1981-84 Holden VH Commodore SL/E V8: Was Size Really the Issue?
At the October 1981 launch of the VH Commodore, the original VB/VC series was facing a serious identity crisis. Was it a half-size bigger four cylinder family car with cut above looks and dynamics ruined by a sub-standard engine? Or a half-size smaller six cylinder family car with cut above looks and dynamics undermined by an underpar engine? The stand apart VH Commodore SL/E V8 Shadowtone, and its later SS stablemate, were critical in cutting through this confusion and re-positioning future Commodores as a premium and emotional choice.
The fully-optioned VH SL/E Shadowtone, the ultimate and last chrome bumper Commodore, was enhanced by an all too brief revival of two-tone paint with interiors colour-matched to the exterior. Classy and refined, both the 4.2 and 5.0-litre versions punched above their weight and price in performance, refinement and appearance.
Yet the VH Commodore suffered by association with the serious free-fall in Holden sales. The VH is often incorrectly blamed for the collapse of Holden as Australians once knew it. In terms of appearance, suspension tuning and engine improvements, it is true that the VH was closer to what the VB Commodore should have been in 1978, one year after its European release.
But even in 1981, the VH Commodore was an amazingly refined car for its day and ahead of its German equivalent in many ways. After Holden’s third attempt to define a better balance between ride and handling, the VH hit bull’s eye in both areas for most drivers.
Not so well-known is how little Holden designers could spend on freshening-up this third version of the original Commodore. For a minor freshen-up, it had the tough task of holding the fort for an agonizingly long model life at a time when the competition could smell blood.
To place the VH in perspective, the Germans released a major facelift of the VB body at the end of 1982, one year after the VH arrived. Its all new replacement, re-badged as the Opel Omega, arrived in 1986. This 1986 German model was the starting point for the 1988 VN Commodore.
The VH had to wait until the first quarter of 1984 for its VK replacement to take over. The VK with its plastic bumpers and different grille was equivalent to the 1982 German upgrade even if it was very different. The heavily revised VL then had to keep this original body style alive after 1986 for more than another two years.
The VH might have been an important evolutionary step in a ten year model life that was several years too long but it needed to be refreshed at least a year earlier in 1983.
Holden resources had been stretched to the limit funding and revitalizing the WB Statesman, launching the TF Gemini restyle and preparing for the new locally-built JB Camira, all between 1980 and 1982. The VH Commodore was in the middle of all this and was left to maintain its own momentum.
In addition to establishing these upgrades and new models, Holden was also building its new global engine plant for the Family II engine. Holden designers and planners had to resort to several innovative ways of delivering change for the VH at little or no cost.
There were also other forces at work.
Why did VH sales tank and hand the XE Falcon best seller status?
By late 1981, the rush to smaller cars driven by a fear of further fuel crises was coming to an end. This reversal was consolidated by a hugely improved XE Falcon 3.3 in 1982. At base GL level with its new five speed manual gearbox, the XE Falcon fleet models equalled or bettered the fuel consumption of overworked four cylinder models with the benefits of a bigger car.
Fleets were also just starting to add-up the extra depreciation and repair costs that came with forcing a four cylinder model to do a larger car’s job. There was also a growing pool of resentment amongst fleet car drivers made to drive cars that were not up to the task. Although the Commodore was still a desirable compromise, it was not big enough for many families and its four and six cylinder engines made a working day on the road harder than it needed to be.
Both the XE Falcon’s improved 3.3 and 4.1-litre sixes were in the right place at the right time as both offered better performance with equivalent fuel consumption to Holden’s smaller 2.8 and 3.3-litre sixes respectively. Yet Holden’s 4.2-litre V8 more than kept Holden honour high by offering significantly better performance than both Falcon sixes with similar fuel consumption to Ford’s 4.1-litre six.
This of course left the 3.3-litre six in the volume-selling Commodores with a fuel consumption closer to a V8.
Those VH Commodore buyers not restricted by fleet directives promptly ordered the 4.2 or 5.0-litre V8 options and were happy with their purchase as the fleets headed over to Ford.
This shift in buying patterns was an even bigger disaster for the four cylinder Starfire version of the VH Commodore. Its medium-sized four cylinder rivals went into overdrive to protect their patch with the slick Mitsubishi GJ Sigma upgrade, a new Super Responsive Toyota Corona and a Mazda 626 that kept getting better. A brand new Datsun Bluebird also had the Commodore 4 firmly in its sights while even Ford’s latest Cortinas were starting to look good against the Commodore 4.
In hindsight, Holden executives acknowledge that turning the Commodore into a four, and a bad one at that, was one of the costliest mistakes they made. It not only failed to boost sales but worse, it confirmed for many buyers that the Commodore was not a true Aussie family car but a four masquerading as a six and V8 (which it was, given its Opel Rekord origins).
During the VH series, the Commodore 4’s only real use was herding four cylinder buyers into the new and cheaper JB Camira with its Holden family styling and packaging. As soon as this trend became apparent, it created a conundrum of massive proportions for Holden marketers if extra Camira sales came at the expense of VH Commodore sales.
It must have seemed a really clever idea at the time to give the Camira similar styling to the VH Commodore. Because the VH Commodore looked smaller and more refined than earlier models, exactly as its designers intended, mainstream buyers concluded there wasn’t much point paying extra for the Commodore if the cheaper Camira offered similar accommodation and looks with lower running costs.
It defies belief that the VH Commodore was offered with a four pegged back to 54kW and torque dropped to 138Nm at a time when the cheaper and more frugal JB Camira could offer 64kW. Even the 2.8-litre six was dropped from 76 to 73kW. If you were designing a comprehensive factory incentive program to wipe out the Commodore, no one could have done a better job than Holden in 1982.
And this is where the Holden V8 became the critical survival factor for the Commodore. It’s history that Holden only got away with developing its own small V8 instead of building or importing the Chevrolet small block V8 in the 1960s because no one got around to telling the Americans that Holden was developing its own V8.
Most of the early V8 development work was completed in a Holden HR mule, a model remarkably similar in size to the first Commodore, on the basis that the Chevrolet small block wouldn’t fit. By the time it was finished, local Holdens had grown big enough to house the Chevrolet V8 but the local V8 project was too far down the track to abandon.
After giving the LH Torana a much-needed shot in the arm in hero sales and track performances, Holden’s small V8 would guarantee the survival of the Commodore at a time when the six cylinder cupboard was bare and Ford was forced to drop its local V8.
Although the Commodore V8 option could never be enough to replace slowing six-cylinder fleet sales, the VH SL/E V8 along with the later SS and its many HDT variations, would add charisma to the Commodore that would ultimately bury the Ford competition.
It is worth taking a new look at the sales figures.
VB Commodore October 1978 – March 1980 – 95,906 (Average annual rate: 71,930)
VC Commodore March 1980 – October 1981 – 121,807 (Average annual rate: 76,930)
VH Commodore October 1981 – February 1984 – 141,016 (Average annual rate: 60,435)
VK Commodore February 1984 - February 1986 – 135,705 (Average annual rate: 70,802)
VL Commodore February 1986 – August 1988 – 151,801 (Average annual rate: 60,720)
VN Commodore August 1988 – October 1991 – 215,180 (Average annual rate: 67,951)
If there is an obvious conclusion from the above figures, it is pointless making comparisons of raw production tallies to identify the most popular Commodore. The VH, VL and VN all had one thing in common. All had to hold the fort for way too long without a freshen-up before any other circumstances are taken into account.
It is often stated that the bigger VN Commodore was the savior of Holden but the figures don’t support that. Its annual sales rate is poor given that its EA Falcon rival was at its worst since 1960.
In the entire history of the Commodore, no model faced stiffer competition and fared better under pressure than the VL even if the raw sales figures don’t tell the full story. It was up against a well-sorted and popular XF Falcon that barely suffered under the switch to unleaded fuel, it faced new and rigorous competition from the initially popular original wide body Mitsubishi Magna and a fresh locally-built Nissan Skyline vying for the exact same compact six cylinder family car buyer with an engine shared with the VL.
The new imported Camry liftback, a new 2.4-litre Corona, Nissan Pintara and a facelifted Ford Telstar also helped splinter the VL’s family car market as did a new range of people movers and four wheel drive wagons.
Yet the VH Commodore’s achievement of average annual sales similar to the VL Commodore is no less remarkable once the following sales figures are factored in:
WB Statesman 1980-1985 – 60,231 (most of the WB model life including the 1983 Series II upgrade coincided with the VH Commodore)
JB Camira July 1982-October 1984 – 85,725
JD Camira October 1984-March 1987 – 36,953
Even without an analysis of which VH levels and engine choices sold the most, it is clear that the VH was under renewed attack from above and below within the Holden range. This came at a time when buyers were most confused about whether the Commodore was a proper four, six or V8 family car.
As soon as Holden created some clear air above four cylinder alternatives by re-launching the VK Commodore as a six or V8 only, Commodore sales levelled or improved. By the time the JD Camira arrived late in 1984, the Camira had been discredited as a true Holden and the entry point for many Holden buyers had become the Commodore again.
It is significant that the VK Commodore was also subtly restyled and repositioned as a stand-apart Holden model with several clever styling tweaks that gave it the presence of a more substantial car.
There is one other factor to emerge from this. The strong early sales rate of the VB and VC Commodores when a Kingswood was still available suggests that the Commodore size might actually have been right for Australia.
The VN’s moderate annual sales rate increase over the VL could just as easily be linked to the first all new body style in 10 years and the first six cylinder engine that comfortably outpaced the opposition at every level while achieving outstanding fuel economy. Its growth could also be linked to the period when the Magna’s reputation was at its worst, the rear drive Skyline was withdrawn from the market and the JE Camira’s sales were tiny.
The similar VH and the VL sales rates achieved under far greater pressure than the VN, begs the question whether the subsequent race between the Commodore and Falcon to match each other in power and size was always going to end in tears.
On this basis, would Peter Hanenberger’s Holden TT36 concept shown in early 2004 have saved Holden? Although it was called Torana for extra publicity, his intention was to revive the size and positioning of the first Commodore. This might partly explain why the VH Commodore SL/E Shadowtone is facing a revival as it is closer to what more than a few within Holden wanted in local showrooms by now.
What made the VH Commodore SL/E Shadowtone V8 so important?
The VH Commodore at entry level yet again failed to provide enough delineation over previous Commodores to satisfy the marketing department, a criticism presented quite validly to Leo Pruneau, Holden’s Head of Design, at the time. No one could disagree as the first Commodore approached its fourth year against unprecedented competition.
Yet there was still no clear direction internally whether the Commodore future should be defined as a four, six or V8. During the VH planning stages, smooth and efficient were the priorities for a market still spooked by oil shortages.
Leo recalls there was nothing in the kitty to cover any major external change. The fact that Holden still ended up producing the most cohesive and attractive version of the chrome bumper V-car worldwide is amazing.
Peter Nankervis, earlier responsible for so much of the LC Torana that was right, was given the task of freshening-up the VH. He regards it as one of his favourites. The design theme was defined as refining the look of the original VB/VC Commodore, which at that point was no more than two different models joined at the windscreen: the bulkier German six-cylinder Senator front attached to the more petite four-cylinder Rekord rear. Even if the Rekord and Senator shared the same wheelbase, the taller and longer VB-VC Commodore front was always meant to be combined with the Senator’s fatter tail and extra side glass.
The Nankervis re-design required just one new panel, a new bonnet, with minor tweaks to the front guards as dictated by the budget. Typical of the then out of control Holden bureaucracy, manufacturing went ahead and re-tooled the front guards anyway leaving the design team frustrated that so much more could have been achieved had they known. It was a repeat of the bizarre LH Torana dash debacle.
The clever part was lowering the headlight location by 25mm. By retaining the original reflectors, adding a fake reflector extension and sloping the lens at a more radical angle, Nankervis presented the headlights as much slimmer and streamlined without any loss in lighting. The grille could then be made much slimmer while the bonnet and front guards were given a different profile to match. The front indicators which were reduced in height then inclined to match the headlights, wrapped around more for an overall increase in size.
The whole effect was to make the former German Senator front look like it belonged with the simpler and more compact Rekord rear section. It was so effective that it actually seemed to reduce the Commodore’s size, compared to the previous oversized front attached to a rear too small to carry it.
If it wasn’t pitched against a bigger Falcon, this would have been highly desirable but ultimately Pruneau had to fill the VH aperture with an exaggerated grille for the VK. Viewed outside this 1980s context, the purity of the VH can now be fully appreciated.
Even though the VH grille was smaller, it was more efficient after considerable engineering time went into refining the slats. Because the previous VB-VC grilles were much taller, they also covered the structure above the intake area rendering the top portion non-functional. For the VH, this structural area was now covered by the sloping bonnet. Because the slimmer VH grille still matched the entire intake area behind it, there was no actual loss in cooling area except it was now fed by improved airflow .
The fine slat theme was picked up in the tail lights, bumper inserts and side strips.
As for the previous models, the SL/E featured the German Senator’s rear bumper side extensions and a longer rubber insert. The clever but low cost VH SL/E addition was a special “light box” attached to the standard VH Commodore tail light that appeared to extend the tail lights up to the edges of the number plate housing.
Pruneau knew this would not be enough to distinguish the top level Commodores, a growing concern as Ford was using additional features to separate its top levels. His concerns were well-founded after the XE Fairmont Ghia arrived with its own front styling. He admits it was during his time in the UK with Vauxhall he admired those Rolls Royces with two-tone paint that became the inspiration for the Commodore Shadowtone.
An earlier version introduced at the end of the VC series used a stripe to separate the two colours. On Rolls Royces with two colours, a bright trim strip runs through the base of the upper colour, just above the colour shift.
For the VH Shadowtone, Pruneau specified Mercury silver as the lower colour. By masking a thin section at the base of the upper colour, the exposed silver created the effect of a full length chrome strip running through the upper colour, replicating the effect of the Rolls Royce side strips. Although it involved extra masking for the paint department, it was a highly visible top end feature that could be paid for as a low cost option without any tooling or body additions.
There was ongoing discussion about what to call it. Suggestions of two-tone, duotone and style-tone (a former Ford term) were presented but Pruneau was adamant that Holden needed its own special name for this distinctive paint option. He suggested Shadowtone, an accurate description of the effect and a subliminal reference to the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow that was reaching the end of its long model life at that time.
Consistent with this application of Pruneau’s admired features was the SL/E’s carryover single spoke steering wheel from the VC. A much praised item at the time, it recalled the steering wheel of Citroen’s pioneering DS19.
The master stroke was the new alloy wheels, later known as the Family 2 wheel. Leo Pruneau recalls their design origins with a hint of embarrassment. The VH was being finalised during the period when Holden was also designing the Camira wagon’s rear section which would soon be exported to Vauxhall for the British J-car wagon.
The new wheel design first appeared on a striking Vauxhall design exercise called Equus before it was translated into a Vauxhall production wheel. A wedge shaped sports car, Equus was designed by Pruneau’s replacement at Vauxhall, Wayne Cherry. Cherry had to establish the context for a new generation of Vauxhall-badged Opels which had “wedgier” front styling than the upright Vauxhalls they were replacing. Cherry was also providing a reference point for the hot droop-snoot Vauxhalls that carried his signature wedge fronts.
The Holden design team had a set of these wheels to make sure they looked right on the Vauxhall version of the local Camira wagon. Because the Nankervis VH facelift was heading down a similar path and the JB Camira was so closely related to the Vauxhall version, Pruneau concluded that the new Vauxhall wheel was not only perfect as a top shelf VH Commodore and JB Camira feature, it would reinforce the local V-car and J-car’s global connections.
His judgement was spot on and a younger Tom Matano, before he set off for Mazda and became the father of MX-5 styling, was given the job of translating the Vauxhall design into a local wheel exclusive to the SL/E levels of the VH Commodore and JB Camira. A third version for a proposed Gemini replacement based on the next Opel T-car was dropped after that car was shelved then dusted-off again for an encore appearance on the final RB Gemini.
Totally different from open spoke alloy wheel designs up to that point, it generated new challenges and problems in volume manufacture. As a result, it could only be fitted to Shadowtone SL/E models until the production processes caught up. The balance of interim VH SL/E production was fitted with the earlier fine-spoked SL/E alloy wheel which clashed with the smoother and softer VH styling. It made the SL/E look weaker and softer than previous models. Yet the Family Two wheel as this VH/JB aero wheel became known, presented the VH’s smoother styling in an entirely different context by completing the aero look. It’s hard to think of a model more sensitive to wheel choice than the VH SL/E Shadowtone as it was designed around these wheels.
Holden hadn’t checked with the Vauxhall guys that it was OK to use them as they were all contributing to the same global product pool. When a visiting Vauxhall team saw their wheel design on Holdens, they were unexpectedly quite upset, recalls Pruneau.
Fully-equipped with Holden’s version of the aero Vauxhall alloys and the Shadowtone paint, the VH SL/E was a game changer in moving future Commodores away from the VH’s convoluted basement positioning. It was also critical in restoring the VB Commodore’s sophisticated European credentials. It was no coincidence that this aero theme was developed further for the VL at all levels.
Because Holden had still to fully address its sub-standard sixes, the VH’s V8 engine options were the only engines refined and powerful enough to maintain this elite positioning on the road. The V8 bought valuable time until the Nissan six and its Turbo version could fill the gap in the VL then dropped until it could be re-engineered for unleaded petrol seven months after the VL release. As confirmation of how crucial the V8 had become until a decent six could be sourced, this was it.
The Shadowtone SL/E ultimately led to the Calais after it established a market for a premium and more differentiated Commodore more dependent on sophistication and upmarket looks than size.
Pruneau recalls that the colour choices were limited to those that provided a strong contrast, always over the same silver so that the extra side strip effect would be a constant regardless of upper body colour. There were six colour combinations, basically lighter and darker versions of blue, red and green over silver. The two greens were Rhone and Spruce, the blues were Tahitian and Indigo and the reds were Venetian and Cabernet. Indigo, which was a deep inky blue, was the only solid colour in these combinations.
Dealers were known to offer their own Shadowtone combinations from new but these were not factory cars. Factory Shadowtone models should carry specific identification that varied as they were built in different Holden plants across Australia. Some ID plates carried the paint codes for both colours while others only listed the code for Mercury silver. Cross-referencing with other codes will be required with these examples.
There was also a two-tone limited edition VH Top 30 dealer model but this was an entirely different project to the Shadowtone. It is a rare collector’s item in its own right, as were several other T30 editions produced over the years for Holden’s best performing dealers.
The next most striking feature was the full colour co-ordination of the interior in matching blue, red or green even if some testers found this overwhelming at the time. In today’s world of uniform grey and charcoal interiors, these interiors were stunning. Already unusual for their time, they are not likely to be seen again. Standard trim was the plush velour favoured at the time but the soft, new generation leathers introduced in the 1970s at LTD, Landau and Caprice levels, were rapidly gaining a foothold in this market.
Even if earlier Commodores could be ordered with leather, the simplicity of the seat panels in the VH SL/E leather option was consistent with the smoother Shadowtone exterior and prompted new levels of acceptance. However, a leather finish shinier than today’s matte textures and the lack of pleating did reduce driver location over the velour.
Despite further tweaks for the VH four and sixes, they were futile after they reduced claimed power. Both V8s at this level continued as for the previous series except the TH350 auto was replaced by the local Trimatic auto not long after the VH launch. Just how much difference even the 4.2 V8 made over the 3.3 six highlighted how important the V8 had become in maintaining Commodore credibility.
According to Wheels June 1982, the Commodore 3.3 took a full 13 seconds to struggle from 100 to 130km/h, the critical overtaking range at the time. The 4.2 dispatched this in just 7.4 seconds compared to the new XE Fairmont Ghia 4.1’s time of 10.1 seconds.
Although the VH Commodore SS that followed in March 1982 would become pivotal in re-establishing Holden dominance in racing its no-frills factory presentation and generic wheels were too close to the original Belmont-based HQ SS to make mainstream Commodore owners feel better about their cars.
Like the HQ SS, it was a 4.2 only as the much rarer 5-litre version was not offered until months later. The VH SS was not a Brock-HDT car but like the original HQ SS, was a budget paint and wheels factory edition. The VH SS (along with various police specials aimed at picking-up abandoned Falcon V8 business)marked the starting point for a new heritage of sportier four-door Commodores that would one day revive a four door Monaro equivalent, again just like the first SS. In the interim, the Commodore-based SS came and went according to homologation requirements and didn’t settle into an ongoing high-spec factory model until later in the VN series.
However, the clear VH SS identity did make it a much better setting for budget V8 buyers than a lower VH level specced-up with a V8 option. For the VH SS to reach its full potential in looks and go, niche Commodore buyers had to cross the factory line and climb the Brock-HDT hierarchy which further removed it from mainstream Commodores. At best, the entry SS and its later track performances reminded Australians that the Commodore could still be a niche performance choice at a time when most VH Commodores were anything but.
This left the VH SL/E V8 Shadowtone as the only aspirational factory model pitched at mainstream Australia that could arrest the damage perpetuated by Holden’s ineffective six cylinder engines then prevent the range from sinking into the mire of the Commodore 4. It was often described as the best luxury car this side of a Jaguar for good reason, an image far more important to the mums and dads buyers that Holden needed to win back.
As the last of the chrome bumper Commodores with a Rolls Royce paint job, it was hugely impressive and avoided any confusion with a neighbor who had just bought a JB Camira SL/E with all the fruit.
It is significant that younger enthusiasts who grew up with the original Commodore and experienced the impact and importance of the SL/E V8 Shadowtone always understood this. Unusually for a model once pitched at older, more established buyers, it is these younger owners who are leading the charge to rescue this model and preserve those that are left.
What the Press Said…
John Wright in Motor, July 1982 was one of the few who tested the SL/E Commodore Shadowtone 5.0-litre and detailed how the process worked: “You have to order an SL/E with the 382 Pack (5.0-litre engine, Turbohydramatic transmission, central door locking). The price is $17,017.
“A further $146 gets you cruise control. Leather seats cost $428 more than the standard crushed velour seats. Power windows cost $299. All SL/Es come equipped with air-conditioning, stereo, alloy wheels, low profile tyres and the already famous GM-H trip computer. If you specify the Shadowtone paint option ($482) your car will wear the Family Two alloy wheels – originally intended for all SL/Es, but because of supply problems temporarily limited to Shadowtone SL/Es.”
For the VH, Holden revised the front suspension’s lower control arm positioning and stiffened the bushes at the arm’s pivot point for reduced toe-in. At the rear, the rear spring’s progressive rate was upgraded and a laterally stiffened lower control arm reduced compliance steer.
Wright’s assessment of the handling? “When conditions are ideal, a 5.0-litre Commodore handles brilliantly.” However, the bar had just been raised by the Peugeot 505, the new XE Fords and other state of the art rear-wheel-drive cars. Wright was one of the first to point out that “the live rear axle, a relatively narrow track in relation to wheelbase and yes, perhaps even the Dunlop Steelmax tyres, handicap it when the roads or weather are poor.” Overall, he was impressed with the luxury, the occasional bursts of 1982-style supercar acceleration and the V8’s fuel consumption that was not extravagant by the usual V8 standards.
Wheels in June 1982 tested the 2.8 SL, 3.3 SL/E and 4.2 SL/E versions of the VH against the XE Falcon GL 3.3 and Fairmont Ghia 4.1. Although the six cylinder Commodores struggled, the overall verdict went to the SL/E Shadowtone 4.2: “This is easier than we expected it to be. The best car of the five is clearly the 4.2 litre Commodore SL/E for it has the power steering and added power which allows the potential of a fine car to be fully realized. The result is a remarkably refined and competent machine and one that does warrant comparison with its European rivals of twice the price.”
Who would have thought Holden’s clandestine efforts that started in 1966 to build a small efficient V8 would be pivotal to a Holden being compared with the best from Europe 16 years later? And would then go on to power a series of dominating global Group A racers? At a vital fork in the road, the VH SL/E Shadowtone with either V8 option was a crucial step in verifying there was a future for the Commodore that didn’t involve four cylinders!
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