FAREWELL COMMODORE

THE HOLDEN COMMODORE HAS BEEN LAID TO REST. DAVE CAREY GIVES THE EULOGY

Whether or not you consider the ZB a Commodore, the nameplate is parked for good

BACK in 2017, we more than just farewelled the Commodore; we said ‘see you later’ to our entire manufacturing industry. That included Ford Australia, Toyota, Mitsubishi/chrysler, Nissan and all the little also-rans that pioneered vehicle manufacturing and assembly in this country. When Holden closed the Elizabeth factory, it should have turned off the lights and shut the door with a resounding thud. Commodore gone. Curtains closed.

By retaining the nameplate on the fully imported hatchback that replaced the

Aussie, it felt as if Holden had left a lamp on in the hallway, that they were saying that Commodore wasn’t really gone, but rather had just switched suppliers, like your mum switches energy companies. Of course, there’s nary a person in this country who bought that, both figuratively and literally. And now the Commodore is gone for a second time. Unlike its long-lived and popular Aussie ancestor, the ZB Holden will be missed by few. The sentiment has been almost unanimous and the only one that didn’t seem to understand the problem was Holden itself.

The Australian-built Commodore spent almost 40 years on the market – decades longer than the Kingswood and second only to the Falcon in locally manufactured longevity. It was and remains inextricably intertwined with our mainstream society, our pop culture and our visual history. Most people have heard of the Commodore, even if they can barely tell one end of a car from the other.

We’ve all got a Commodore story to tell, but with the passing of the name into the annals of Australian history, these tales will gradually dry up. Boomers will depart us and one day so will Gen-xers. Kids born today may drive Commodores, but they will be

cheap-and-cheerful bangers by then. One day, attrition will prevail, and the Commodore will be mostly gone. There will be survivors of course, a smattering of carefully preserved dailies driven by crusty holdouts like myself. And there will be a few zero-mileage, neverseen special editions – GTS-RS and W1s kept in climate-controlled car-coons. The last of the Aussie Commodores will become just as much a curiosity as the Kingswood is today, and the ZB will be a mere footnote – probably a good car, but a sad end. And not a true Commodore.

Street Machine has covered plenty of history stuff lately, and has already chronicled the Commodore saga over four issues, charting the car’s shift from an Opel-based compromise to the Aussie-est Holden since the HQ. It’s savagely ironic that the Commodore came full circle and met its maker as an Opel with scant Aussie input – the exact thing the Holden engineers of the mid-1970s managed to avoid.

So, the following pages aren’t a history lesson or a technical manual; they’re just a bunch of stories and opinions that ignore the past couple of years and instead focus on the last mainstream Aussie car and the last of a breed, which was truly loved by many.

THE COMMODORE IS INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED WITH OUR MAINSTREAM SOCIETY, OUR POP CULTURE AND OUR VISUAL HISTORY

We got friends and SM contributors together and hashed it out – not over which Commodore was the fastest or most powerful; these are quantifiable facts. Instead, we wanted to find our favourites and discover if we shared common ground. We argued, debated, waved arms around and rage-quit group chats. See if you agree with us.

Our conclusion was that there is no overarching ‘best’ version of the Commodore. Over 40 years, four generations and 15 models, there’s a variant to suit almost anyone. Six-cylinder, V8, RWD, AWD, sedan, wagon or ute – hundreds of thousands identical, yet peppered with rarities built by the handful.

We also contacted some ex-holden employees, line workers, maintenance fitters, supply managers and corporate types – people at the coalface who helped shape, design and build so many of the cars on our roads – to get their insights on how these cars came together and find out what they feel we’ve lost.

So have a toast to the venerable, le, fla flawed, brilliant Holden Hold Commodore. modore. May she be remembered memb for her glory days, rather rathe than what wha she became. ecame. Think fondly of her conquering nque the Mountain, owning the sales charts harts and ferrying in around round families for generations. gene It will not happen again.

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