High Flying Rally XU1
in 1972
 
Counting
since August 2004
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NOTE:
This
is still coming up with my old site at present until I change it. |
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I
have many people to thank for help over the years. I would never be able
to thank you all individually but you know who I mean!
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Welcome
to the all new Holden Heaven
This
site was first established in 1999
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VH
Commodore 1981
The
VH was a basically a face-lift of the previous model Commodore with noticeable
changes to the grill, head lights and tail lights. The head lights
where larger in area come down at a different angle from the VC or VB while
the grill had horizontal bars running between the head lights. In
1982 the Commodore became the recipient of a 5-speed gearbox which improved
the overall quality of a good car. AlthoughIt the VH had 5 engine
choices the 5-speed was only available in the smaller sixes and fours and
was a most wanted item even though the Borg Warner unit was not very strong.
Many people replaced the original 4-speed units with Toyota 5-speed boxes
which included my VH Turbo 3.3 six. The turbo was fitted from new
and the 5-speed was added approximately a year later as the car needed
a cruising gear for the open road. The Turbo was a Garret and used
a kit which increased power dramatically to 140 hp at the rear wheels at
a mild 4500 rpm. The turbo was made from 2 seperate items with one
being from a T3 and the other being from a T5, I can say that it made this
car fly and although I never had it flat out in top I estimated top speed
to be around 220 km/h - 230 km/h. From memory 160 km/h came up at around
lazy 3200 rpm so 225 km/h would have been 4500 rpm. Anyway back to
the task of writing about the stock versions. The SS and Brock specials
were and still are true muscle cars with style and could be made from any
model and to almost any spec.
The
top of the range SL/E came with two tone paint along with many luxury features
and looked the part as did the red SS.
The
VH was successful on the track as well with the pairing of Peter Brock
and Larry Perkins who was a master at building race engines as well as
being an extremely competent driver as he proved later in his career
I
had an email asking about the Police Commodores and as far as my memory
goes the pursuit cars were a 'Police Pack' and came with the Brock motor
and suspension. The motor was rated at around 181 kW. These were sort after
cars at the police auctions and sold quickly. Some of the option
packs that were available were the 184(SL), 185(SL), 284(SL/X) and 285(SL/X)
which came standard with the 4.2 litre V8. The 184 and 284 had 4-speed
manual, 3.08:1 rear, dual exhaust, power steering, tachometer while the
185 and 285 had the same except 3-speed trimatic and 2.78:1 rear. |
Year
of Introduction:
October
1981
Price:
$8366
SL 4 cylinder
$9066
SL 6 cylinder
$14861
SL/E 6 cylinder
Engine:
1.9
litre 4 cylinder inline (58 kW)
2.85
litre 6 cylinder inline (76 kW)
3.3
litre 6 cylinder inline (83 kW)
4.2
litre V8 (100 kW)
5.0
litre V8 (126 kW)
5.0
litre V8 'Police Pack' (181 kW)
5.0
litre V8 Brock (181 kW)
Transmission:
4
speed manual
5
speed manual (1982 some models only)
3
speed Trimatic
3
speed Turbohydramatic 350/400 (5.0 V8)
Models:
SL
sedan
SL
station wagon
SL/X
sedan
SL/X
station wagon
SL/E
sedan
SS
sedan
Production:
141,018 |
One of the many great Commodore
race drivers of the 80's, Alan Grice in the one of the best colour schemes
of the day dueling with the very potent but unreliable 1800cc Nissan Turbo
of (Furious) George Fury
The two-tone paint and the
stylish alloy mag wheels on the SL/E created a luxurious look to the Commodore.
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