EXPORTS

UNLIKE the VT Commodore, the VE/VF was designed with left-hookers in mind from the outset. Initial plans for a Buick-badged Statesman were canned mid-development in 2004, and one year later, Bob Lutz, who had previously championed Holden’s position within GM, announced a hiatus on all Zetaplatform projects. When work resumed two months later, the Zeta-based GTO, Impala, Monte Carlo, Buick Velite and a V12-powered Cadillac flagship were all gone, and with them approximately 500,000 cars per year; only the fifth-generation Camaro remained. Holden’s LHD program was far from wasted though; the Aussies chucked VE and VF variations to almost every corner of the globe.