Addicted to Cars - Holden VT Commodore | Unique Cars Magazine
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Join Glenn Torrens from Unique Cars magazine as he unwraps the story of Holden's most versatile-ever platform, the VT.
An incredible 55 models sprouted from this well thought-out and good-looking series.
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Love the VT! My first car at 16 and still have it 11 years later faultless!
The VT-VZ generation is the pinnacle for Holden. Never has the platform been made so versatile. These are now modern classics.
I own two 2003 VY series I S utes, one which I restored in 2015 is a V6 & the other is a V8 which I'm currently restoring (Before anyone says that LS1's were only available in SS form, you better re-read the Holden line up at the time).
They both drive fantastic & underrated in today's market.
Hey Man. Ive got a 2001 VX V6 Berlina. Super tidy. 2 Owner 215000 kms on the clock. Nice car and every time Ithink of Flicking her I think also.... Dont be an idiot keep her shes a classic now and forever more.
Great reliable cars that last for ever. I grew up with a vx commodore and we still use it today and its never broken down or given any trouble.
Coming from a mechanic you witnessed the warranty claims first hand... I beg to differ!!!
@@paulkarwacki7119 Oh look another hater of Aussie cars. We put 500,000km on a vp berlina and the vx has around 400,000km. I think that's enough to say they are good cars.
@@nath2506 Yep.. Know it all mechanics. What pile do YOU drive Paul . Do tell us.
gas dedicated AU3 wagon that has towed as much as some turbo diesel utes.
@@paulkarwacki7119 A mechanic would also know that the 3.8 Ecotec is a very good motor... The AU Falcon came with its fair share of recalls as well...
I’ve had my VT wagon now for 10 years. Got it at around 150,000kms and it’s at 330,000kms now!!! Still drives hard but runs hot. Love it, it’s a beast.
yeah they're good things
Mine just got back from the auto electrician and mechanic. I’ve had way too many issues with my car over the last 4 years. The clock just ticked over to 150000 last week. The head liner fell down, and the windows were fixed, needed a full cooling system, Under the engine it was sagging so it didn’t pass rego that year until it was fixed. Petrol cover snapped last year. Back lights all blew due to wiring burning. Drivers seat bottom bit fell off so it’s now held together with cable ties 😂. Ignition switch broke and was replaced today. Side mirror falling off, needs car seat covers, headliner, and more however, mechanically the car is a beast and mechanically it’s never ever let me down. I love my car cause I don’t have a choice 😂 it still wants to live so I am in the process of fixing what I can and hope for the best. Wish every one with a vt commodore happy driving peeps 😂❤❤❤❤❤
no matter the kays on the clock, a VT Commodore is now a quarter-century old! So, yeah things are starting to drop, sag, crack and creak!
On the weekend I saw a very similar VT Commodore near Narellan NSW. It was parked in the sunshine and boy did it sparkle. It's rare to see a neat and tidy VT these days and this colour and the condition of the car was stunning. My first Commodore was a VH 173/2850 5 speed manual sedan, then a VN wagon, then a VS sedan and a VX Series I Berlina and now I drive a 2007 VZ SV6 ute. All cars were bought second hand and maintained in good original condition so I really appreciate it when people maintain their cars. Thanks Glenn for another interesting review.
Cheers!
I have just picked up a 98 s model. Coming from the UK driving little capacity motors due to fuel cost and tax, being able to jump in a 3.8 V6 and actually enjoy it without sweating over the tax or fuel cost (although it still surprises me how thirsty she is) is such a great feeling. I absolutely love it.
Just got one last week and it's honestly the best thing ever didn't realise how good vt commos were just thought it was all hype I see why they are so popular
congrats! Yes I reckon they are good things that have survived well. I've owned two (HSV Senator; Berlina) now own its successor (VX2) and I'm involved in restoring a VT SS right now. A good tidy VT is still a capable regular driver, of course just as it was intended to be :)
I saw a VT just the other day that appeared to be well looked after. The VT is one of the best Holden's ever made and when the VT came out, it was probably one Holden's greatest period. As you mentioned GT the Monaro was reborn as well and that story has to be one of the best automotive stories ever.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I hardly see an VT or vx Commodores around. Mostly see newer hatchbacks or BMW, Mercedes etc don't even see that many ve's either
@@seiner0ne live in a country town and you will see heaps of them including VZ’s, VE’s VF’s etc.
hey thanks for watching! Yes many of us continue to enjoy the great Aussie cars from this era as regular drivers or weekend cruisers
@@seiner0ne Buy a commodore now Bro. It doesnt matter what model. They are all cool and the biggest kicker is they dont make them anymore. Get you one now.Better than money in the bank at the moment. Just my opinion....
@@glenntorrens8988 Too Right mate. I have 5 different commodores and an HZ 1 Tonner. Im currently on the lookout for a station wagon for the stable as it occured to me the other day I dont see that many around much.I LOVE Holdens. From a kiwi. Love your vids too Glenn.
just got my first car 99 VT so exited to do it up and make her look as beautiful as when she released
my vt has been in my family since it was brought brand new back in 1997, my parents owned it until 2019 when it was given to me and i will never sell it
Excellent!
Thanks Glen for your knowledge & story telling of Aussie automotive history 👏 Such a shame it came to a end 😢
yes, you're right. It seemed that, during the late 90s/early 2000s our Aussie car manufacturing, small as it was, was destined for continuing success. Think of Ford, Holden and Toyota all doing great cars, and exports, plus all the performance stuff from HSV and FPV... now I think I might cry :(
very beautiful car I also own 2002 Caprice V8 which is very nice 😍
rebuilt mine in 2015 what a sweet car 500 thousand km and strong as same colour
my first car was a vx calais v6, but had a series 1 vt ute a few years later and one of my favourite drives. Just loved how it felt to drive
Great video, love this era of Holden.
3.8 litre v6 such a reliable engine
yes, simple, reliable, torquey and very good on fuel too
Holden's old V8, actually finished up in 2000 (or later), fitted to the VS 'Series 3 Ute'.
VT and VX models did not include Utilities, therefore the VS continued. My own VS is a 2000.
Yes there was some 'overlap' but iirc production of the Holden V8 engine finished in 1999 and engines stockpiled. Replacement LS1/GEN III was introduced at VT2 and WH announcement in mid-1999. Internal GM/Holden program codes meant the Holden Ute was tagged 'VU' but it was a VX in every detail
@@glenntorrens8988 all true, but the VU came out about 2002, around the time I got my VS.
What's more interesting, is the period that the engine was released.
Keep up the good work 👍 good video
@@bodgiesteve8849 hey thanks! Yes it was a late introduction, as (so I've heard) Holden had to prioritise LWB development for export markets... hence its out-of-sequence series code. But., technically, it was a VX
@@bodgiesteve8849
Production of VU began in late 2000 and was released about February 2001. No VS utes were made after December 2000.
@@noelgibson5956 yeah OK, LS introduced in '99 VT, meaning 2000 VS had the last Holden V8, not the '98 VT, as stated in the video.
Quite rare to see a VT these days with the fuel flap still attached 😅
Quite rare to see a good one on the road …
The P plate fraternities got wind of them and started wrapping them around trees telephone poles etc
Must have cut their numbers badly…
Mine snapped off just last year 😂
Never late in the 3.8!
I feel bloody old when unique cars and VT commodore are in the same sentence. I still wouldn’t mind finding a bog stock exec. They were a clean design. I think they took a step back with the VX personally.
ME TOO! I attended the media reveal of VT at Holden's test track facility at Lang Lang, Vic. Seems like a few years ago... NO... IT WAS 26 YEARS AGO! I think these have aged well. But... buy a nice one while you can!
@@glenntorrens8988 Too right mate! had a flick through the classifieds last night. Handful of them under 100,000km but asking I’d say fairly optimistic prices. Ah to turn back the clock and buy one off the showroom floor
Missing my VT (1st car). Still remember doing the intake manifold gasket with my brother. Fun car to put your foot down in.
Is that an Acclaim with 066000k's? Thats gotta be pretty rare now. My VT Olympic is nearly at 413000 on the original eco going strong!
Yeah plenty of life left in this one!
Im enjoying my restores HZ premier with a VT roller cam 304/carb. and 700r auto, thanks to the VT commodore👍 excellent show Glenn
If you can find a mint vt-vx even in base v6 form they're still a decent drive. Id happily have a silver VX in executive form with a set of chasers. Oh yeah and its fuel cap still attached
I've got a vx series 2 Calais. Out of the Commodores Ive owned it's probably the best one by far
yes that low-kay car was 'mint'. Just needed a set of fresh dampers. I would have driven it across the country!
I love my vx series 2 Calais, she looks good, sounds good and drives great. I dont see to many older Commodores around anymore. Not really a fan of the newer cars that are around
That car is an absolute credit to its owners 👌
I do remember the late 90's and early 2000's a time of innovations... Alas it didn't last :(
yes, we had a clever and dynamic little industry doing great things
Love GT's passion for Holden
I like other cars too!
still a great looking car
WOW the fuel cap is the same colour as the car!
Funny thing is you could’ve kept filming and driving for the rest of the day and I would’ve watched it 😂👌
ha! Yes I would have happily kept driving! It was a lovely example of the era. Just 60-something on the clock
Great video Glen, they were good cars... I see you filmed this out the back of Tarro and around Raymond Terrace... Careful driving around Woodberry, someone over there will knock it off.
Love the aussie content ! Great watch !
Hey cheers
All the 3rd gen commodores are the best commodores, vt being the most important cause the series 2 vt was the first of the 350ci ls1, the greatest engine of all time !!!!!!!
what about the VT ls1 i have a VT commodore 5.7lt 6Speed manual in Black
LS1 arrived in VT2
How did Australia go from such a good place in vehicle manufacturing to where we are now ….
There should be some heads hung in shame !!!
yes it's a tragedy
Not many of the SS supercharged were sold. It is quite rare.
yes best guess is that only a few hundred were optioned with the SCV6. Most people who wanted an SS wanted a V8 MATE!!
What's going on Glenn ??? You haven't pulled this car out of a wrecking yard or some farmer's back paddock !!! This was the glory days for Holden here in Australia. The variety & choice was fantastic. I had a VY Acclaim wagon which I was going to hold onto as long as possible, but some idiot wrote it off for me. This idiot had just got their car back from the panel shop from a previous accident.
That ecotech V6 was a good reliable motor, the improvements over the years was noticable. I had the first ecotech in my VS and the last in my VY. The VY was so much smoother and quieter, it was hard to believe it was the same motor/gearbox.
Yes when I'm not being a V8 yobbo or trying to beat Porsches in a Bug, I'm a fan of the Ecotec too. Good driveability and economy and as you say, they got better as time went on
Had a VZ V6 Adventra CX6.
It would have to be one of the biggest heaps i have ever owned; heavy as shit, poor fuel economy, sludge issues, the 5 speed auto was a $4500 rebuild (as the case was poor qaulity alloy, and required to be bolted to a jig to machine surfaces flat so it would hold pressure), could barely get parts for the AWD system.
Plus's were leather interior, paddle shifts & room to boot.
Had a friends Dad that owned a 1993 VR V8 Executive; when the VT V8 5.0lt Executive came out, he ordered one.
Lasted 2 weeks before he went and bought back his VR as the VT had so many issues (it was part of the first run to public). Still has the VR to this day- and is like new with just 100k odd of kilometers on the clock.
That's a tidy VT Commodore there! Don't see them much anymore. Most will have been driven hard or written off. As people have said keep you Holden's and Ford's. Especially now that the VT Holden's can be thrown on club Reg.
Does the owner of this car have an insta page I can follow?
Great video.100% fact, no bs.
hey cheers... I try to keep the mistakes to a minimum! But having 'been there' when these cars were new (and having owned a couple) means I 'know' the cars quite well. Thanks for the feedback
No mention of it being based on the European opel omega, which a lot of people don’t know.
Look into it further and you'll learn that Holden did its own thing with Commodore/Statesman to suit Oz and Middle East. By the early 1990s only Holden, Opel and Cadillac were developing fresh RWD cars in GM, Caddy stuff was not suitable for us so Opel and Holden shared a few bits such as door handles. It is a totally different body: wider, longer. Totally different surfaces/panels/lights. Totally different HVAC etc for Australia and Middle East heat.
@@glenntorrens8988 I said “based”. Put them side by side you see a strong similarity and hardly a “new” design. And that goes for the omega and commodore from the late 80’s and the cavalier /Carlton and commodore before that.
@@jakeypoo6918 put them side my side and its obvious the VT is a larger, longer, wider car built on a different wheelbase and with wider track with no shared panels. Once Opel said 'we won't do wide' Holden did its own thing with its body design and style. Same situation as VN... but hey! Look! The door handles are the same!
66 thousand on the clock. Nice low km
yes it was a terrific example.
That engine was a very very long way short of being a "fresh" engine for the VS. It dates to the 1960s - a very ancient Buick engine.
Although GM had a V6 in the 1960s, it had been totally redesigned, twice, by 1995 when the 'fresh' model arrived in the VS; pretty-much the only thing shared was 'V'
@@glenntorrens8988 Fair enough, depends on your definition of fresh. Its certainly a pretty ancient layout and design!
Weird engine though, despite being so crude it was way more efficient than it had any right to be.
@@glenntorrens8988 Was certainly about as much power as those VTs could handle. Holden ditching the lateral control links from the rear end when they screwed the Opel semi trailing arms into the VP (i think?) was a very dubious cost saving! Putting it back in for the VX was admitting they got that decision wrong! Even the basic 4 cylinder Opels had the control links...
@@froggy0162 The toe links, while clever, weren't - IMO - ever necessary with the V6s so I can see why Holden didn't use them for a decade when power was never more than 215kW. But yes as power surpassed 250kW with a sticky tyre (in SS and HSV) it cleaned up the on-the-edge handling
@@glenntorrens8988 They do sharpen up handling with any power level though, and can make all the difference if you find yourself in a sticky emergency situation. They even get used on front drive like high end Pug 206 and Astras! So yeah, you can get away without them on low power Commodores, but they're nice to have.
Aside from mass recalls, awful Datsun 120Y style rear suspension toe link and average build quality in the first VT, it was much improved by VT2 and well refined by VX. A nice looking model too.
ahh.. datsun 120Y had a beam rear axle
@@glenntorrens8988 Indeed, but the comparison was made by at least a couple motoring journos in the late 90s. Negative camber wear was woeful on the VT Series 1 and the recalls in the series stands true, when you compare to the ugly, but reliable AU.
I bought a heavily neglected VY commodore S2 Acclaim to replace my Skoda Fabia VRS 2012 that started to get a rod knock at 107000k...
I have adored this damn thing (ok fuel usage violates my wallet) but like man, I have such a strong nostalgia with these things.
And like, if you love restoring cars, these things are stupidly cheap to restore to mint, but parts are seriously starting to get harder to find.
ok so like no car is perfect lol and perhaps this is all the shit I've had to fix in it.
Replaced front + back brake pads + brake fluid flush, Fixed broken inteiror lid on the dash. Replaced broken aerial, removed bad tint, flushed powerstreering, replaced plugs, coils, leads, oil, oil filter, air filter. Fuel filter, fuel pump, front left door actuator, installed a tow bar, degreased engine, replaced heater tap, wiper blades, diff oil, air temp sensor, throttle position sensor, cam shaft sensor, front r wheel hub
Next: fuel regulator, drive belt tensioner, front l wheel hub.
and replace the rear window cause I'm a brainlet and cut through some of the demisters.
Keep these coming gt.
we're doing our best!
Брат-близнец Opel Omega B
When are we seeing more of the bommodore Glen!!!
Have you seen the 'road trip' video?
@@glenntorrens8988 yeah that's the old green girl you took back to where it was purchased?
@@oBlink_182o yes, we found its original owners and showed them the car :)
Yeah watched that on , was a nice touch to then of its story 👌
Sorry but this car was originally an Opel Omega. There is not much Australian about this car...
The platform was based off the opel omega but the car is entirely Australian just try bolting omega bits on a commodore
I have 3 vt commodores , 2 are ex Victoria Police cars and the third is a wagon.
RIP Holden; I don’t know if Holden was killed or died of old age.. I do know that we didn’t appreciate the humble Commodore. I still have a VE SSV that I purchased new in 2006…. My kids can decide it’s fate after I’m gone.
Raped and pillaged by Chevrolet would be an accurate description…
if holden still makes cars id get one
i think i watched this like 30 times
The VT had 157 kW... VS series 1 147kW, VS series 2 152kW and the VT got another 5kW.
No, the VT V6 had 147kW. Holden did not announce a power increase for the NA Ecotec until the VX (152kW) thanks to a few hardware and ECU tweaks
@glenntorrens8988 Don't consult with Wikipedia. It's wrong. I stand by my claims. Balls back in your court and you must prove without Wikipedia.
Technically it was ‘styled’ in Australia but its design was more than a little influenced by the Opel Omega B. Google it.
We all know that
Most brands have a 'family' appearance across the ranges even for models not sold with each other, or in different countries. Another great example of this is 1990s Corolla and a 1990s Lexus
Because it is an Opel Omega underneath. This car was designed and build in Germany.
VB-VZ, what global parts bin specials they were...
MANGnificent 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Shame the v8 cross track 4 Ed was the fastest car in Australia between fuel pumps …
The concept was brilliant
yes, unfortunately they did enjoy a drink. I tested one and it iirc was 13 per hundred on the freeway on flat ground...
@@glenntorrens8988 thanks Glenn
I have really been enjoying your video series
Just love to see you bringing the old ones back for a second life
It’s a credit to you !
@@batmanlives6456 hey cheers :)
Easy to fix and parts were dirt cheap.
The Vt was the first Commodore to be safe in a crash. Others before we're a joke
Show ma a vt crewman?? VY VZ one tone models in the Ute your welcome
That music is irritating.
sorry, but I love it... I reckon it has a nice metallic-ey, industrial-ey, automtive-ey vibe
I just bought at WH Statesman… LOVE. IT.
A step up in drivability from the 202 hq I sold last year.
Congrats! Yes another Aussie legend
VT-VZ were a great shape of holden
Agreed
Cost holden 500,000,000 to design it...vf commy was 1 billion. To design it..i have proper holden videos