After the unveiling of the regular Commodore this past weekend, GM's Australian subsidiary announced the performance SS V , which is the closest thing we've seen to the 2014 Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan, which is scheduled to debut this Saturday, February 16 at the Daytona International Speedway.
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Ironically, it may also be the last Australian-designed and engineered rear-wheel drive, Commodore as Holden itself has announced that it will replace the car with a new model in 2017.
The good news is that Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux confirmed the Commodore's replacement would keep the same name with production continuing to take place in Australia; the bad news is that, according to Drive, he said it would be based on a new global design from GM, meaning it will switch to a front-wheel drive platform.
Nevertheless, for the next four years, the last true-blue Australian Commodore brings a fresh design both inside and out along with new luxury appointments.
From a North American perspective, the Commodore VF is important as it spearheads a new export campaign in the form of the Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan that will be officially unveiled in the USA next week on February 16. As you may have already noticed from our own rendering of the SS, the cosmetic changes over the VF Commodore are expected to be subtle.
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The next generation of the Commodore sedan also forms the base for GM's new North American market 2014 Chevrolet SS, which is scheduled for launch towards the end of the year as a limited production model. As some of you may recall, CarScoop's Josh Byrnes recently rendered the new SS.
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The Super Sport racer will be unique to the championship as the production-going road car has yet to be revealed and won't even built in the United States; to find it's country of origin you'll have to get an atlas and turn it upside down; yes that's right, it will be built in the backyard that Crocodile Dundee calls home - Australia.
Based on the Zeta architecture, the new SS won't be entirely new to the market when it goes on sale next year as a 2014 model. In fact, it's GM's second attempt to get the Holden-based Commodore on US shores - with the last try drying up after the Pontiac division was dissolved.
GM realizes that they still have a good product with the Commodore down under, so coinciding with the upcoming Aussie redesign they have given it another chance. This update is expected to bring substantial technological and interior quality advances over the previous G8 / current Commodore.
We'll remind you that all NASCAR racers feature a generic body with some minor modifications that include the funny looking decals that resemble the head- and tail-lights. To understand the relationship between a production model and its NASCAR sibling, check out Ford's Fusion racer in our previous post here.
"As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS NASCAR race car is a genuinely exciting moment for me,” said GM North America President Mark Reuss during the presentation of the car in Las Vegas.
"From day one, our mission at HSV has been to build Australia's finest performance cars. Every year, for the past 25, we have refined and evolved on what has gone before. And now, we present the newest HSV flag bearer – our 25th Anniversary GTS," said Holden's subsidiary in a statement.
In essence, the new 25th Anniversary GTS is a cosmetic and equipment package as there's no extra oomph for the special edition, which keeps the regular model's 6.2-litre V8 LS3 engine with 436Hp (325kW) and 550Nm (405.6 lb-ft).
The seller and builder of the replica is "Z and M Customs", which is located in the city of Eagle in Ada County, Idaho.
The company informs us that the Aventador lookalike is built on the chassis and mechanical components of a "GM Holden" with power coming from a "LS1 V8 Corvette with approximately 400HP".
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The big story for the new model year is the re-introduction of the most affordable Commodore based V8 models, the ClubSport saloon and the Maloo ute, which is Aussie talk for a car-based utility vehicle (think Chevrolet El Camino).
Both models sit below their respective R8 level variants in terms of equipment missing out on HSV’s Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) and in the case of the Maloo, the remote locking hard tonneau and performance sailplane as well, but do keep other goods such as the 20-inch wheels, performance seats, satellite navigation and Rear Park Assist with reversing camera.
The daughter of the car's original owner has listed the classic Australian model on Carsales for AU$40,000 (about US$40,200 or €32,200).
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This past Sunday saw the unearthing of a 1979 Holden Kingswood HZ saloon in Adelaide, Australia. Warren Edwards, a photographer from Adelaide and a family friend of the car's current owners, was on hand to snap the pictures you see posted here.
The mid-size Aussie sedan, which is powered by a 4.2-liter V8 rated at 120kW/161hp, had been bought brand new but due to the owner's sudden illness at the time, it was parked in his garage after covering a little over 900km (~560 miles).
It had been taken out only once in 1985 to replace its alternator before heading back to its resting place where it remained until a few days ago.
Edwards tells us:
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