THE WM Statesman/Caprice copped its big
reveal in July 2006, sharing the stage with
the VE sedan at the Melbourne Convention
Centre. Having been developed alongside the
Commodore from 2002, resources dictated
that the VE wagon and ute be bumped in
favour of the WM long-wheelbase twins. By
2005, although Holden’s WL Statesman/
Caprice sold just 3573 units in Australia,
Middle Eastern exports were 19,400, with a
further 6000 kits made for assembly in China.
Wagons and utes just weren’t that important.
The Statesman/Caprice was born of
two concepts, marked A and B, that were
workshopped across late 2002 and early
- A was a formal notchback shape, while
B featured a sweeping rear roofline and short
bootlid similar to the Audi A8. Both designs
were put into production – the front of concept
A and the dramatic rear of concept B.
The export potential of the WM saw it given
more attention and budget than previous
Statesman/Caprices, with the $190 million
spend helping put greater differentiation
between the Commodore cousins.
Unique rear doors returned for the first
time since the WB Statesman of 1980,
now meeting the rear wheelarch rather than
stopping several centimetres short. The WM’s
one-piece sides, made with the same new-
for-VE panel press, created the fourth-longest
single automotive stamping after those of the
Roll-Royce Phantom and the Maybach 57
and 62.
Underneath, the Statesman/Caprice twins
were 94mm longer in the wheelbase than
the standard Commodore and a whopping
212mm in overall length, the extra space going
to rear-seat passengers and boot area.
Extra weight blunted the response from the
195kW 3.6-litre Alloytec V6 shared with the
Commodore range, but those wanting an
executive express with effortless acceleration
could opt for the 270kW 6.0-litre L98 V8.
October 2010 saw the Statesman
discontinued, with Holden citing flagging
domestic sales for the model. At the same
time, the Caprice was de-specced and givena price drop, with the V8-only Caprice V
introduced as the new range-topper.
The VF Commodore release in 2013 brought
a new, final Caprice. The WN update was
surprisingly unchanged outside, unlike the
Commodore, which, doors aside, received
all-new panels. The classy new interior was
mostly shared with the Calais V, and, like the
VF range, was crammed with tech: reversing
camera, blind spot monitor, lane departure
warning system, collision avoidance system,
head-up display and automatic parking.
The announcement that Aussie production
would end in 2017 set the path of the final
iteration of the Caprice. Like the VFII, all bets
were off in relation to power and economy;
buyers wanted the former and weren’t
concerned about the latter. The WNII of 2015,
still wearing the basic shape it wore upon
release in 2006, received the 304kW LS3,
hurting fuel efficiency for the sake of creating
an executive carriage that could accelerate like
a ballistic missile, bringing smiles to thousands
of private buyers and hire-car drivers alike.STATE S MAN
CAPRICE
LEFT: Having worked
on every Commodore
since the VN, long-
time Holden designer
Richard Ferlazzo
assumed the position of
chief designer for the VE
and VFRIGHT: Holden chairman
Denny Mooney
launched the VE in
July 2006, saying: “It
doesn’t get any better
than this”THE EXPORT POTENTIAL OF THE WM SAW IT
GIVEN MORE ATTENTION AND BUDGET THAN
PREVIOUS STATESMANS AND CAPRICES