Mark Fogarty
IT COULD have been very different. Had an ironic twist of fate not intervened, the Torana A9X wouldn’t have been Holden’s last official homologation special. A Super Commodore version of the original
VB model was not only proposed, but a prototype was actually built. The idea was to go head-to-head with Ford’s 351 cubic inch V8-powered XD Falcon on the racetrack and the road with a Chevrolet 350 V8-propelled high-performance Commodore.
The factory-fit small-block Chevy would have been accompanied by A9X-style flared fender extensions, front and rear spoilers, and bonnet scoop penned by legendary Holden designer Leo Pruneau. Of course, a VB Commodore with the 5.7litre Chev V8 never happened. The all-Australian Holden 308 (slightly shrunk to 304 ci/4.9-litres in ’85 for the international Group A rules) remained the biggest motor until replaced in the mid-1999 VT II by the imported Gen III 5.7-litre Chevy. But the fact that a big-engined VB could have come off the then Dandenong production line in Melbourne back in 1980 is an untold story.
This story is from the November 2017 edition of MOTOR Magazine Australia.
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This story is from the November 2017 edition of MOTOR Magazine Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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