Holden’s Final Roar

Holden captured the attention of the Australian youth market with the release of its Torana models in the late 1960s and early 70s. They were small-bodied but powerful cars and one of them, the LJ Torana XU-1, was driven by Peter Brock to his first win at Bathurst in 1972 – the first of five Bathurst wins for the Torana in the 1970s. The XU-1 also helped Brock win his first Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), in 1974. 

Larry Perkins’  victory with Gregg Hansford in the 1993 Bathurst 1000 was built upon speed and engineering know-how. Their VP Commodore was the fastest car all week, taking pole position. Unlike his fellow Commodore drivers, Perkins opted to stick with Holden’s trusty five-litre V8 engine rather than move to the supposedly superior Chevrolet-based units used by his main rivals.  Working with Holden, Perkins developed a new cylinder block and head that had better stiffness with more metal than the original, allowing him to fit his specially designed slide injection system. Perkins was rewarded for his engineering smarts, sealing a popular Bathurst win. 

The 1996 Holden VR Commodore propelled driver Craig Lowndes, then aged 21, to become the youngest-ever winner of the ATCC and the youngest driver at the time to win at Bathurst. Purpose-built by the Holden Racing Team, this car featured a unique roll-cage design that prompted writers of the period to dub it the “Supercar”. Lowndes drove into the history books in this car, becoming just the second driver to win the touring car trifecta of the ATCC, Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 in the same season. Lowndes, with Kiwi ace Greg Murphy, led 129 of the 161 laps in the 1996 Bathurst race, becoming the youngest combination to win the race in its history. 

The Holden Commodore VX debuted in September 2001 was so successful (20 championship race wins) and so loved by its driver Mark Skaife that it was nicknamed “The Golden Child”. Built by the Holden Racing Team, the car initially drew plenty of interest, given its $25,000 steering wheel-mounted dash display, unseen in other cars of the era. The car, with an engine producing an estimated 620 horsepower, won Bathurst in Skaife’s hands in both 2001 and 2002, making it just the second individual car to win multiple Bathurst 1000 races. This famous Holden also took victory in the 2001 and 2002 V8 Supercar Championships.

The 2020 ZB Commodore Supercar features a purpose-built, five-litre, V8 racing engine (compared to the V6 of the road car version). The car’s lift-back design is a major point of difference from previous Commodores, making the creation of the racing version (incorporating the fuel fillers and fuel system) a major feat of engineering. A fleet of ZB Commodores is expected to become the last Holdens to compete in the Bathurst 1000, in 2021.