Holden crash-tested 79 cars after running thousands
of virtual barrier tests, with an average 5-10 per cent
variation from real-world results. For the VE, Holden
increased its array of crash test dummies to include five
different child sizes from infant to six-year-old, plus
Holden’s famous ‘Roboroo’ crash test kangaroodown to the VE’s distinctive style line emerging
from the front quarter panel.
From hundreds of sketches and 14 clay scale
models, Mike Simcoe – who’d replaced Zmood
as Holden design boss in 1995 – and chief
exterior designer Richard Ferlazzo chose four
final designs, and by early 2001, two full-sized
clay models were built, each split down the
middle by a mirror. Naturally, Peter Hughes’s
concept followed the sharp lines of his original
sketch quite closely, while the other, designed
by Ondrej Koromhaz, was softer in form and
closer to the outgoing VT-generation. It was
Hughes’s design that was eventually green-
lit in July 2002, albeit with some details of
Koromhaz’s concept integrated.
Having returned to Holden as chairman and
managing director in 1999, Peter Hanenberger
was now closely involved in the project, but
in April 2003 expressed concern that the
design was perhaps too plain. Suggesting
an embellishment on the fender, over Mike
Simcoe’s protestations, the trademark VE
quarter vent was born and cheekily previewed
on the VZ Commodore SS.
With the design team thoroughly occupied
with the VE’s exterior, dashboard prototyping
was outsourced, based on the ‘Flex Vision’
concept created by Jenny Morgan-Douralis.
Like all Commodores, the VE dash had to
encompass the requirements for the base model
right through to the luxury Calais and Caprice,
for the first time also integrating the needs of
left-hand-drive markets from the outset.
Flex Vision offered three different design
concepts from the same basic blueprint, with
minimal trim changes. Fleet models focussed
on width, giving drivers a sense of space; luxury
variants included brushed-metal fascias for a
feeling of solidity and luxury; the sports models
used vertical lines to create a cosseting cockpit.
Underneath, Holden’s ultimate rejection of
the Sigma platform allowed engineers to drop
the Cadillac’s expensive double-wishbone
front suspension. It was decided that the
Commodore could retain a MacPherson strut
system, albeit completely redesigned and
shifted forward as per Simcoe’s vision.
Safety-wise, Bosch’s ESP (Electronic
Stability Programme) was calibrated for all
models even before it was approved, following
US studies citing a 35 per cent reduction in
crashes for vehicles fitted with the system.
Incoming Holden chairman Denny Mooney,
who replaced Hanenberger in January 2004,
approved the fitment without question, citing
that it “saved his bacon more than once”.
Powerplants received perhaps the least
attention, with the all-new Alloytec becoming
standard fitment from the VZ of 2004; it only
received minor changes to the exhaust and
induction systems. Likewise, the L76 V8,
unexpectedly brought on-stream for the late
VZ to comply with ADR79/01 emissions
standards, carried over unchanged.
Denny Mooney brought with him a focus on
panel gaps and tolerances both inside and
out, which forced the VZ’s MY06 upgrade
and pushed the VE’s release date out to
late 2006. Following dozens of mules, hand-
built prototypes and hundreds of unsellable
manufacturing validation units, the first VE
proper came off the line on 5 July 2006, five
days before the last VZ sedan.It’s testament to Peter Hughes’s fresh styling
that the VE Commodore had an unusually long
life cycle, buoyed by the staggered introduction
of the ute (August 2007) and wagon (July 2008).
But as fleet sales began to diminish in the face
of salary packaging, Australia’s workers had
also begun shifting away from traditional three-
box sedans or load-swallowing wagons, with
many preferring upright SUVs, dual-cab utes
or full-blown off-roaders.
This shift was not lost on Holden bosses,
who reacted by applying more focus on
sports models favoured by private buyers. The
V8-powered SS was joined by two further
specs, the SS-V and SS-V Redline Edition,
while the family-man Acclaim was dropped. The
Calais and Calais V offered a luxury-sporting
pretence, as did the Caprice, leaving the
Statesman as the staid unit for hire-car duties.
Upon release, the VE was lauded as the
greatest Holden ever; Wheels mag chucked a
Car Of The Year award at it, while reviewers fell
head-over-heels with the styling. For a big unit,
the VE handled superbly; the Commodore’s
ability to point around a corner remained a
benchmark for large cars throughout the VE
and VF’s life cycle.
But chinks in the VE’s armour soon started
to appear; Mooney’s chase for quality wasn’t
entirely successful and the VE copped more
than its share of product recalls. The interior
too came in for some criticism, with feel, fit
and finish called into question. It was, perhaps,
a victim of supplier cost-cutting rather than
inherent design, but it became a sore point for
Holden’s otherwise successful project, one it
would address for the VF Commodore.Holden crash-tested 79 cars after running thousands
of virtual barrier tests, with an average 5-10 per cent
variation from real-world results. For the VE, Holdlddenen
increased its aarray of crash test dummies to include ffivei
differenteee child sizes from infant to six-year-old, plus
Hld ’ f ‘R b ’ ht t kTHE FACTS:
VE COMMODORE
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over the previous decade,
GM requested several studies
to ensure there was no pre-
existing platform that the VE
Commodore could utilise
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Cadillac’s Sigma platform, was
deemed too small and costly
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project Zeta, which was
planned to underpin an array
of new, rear-wheel-drive GM
models. All were cancelled
except for the 2010 Camaro
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any previous or current Opel
model and, engines aside, was
the first clean-sheet design
undertaken by Holden since the
HQ model released in 1973
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long-wheelbase sedans were
exported to NZ, USA, South
Africa, South America, Middle
East and Korea, and to China
as a CKD kit