READER RIDES
GMH STAFFERS AND THEIR TOYS
The Commodore is such a great family car, and I absolutely love driving a manual. To me, purchasing a VFII was a no-brainer, and we’d originally planned on getting a SSV Redline Reserve Edition, before we heard rumblings of the Limited Editions. When it came to choosing which model to get, there was no other option for me than the Motorsport – as I absolutely had to have a manual, and I need four seats to fit the family in. I love the fact that the limited editions pay homage to the last 39 years of Commodores.
I worked on the VE Commodore in the CAD (Computer Aided Design) office, been Durability Engineer for all of the VE prototypes built for testing at the proving ground. I was a Validation Engineer working on VEII and was Design and Release Engineer for the coil springs for the VF model. I have worked with so many amazingly passionate and talented people, and the VFII Commodore is the result of all of their hard work. It is such a great car, and I think all Australians should be incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to produce.
The build number of my car is 605 of 1200, the significance being that this is the street address for the Holden Proving Ground – 605 Bass Hwy, Lang Lang.
I was also fortunate enough to visit the Vehicle Assembly Plant in Elizabeth with some work colleagues to watch our cars being built. Everyone I met in Elizabeth was so warm and welcoming and so enthusiastic and proud of their work. I honestly cannot put into words the appreciation I feel for the amazing opportunity I was given to watch my vehicle in production. I fell in love the minute I saw my car roll off the line. This experience cemented the fact that we don’t ever intend selling this car, and will pass it down to our kids to enjoy.
I love the SSV Redline and honestly thought that the only way that car could be improved upon was by adding heated seats! The Motorsport gives us that and then trumps it with the MR suspension. The only other option I considered was the upgrade to the larger spoiler. In the end, I decided to go with the bootlid spoiler as there seems to have been a trend since VE for smaller spoilers, and I thought that it was design staffs’ intent for the car to have the smaller spoiler.
Our Motorsport will initially be a daily drive for us. We can’t afford to have it sitting in the garage, but we absolutely just had to have one. Hopefully in five years we will be able to afford to garage it and use it as a weekend warrior. Longer term, this car will be passed on to the kids to enjoy.
My poor family has listened to my excitement about this car since last year when we first put down a deposit on the vehicle. They know how special it is to me and, if anything, I think it has fostered a relationship for them with the car too.
It is such a great car that I want everyone in the family to enjoy driving it. My saving grace is that my husband prefers driving automatics, so I won’t lose it to him permanently!
We sold the cars we used to own, and have been driving Commodores on the Holden Employee lease scheme since VZ. With the end of the Zeta Commodore approaching, we didn’t want to stop driving such a great car so we knew we had to buy one for ourselves. This is the first new car we have ever purchased!