Holden VE Commodore SS/SS-V

The world was its oyster until the GFC fouled GM’s plans, but you can still own a billion-dollar classic

Model Holden VE Commodore SS-V

Engine 5967cc V8 (90°), ohv, 16v

Max power 270kW @ 5700rpm

Max torque 530Nm @ 4400rpm

Transmission 6-speed manual

Kerb weight 1790kg

L/W/H/WB 4900/1899/1471/2915mm

0-100km/h 5.6sec (tested)

Price $51,990 (2006)

FROM THE MOMENT Holden’s ‘Billion Dollar Baby’ broke cover in August 2006, you knew you were in the presence of Australian royalty. The VE’s outstanding shape, immaculate stance and sophisticated specification signalled to the world that, finally, here was an Aussie Commodore confident and capable enough to take on the world.

That was no coincidence, of course, because the VE’s all Australian Zeta platform and muscular proportions had long been intended to underpin a raft of rear-wheel-drive GM products, including Chevrolet (Impala sedan, Camaro coupe), Buick (Lucerne sedan), Cadillac (DTS sedan) and Pontiac (new-generation GTO). In the end, only a Pontiac G8 sedan bore fruit – not Holden’s preferred option of a Chevrolet SS sedan (as eventually became the case, perhaps too late, with VF) – before GM went bankrupt, Pontiac went dead and Holden was left to ponder what could have been.

As for VE’s home-market reception, it was gold, gold, gold for Australia. Of all the variants in the range, it was the performance models (SV6, SS and SS V) that best expressed the new Commodore’s aesthetic flair, inside and out.