Lacking from the Holden lineup since the introduction
of the Commodore was a high-performance iteration,
something with real driver appeal. In a stroke
of genius, GM approached race legend Peter
Brock to help construct high performance, exhilarating
vehicles reminiscent of the days of the Monaro.
Starting out as a very small concern, it would
quickly garner a reputation for creating high
quality and extremely well sorted high end Commodores,
all which remain to this day highly prized and
extremely collectable.
Naturally enough few ever
referred to them as HDT Commodores, rather they
would only ever be "Brock Commodores".
From the moment you sat behind the wheel you
knew you were in something special, but perhaps
that was because the Momo steering wheel featured
the King of the Mountains stenciled signature.
Together with partner John Harvey (then Special
Vehicles Department Manager), the company would
go from strength to strength, even entering a
couple of VK HDT’s in the LeMans 24-hour
race. Our advise is, if you are lucky enough
to own one, keep it.
1980 - 1981
The HDT VC’s
were rather gregarious, but that was more fashion of
the time, if you were hot, show it. A huge air-dam was
fitted to the front, while the back featured a large
three piece spoiler, fat wheel flares and bold striping
in red, white or black, stretching from the front spoiler
and continuing along the flanks of the car. More>>
1982 - 1984
First shown as a prototype at the 1982 Melbourne Motor
Show, the Brock VH HDT Special Vehicles would prove
popular before it was even released. Impatient buyers
were going to their respective Holden dealerships to
put down a deposit long before the car was even available.
Unlike the VC iteration, the VH came in four distinct
models, the Commodore SS Group One 4.2 V8, Group Two
4.2 V8, Group Three 4.2 V8 and Group Three 5.0 litre
V8. As you progressed through the models, each would
receive a little more by way of modification and refinement. More>>
1984 - 1986
The HDT SS carried over the same grille from the donor
VK Commodore, but had a small rear spoiler and 15x7 HDT
wheels shod with Uniroyal ER60H15 tyres fitted. But it
was the Group Three that was creating all the interest,
with its additional air dam, bolder side skirts, rear
under-tray, letterbox grille and larger rear spoiler.
A rearward facing bonnet spoiler and bonnet wind splitters
that ran atop the front guards were popular options.
Colour options were restricted to either silver or white,
the previous black never proving popular but we cannot
determine just why red was abandoned. More>>
1984 - 1986
The first of the HDT Special Vehicles Commodore's
for the VL range would be the Calais LE. Initially
it was powered by the same engine as the donor car,
the Nissan sourced 6 cylinder engine being used. Naturally,
as other engines became available on the general Commodore
range the HDT engineers were quick to use these for
their cars, and so both the turbo-six and Holden 5.0
litre V8 would also find their way under the bonnet
of the Brock VL. More>>
