Holden Commodore (VY)

The Holden Commodore (VY) is a 4-door sedan / 5-door station wagon / 4-door utility / 2 door coupé utility from Holden, built from 2002 to 2004, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: V6. Mike Simcoe drew it.

How it came about

The Holden Commodore (VY) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 2002 to 2004. It was the third iteration of the third generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VY) and Holden Calais (VY); commercial versions were called the Holden One Tonner (VY), Holden Ute (VY), and Holden Crewman (VY). In 2003, the range also saw the introduction of the first Commodore-based all-wheel drive variants, including the Holden Adventra (VY) wagon.

The hardware

Power comes from V6; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1522 -. It shifts through a 5-speed Getrag 260 manual / 6-speed manual TREMEC T56 / 4-speed automatic GM 4L60-E. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2788 mm (sedan) / 2938 mm (wagon, utility). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Family and rivals

Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Holden Commodore (VX); its successor was the Holden Commodore (VZ); assembly was at Adelaide, South Australia (Elizabeth), Australia. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Volvo XC90, the Citroën C3, the Mazda Mazda6 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Holden stablemates include the Holden 48-215 and the Holden Adventra.