm on the hunt for you, sweetie. come to me.
Holden should have produced a SUV car based on the ve platform from what i read it was in the works but GM did not give it the green light which is a shame because it might have saved holden.
Also they could have made the commodore a smaller car and the statesman the bigger car
Pity they didn't test for the timing chains
Yep, not much of a car if the engine has major flaws.
@@mvnorsel6354 no problems with the timing chain in my v8
@@LevyHappyClapper the V8 in the series one drops lifters and cam shafts. That’s not a Holden fault, that’s a Chevrolet fault.
Pity they didn't test for the quality of the owners. Go to George Auto's channel, he purchased a Ford Falcon XR50 that had the characteristic Alloytec problems. It's down to servicing. I have an Alloytec powered VE with almost 190 000 kms on it and have never had the timing chain problem crop up. There's a lot to be said for servicing every 6 month or 5 000 kms, whichever comes FIRST.
@@BrentonCrude Why would a car manufacturer test the quality of owners...? That makes no sense. As much sense as someone who has serviced their vehicle at least 38 times in 190,000kms. Cars aren't supposed to be serviced that amount of times given their own handbook says 10,000k intervals. People should expect that the owner's book is accurate and servicing every 5,000 is over the top. But hey, if you want to spend twice as much on servicing good for you. I've owned plenty of cars where I have done 30K services as per the book and the vehicle easidly did 200+ ks before I sold it in mint condition. Renault Trafic is one such vehcile that had 30K service intervals. So yeah, Holden really needed to ensure the vehicle they made and advised on service intervals was able to handle what they were telling people they were designed for. Normal every day drivers and owners will service per the handbook.
little did we know, that markets would no longer want a v8 sedan in the future. now it's bland 4wd prado everywhere.
Prad?. Not really. We are in the midst of a small Japanese truck fad. It's all Hiluxs, Rangers, BT-50s and Navaras now.
And worse fuel economy
V8 suv was a market untouched by Holden they could have went for.
@@suad01terrible handling, terrible fuel economy, terrible ride quality and terrible crash and roll over ratings 😂
Shit box 6cyl engine compared to the 6cyl in the FG Falcon
The FG was an ugly outdated shit heap full stop. Rubbish interiors leftover tailgates on Utes from AU turds. The VE was FAR superior to an FG and the VF COMPLETELY wiped the floor with fords donkey garbage.
Airbags are sure effective, but shit, they hurt.
Too cheap compared to Korean luxury vehicles.
RIP Timing chains. 2nd Mortgage to fix
Sure there a little pricey, but not that bad 😅
Funny thing is if you put proper quality oil in it treat it respectfully and service it on time there is no issue. My 2013 sv6 with 185,000 km still drives like a new car.
A mans car, not like the rubbish now
obviously dedicated $5 of that 1 billion for the interior..
Definitely for the Omega.
@@Zanelancaster20074 The interiors on VEs in general were bland, plain and boring. No support in front seats so very uncomfortable on a trip longer than 3O minutes and cheap plastic everywhere you look.
They look and feel cheap.
Nowadays they are clapped out shitboxes used by bogans as Meth chariots.
They made three types of dashboards.
Isn’t it an Opel vectra
yeppers....
Riddle me this 1 billion spent on development and on multiple v6 engines with stretched timing chains thanks GM for designing them to fail. The sky is the limit, my my how far we can fall thanks Mary Barra (GM CEO)
My best Holden's were the Hz kingswood sedan hd 66 sedan both my fathers vb & vh commodore I drive a ek Honda Civic that's sought after I'm happy 😂😂😂😂
Rare as rocking horse poo now
Nothing about the Z chassis....?
Sick
No one mentions the one dollar timing chain on the six for this billion dollar baby😅.
Yes that was the early ones addressed from late 2007 onwards. I have. 2013 Vf sv6 with a LFX v6 with 185,000km on the clock yes always had a slight metallic chain rustle since new at idle but top quality oils and 7.5 to 10,000km oil changes this engine has performed faultlessly. I know of someone with a VE Series 2 with an LFX that has cracked 390,000km and is still going strong. Treat it right and it will look after you!
The tech 2 nightmare.
Lol. Acting chairman was a yank.
Definitely an Aussie product…
Its a gm sub and he was the most qualified for the job, this isn't unique for foreign people to be in charge, hell head of opel design was australian in Germany in the 80s and head of global gm designs in the u.s rn is australian and has been on jay leno to talk about old buicks and show rare gm cars multiple times now.
I still want one.
Why ??...these days the VEs are used by bogans as a Meth chariots.
They are clapped out shitboxes now. What a waste of 1 billion dollars.
No wonder Holden doesn't exist anymore.💯
Im pissed that the legacy doesnt live on.. thanks gm for killing Pontiac and Holden. Such a super diving experience .. what a useless sub-perfomance marketing by gm here in the states..
FG was a better car
I have a 2014 XR6 manual- and the build qaulity is woeful to say the least
Thats why it was exported, oh hang on that didn't happen.
@@markhollis362 unsure what that has to do with the Falcon being a better car, drive them back to back the Falcon is superior in most ways, hell even a BF drives better than a VE
Bullshit I've got a ve and a fg in the driveway, ve is heaps smoother car heaps better IRS design etc fg slightly more refined than a ba.
But the v6 alloytec is a pos flawed design all rev no go or torque.
Ve/vf the roof pillars are a huge blindspot but tough af, they had to redesign the jaws of life because of the ve. Ss vs xr8 ss smoother to drift also. Reliability wouldn't go past the barra though can't kill em.
@@markhollis362 and hang on, no one even bought them in the US 🙄 try harder champ. Falcon was a better car because of the Barra..
Too bad that the VE SV6 and Omega was absolutely trash.
If you have to have one get one with a V8. The only thing that will be breaking is pieces of your interior.
Plus the slushbox auto transmission and weak as piss differential. Timing chains on Alloytec 3.6 V6 fail and then the engine lunches itself.
Absolute trash.
@@victorpeirce4753 one of the worst engines I have ever had the displeasure to work on. Absolute pile of Garbage. Only the SS VE is worth buying because of the LS.
VB, VC and VE.
Nice cars for their time.
VK - should have gone straight to the crusher.
A truly horrible car.
bullshit
@@Hsv1556 OK.
In what way?
@@andysaunders3708 the vk is an awesome car,they are one of the most wanted model commodores
@@Hsv1556 By who?
Auto-electricians?
@@andysaunders3708 no people that like VK's,,so shit that most people can't afford a good one
No wonder GM pulled the pin, we blew millions of dollars
Should have designed it bolder. Aussie cars were often nice, but lacked stronger flare. It didn't sell in the US- pity. Most cars are downright ugly or really boring .
It was sold in the United States. Look for "Pontiac G8 GT". It was sold in Brazil also named australian "Chevrolet Omega" and "Chevrolet Omega Fittipaldi". It was sold in England as "Vauxhall VXR8" and was finally sold in the United Arab Emirates as Chevrolet Caprice.
@RicardoMNogueira Middle East Market got both long wheel base Caprice and short wheel base commodore badged as Lumina. The R8 was called CSV CR8 , caprice was also sold in Asia as Daewoo and Buick.
The VE/VF was really a good car but about 10 years too late.
Also needed an AWD, twin turbo option.
Bogan V8 hoons are a dying breed. Why make a new car only designed for them.
Australians want more sophisticated cars that Holden were only just starting to realise.