Holden Drover Reviews

In nearly 140 years of the motor vehicle, history records only two Australian cars that truly left their mark on the world – even to this day.

Could the Australian car industry have been saved?

Five years ago Holden executives were secretly hatching a plan to save the brand by teaming up with the Chinese car maker behind MG and LDV. Now looking back in 2025 as Chinese brands win over Aussie hearts, the move would have been one of pure genius that would have seen Holden not just survive but maybe even thrive.The deal was close and it could have worked incredibly well, given what we know now. The plan would see Holden and Chinese auto giant SAIC enter an agreement allowing MG cars and LDV utes to be rebadged as Holdens.This was all happening in 2020 - three years after Holden’s parent company General Motors had shut down local manufacturing. The Aussie-built Commodore was replaced with an imported Opel Insignia wearing a Holden badge. The move left Holden in a horrendous situation where it was having to scrape around at the bottom of the auto barrel looking for right-hand-drive vehicles within General Motors global portfolio - the Cruze, for example, was a Daewoo Lacetti Premiere which garnered a reputation for mechanical problems.The deal with SAIC was far more promising. GM already had a joint-venture with SAIC in China, so there was already technology sharing between the companies. But just as Holden’s executives were about to act General Motors announced Holden would end operations at the end of 2021.Holden’s interim chairman and managing director Kristian Aquilina faced a parliamentary inquiry in 2020 into the closure where he was grilled by Senator James McGrath. Reading the minutes of the inquiry reveal Senator McGrath asking if Holden would be sold to a Chinese owner. “I just want to get reassurance from you in relation to the Holden brand. MG, a famous British automobile company, is now owned by a Shanghai-based state-owned company in China. Can you give us an assurance that General Motors won't sell off the Holden brand to, for example, a state-owned company in China, or indeed any other company? Can you give us that assurance?” asked Senator McGrathAquilina's response was firm: “I'm not going to address any hypotheticals, but I want to assure you of this: Holden remains within our ownership, within General Motors ownership.”The exchange showed what appears to be a nervous and hostile attitude toward the prospect of the Australian brand being owned by another carmaker.But a Chinese owner might have helped Holden more than the American one - which left it with nothing. Looking at how dramatically the world’s car landscape has changed with Chinese manufacturers moving at an almost impossible speed both in the development of battery technology and production of high quality, stylish cars makes you think that a Holden owned by Chinese owners may have been a much better prospect.The suggestion also by the Senator that MG was somehow worse off under SAIC ownership is questionable now. MG produced 700,000 vehicles in 2024 and 50,000 of them were sold in Australia, making it the seventh most bought car brand here. MG has never been more successful, never sold more cars AND never been driven by more people.A Holden under SAIC ownership or close joint venture would have probably seen the brand offered in a range of petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles at prices that would have been affordable.Sure, SUVs would have absolutely formed the backbone of a 2025 Holden model line-up, but the MG3 could have been given a Barina badge and there would have even been room for a halo car in the same way MG has the Cyberster - an electric Monaro maybe? Ok, maybe not that far. But a electric Caprice luxury Car? That could work.Plus, Holden 4x4 utes could have been a thing again. SAIC could have drawn on the same ladder-frame architecture that underpins the LDV T60 ute or the eT60 ute, which might have helped Holden beat old rival Ford to the electric ute post.Of course, there’s the electric Holdens that could have been had the brand been sold to SAIC. The excellent MG4 would have been a perfect electric Holden Cruze - possibly one of the best Holdens ever in its new EV form.Then there’s all the Holden jobs which could have been saved. Sure, maybe not the production line folks, but the design teams and the engineers could have continued on in some form, as is the case with MG's design studio in London.Even today with a new version of the Holden Commodore exists in China as the Buick Regal GS. It's an Opel Insignia-based ZB Commodore and despite the platform being owned by Stellantis now, thanks to a loophole the car can be sold as a Buick by SAIC-GM in China. Yes, even the Commodore could have easily lived on here in Australia, even if it was made in China.Not to mention the other Chevrolet models the brand could have drawn from like the next-generation Equinox which is currently assembled in China.Of course none of this happened. General Motors wanted to keep rights to the Holden brand for at least 10 years as it said it wanted to provide service and support to owners for at least a decade.Perhaps in five years time General Motors will sell the Holden brand to SAIC, or Geely or BYD. Would people really think that's a bad idea now? Will anybody even remember Holden then? Then again, it did work for MG...

Imagine you’re living in another dimension where General Motors decided to keep the Holden brand alive in Australia and the Opel Insignia-based ZB Commodore is still in market.Now take a look at the pictures accompanying this story and that’s more than likely the car that would currently be gracing Holden showrooms across the country.That’s because, despite GM’s sale of Opel to PSA Group in 2017 and the German brand’s transition to Stellantis four years later (in the PSA - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merger), the Insignia-based car lives on as the Buick Regal in China.And that inter-dimensional Commodore has just received what would surely have been the evergreen Holden’s final facelift.SAIC General Motors is enjoying ongoing success with the Buick brand in the Chinese domestic market with the Regal serving as “a mid-to-high-end car with super driving value”.A 2024 facelift introduced a new grille and bumper treatment to freshen up the car’s look, although its 2018 origins are still clear.But headline news is this month’s introduction of a GS ‘Gran Sport’ high-performance version of the four-door, five-seater.However, rather than the up to 7.5-litre (455ci) V8 engines powering Buick GS muscle cars of the 1960s and early ‘70s, the new Regal offers a 176kW/350Nm version of the ‘Ecotec’ 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine driving the front wheels through a nine-speed auto transmission.Externally the GS sports an ‘Obsidian Black’ grille with cells arranged “in a three-dimensional matrix” and a "fang blade” across its centre. There’s also a black “Tail Wing” spoiler across the boot lid and GS badging front and rear.Underneath the skin the Regal GS’s suspension has been given “European-style sports chassis tuning” and upgraded Brembo brakes are standard, but there are no changes to the interior.Interestingly, owners of 2024 and onwards model Regals will be able to retrofit their car with a GS upgrade kit.SAIC GM says it has sold more than 1.8 million Buick Regals in China over multiple generations and more than two decades on sale. But Holden devotees can only dream of the Holden Commodore GS that could have been.

Holden’s first big blunder, launched 60 years ago, was serious enough to reverberate right through to the very end in 2020. And beyond.

I just had my 05' Holden VZ Commodore One Tonner serviced.At 20 years and 225,000km old, it has seen a lot of change in this world, including the end of the Holden brand itself.But despite its age, it still serves its purpose. “Keep the oil changes regular and you shouldn’t have any issues,” my mechanic told me.It's got two seats, a vinyl dashboard, a droopy headliner, a bullbar and a 2.5m metre steel tray that has moved everything from soil to scrap metal to countless friend's and family member’s furniture.The VZ has paid itself off in a million ways more than one and its endurance is a testament to the Holden brand and the 3.6-litre Alloytec engine that powers it (so long as you keep it up to date on maintenance).As its third owner, I can’t help but think what the first owner might have thought if I told them way back in June 2005, when they bought it from Epsom Holden in Bendigo, that 20 years later it would still be chugging along, now amongst electric cars.And who knows, potentially one day (if I keep up those oil changes) self-driving cars.See, that’s the thing about cars with combustion engines, especially older ones, that makes them so special.An invention like the electric car isn’t like what the smartphone was to the flip phone or Netflix was to the DVD; it can’t simply send old cars like mine to the trash heap.No, a good combustion-engine car is built to last. It might demand regular attention and maintenance, but look after it, and it will last generations.And that makes me wonder, can EVs, which are still in their relative infancy on the mainstream market, provide the same level of longevity?Frankly, we don’t know, and the reality is we aren’t likely to know for some time.In Australia, the average age of a car is 10.4 years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Car census, which is far longer than most electric cars have even been on sale.Take Australia’s best-selling electric car for example, the Tesla Model Y, which has only been on sale here since 2022.Some clues, however, can be found in the original EV models that do surpass that age bracket. Namely, the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Tesla Model S and Mitsubishi i:MiEV, which all landed here between 2012 and 2014.A small volume of second-hand listings of those cars on Autotrader, Gumtree Cars, CarsGuide and competitor’s websites show the vast majority of those models with less than 100,000km on the odometer, which, in fairness, is likely a product of them being city cars.The Model S, on the other hand, has a couple of notable exceptions exceeding 200,000km, despite most sitting comfortably under.Using Telematics company GEOTAB’s recent findings that lithium-ion batteries deplete at a rate of about 1.8 per cent per year under moderate conditions, that means most of those cars would have spent about 18 to 21.6 per cent of their battery capacity.However, that depreciation figure assumes they are being charged at a rate of between 20 to 80 per cent, abstaining from DC fast-charging charging and limiting exposure to extreme heat, which is not always possible in Australia.For argument's sake, though, let's just say all of those conditions have been adhered to. On a mid-range Tesla Model S 85, that might mean you only have 412km of the 502km worth of range left from when you bought it, which is less than what I yield out of a 70-litre tank in the VZ.In theory, however, you would only be able to use 80 per cent of that amount, meaning real range is about 329km, which isn’t shocking, but it certainly isn’t great either.Thankfully, EVs have come a long way since their early days and range is gradually ticking upwards. So are warranties, which is a direct result of a brand’s growing confidence in their products.Tesla currently offers a Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty of four-years/80,000km, which covers everything aside from the battery and drive unit.Those are covered by a much better eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, or 192,000km on its Long Range and Performance variants, along with a 70 per cent battery retention guarantee over that period.Despite the relatively low Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty, overall it is hard to deny it is pretty impressive, especially when compared to the original warranty of my VZ, which was a paltry three-years/100,000km.Keep in mind too that Tesla is on the lower end of the warranty spectrum.MG offers a whopping 10-years/250,000km battery warranty on its electric cars such as the MG4 and ZS EV, which is the same deal it offers on its petrol cars.That ought to give EV owners a sense of security that their car won’t all the sudden lose tremendous amounts of range or require a new battery after a short period of time.But whether they prove as reliable as my trusty One Tonner, only time will tell.

It’s often said by car enthusiasts that you’re not a real car guy until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo. Perhaps, but there’s an Australian variation on that theme: You can’t be a proper car bloke (or gal) until you’ve owned a V8.

Mike Simcoe, designer of some of Australia’s most iconic cars, will retire from his post as head of General Motors design in July.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn has launched a class action lawsuit against General Motors Australia and New Zealand.It alleges faulty transmissions were fitted to “hundreds of thousands” of Holden Commodore and Colorado models, with owners possibly getting a pay-out. The gearboxes in question are codenamed: GM 6L 45, 6L 50 and 6L 80, along with their derivatives. They were sold in new vehicles between January 1, 2011 and December 24, 2024. Models include the Commodore VE and Commodore VF also in Ute, Caprice and Calais guises. Some versions of the Colorado ute and its derivatives — the Colorado 7 and Trailblazer — also used the automatic transmissions. Maurice Blackburn’s class action “alleges that the transmission systems in the affected Holden vehicles are defective due to a design fault in the Torque Converter and Torque Converter Clutch.” “As a result of the alleged defect, the affected vehicles have a propensity to experience various problems including intermittent transmission shudders, excessive vibrations, harsh gear shifts, leakage of Automatic Transmission fluid, accelerated degradation of the components of the transmission system and greater servicing requirements. “The class action alleges that General Motors failed to comply with the guarantee of acceptable quality under the Australian Consumer Law and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. ”The class action is open to those who bought new or used vehicles affected. It is also open to those who have sold their vehicle or who own a vehicle, and those who have not yet experienced any issues. Maurice Blackburn is seeking to recover compensation from General Motors Australian New Zealand for loss and damage on behalf of the consumer. A GM spokesperson told CarsGuide, "GM does not comment on ongoing litigation."GM stands by its commitment to achieving the best outcomes for Holden customers."There is precedent for transmission-related class actions, with one being brought against Ford’s ‘Powershift’ dual-clutch transmission in 2016. The case evolved into an ACCC matter and Ford was ordered to pay a $10 million fine for its handling of the situation.

What have been the most significant Australian cars since January 1, 2000 so far? With the first 25 years of the 21st century now out of the way, we rate the 10 most important models that left their mark, or came into their own afterwards.