Holden VK Commodore
Manufacturer	Holden
Parent company	General Motors
Production	February 1984–February 1986
Assembly	Elizabeth, South Australia, Australia
Predecessor	Holden VH Commodore
Successor	Holden VL Commodore
Class	Mid-size
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 5-door station wagon
Platform	FR GM V platform
Engine(s)	1. The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design development manufacture marketing and sale of Motor vehicles In 2007 more than 73 million motor vehicles GM Holden Ltd is an Australian automaker based in Port Melbourne Victoria. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. Elizabeth is a suburb in the northern extent of Adelaide, South Australia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Holden VH Commodore was an evolution of the previous VC model released in October 1981 The Holden VL Commodore is a Mid-size car manufactured between 1986 and 1988 by the General Motors (GM Australian arm Holden. Car classification is subjective since many vehicles fall into multiple categories or do not fit well into any A mid-size car (occasionally referred to as an intermediate) is the North American and Australian term for an Automobile with a size between Cars can come in a large variety of different body styles. Some are still in production while others are of historical interest only A station wagon (or simply wagon) in American, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand usage and an estate car (or just estate An automobile platform is a shared set of common design engineering and production efforts as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of See also GM V platform (FWD The V platform, or V-body, Automobile platform name was used twice by General Motors. 9 L 54 kW Starfire (New Zealand market only) 3. 3 L 86 kW 'black' engine 3. 3 L 106 kW EFI 'black' engine V8 5. A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the Crankcase in two banks of four cylinders in most cases set at a right angle to each other 0 L 126-177 kW Black
Transmission(s)	4-speed manual 5-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase	2668 mm (105 in)
Length	4714 mm (185. A manual transmission (also known as a stick shift or just 'stick' 'straight drive' or standard transmission) is a type of transmission used in A manual transmission (also known as a stick shift or just 'stick' 'straight drive' or standard transmission) is a type of transmission used in An automatic transmission (commonly "AT" or "Auto" is an Automobile Gearbox that can change Gear ratios automatically as the vehicle In both road and rail Vehicles the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels 6 in)
Width	1722 mm (67. 8 in)
Height	1360 mm (53. 5 in)–1378 mm (54. 3 in)
Curb weight	1,220 kg (2,690 lb)–1,366 kg (3,012 lb)

The Holden VK Commodore was introduced in 1984 and replaced the VH. Curb weight is the total Weight of a Vehicle with standard equipment all necessary operating Consumables (e The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass The Holden VH Commodore was an evolution of the previous VC model released in October 1981 It was the first Commodore to have plastic (polypropylene) bumpers and introduced rear quarter windows for a six-window design (styled by Holden, but similar in appearance to the Opel Senator) as opposed to the four-window design on previous Commodore models. Polypropylene or polypropene ( PP) is a Thermoplastic Polymer, made by the Chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications The Opel Senator was a large motor car, two generations of which were sold in Europe by the German General Motors subsidiary Opel Apart from the bumpers and "glasshouse", other changes for the VK Commodore included a front grille redesign and revamped dashboard instrumentation that included a full digital LED arrangement for the new luxury version, the Calais.

The exterior of the VK Commodore was also updated with a more modern and aggressive appearance. This included a new grill design much different then previous models with three bold strips rather than a metallic grill, the now plastic front and rear bumpers/skirts replacing the obsolete metal guards, and a new rear tail light assembly, whereby they now spread from one side to another with a black panel in between. This all added up to a more prominent, sharper look for the 1980s. Changes were also made to the interior where upon the panel of instruments were now square-shaped rather than the more conventional circular layout. In total, 135,705 VK Commodores were built.

Engines

Engine choices (not necessarily available on all cars in the VK range) were two versions of a 5. 0 litre V8 engine (replaced by the 4. A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the Crankcase in two banks of four cylinders in most cases set at a right angle to each other 9 litre V8 when Group A rules entered Australian motorsport in 1985) and two versions of a 3. 3 litre inline 'black' Straight-6 engine (essentially a refined 'blue' I6 with slight increases in power and efficiency), the latter of which was available with either a carburetor or fuel injection. The straight-6 or inline-6 engine (often abbreviated I6 or L6) is a six cylinder Internal combustion engine with all six cylinders A carburetor (North American spelling or carburettor ( Commonwealth spelling) is a device that blends air and Fuel for an Internal Fuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an Internal combustion engine. The 3. 3 EST carburetor engine was standard equipment for most VK Commodores, with the 3. 3 EFI injection engine nominated as standard equipment for the Calais sedan.

The 2. 85 litre six-cylinder and the 4. 2 litre V8, mainstays of the previous Commodore ranges were dropped, hence unavailable to the VK.

Models

The VK range introduced new names for the specification levels, with Executive now a stand-alone nameplate alongside the base model SL. The Executive was basically a Commodore SL appointed with automatic transmission and power steering, and was aimed at capturing the fleet market, a market that Holden had lost its share in when the smaller bodied Commodore originally replaced the Kingswood. The Holden Kingswood was a range of Full-size cars manufactured by General Motors-Holden's, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors (GM Also introduced was the Berlina (replacing SL/X) and Calais (replacing SL/E). The station wagon body style was available in SL, Executive or Berlina variants only, however the limited edition Vacationer name plate was also continued over for a period from the VH Commodore. The Holden VH Commodore was an evolution of the previous VC model released in October 1981 Other variants produced were the Commodore SS sedan which featured its own specification - courtesy of HDT - high performance 5. 0 litre V8, and the limited edition - available only through affiliated HDT Holden dealers - LM 5000, SS Group 3, SS Group A and Calais Director sedans.

Motorsport

The VK also had an impressive racing pedigree, winning the Bathurst 1000 on two occasions, in 1984 in Group C specification with Peter Brock and Larry Perkins, and in 1986 in Group A specification with Allan Grice and Graeme Bailey. The Bathurst 1000 (currently officially known as the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit The Vk was also the first Holden to compete competively overseas. Competing in Europe the car had good results in the newly formed Group A format.

New Zealand

The VK was assembled by General Motors New Zealand at their Trentham assembly plant, near Wellington. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. Wellington (ˈwælɪŋtən is the Capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area, the

New Zealand VKs were similar, but had slight differences to their Australian sold counterparts, notably smoke-tinted taillights, the lack of emissions gear, and that a Holden Starfire powered 4-cylinder model was also available, utilizing 13 inch wheels which had a slightly smaller wheel stud pattern. Wheel studs are the bolts that the Wheel of an Automobile rest on The 4-cylinder was considered an economic car, however from its lack of power ended up using more fuel than the six.

Instead of the Calais, an upmarket model badged 'Royale' was sold, available with both 4 and 6-cylinder engines. The luxury options included with this was Air Conditioning, Electric Windows, Electric mirrors and a 5 speed manual transmission.