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Balfizar Offline
#21 Posted : Friday, 24 January 2020 3:59:47 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Warren Turnbull Go to Quoted Post
The HB becoming a Holden I believe is to do with the re organising of the dealer network. In the mid 60s you had Holden Dealers that sold the car known as Holden (Standard, Special and premier) then you had Chevrolet, Pontiac, Bedford and Vauxhall dealers. Some dealers were multiple, so you would see signs like Holden and Chevrolet dealer.

The Vauxhall dealers were about to be shut, but the Viva was still selling well in its market, and GMH would have already had plans for a local update in 2 years time.

So the Viva was dropped and replaced with a "Holden" Torana, sold through Holden dealers. Had there been no plan for the LC Torana the Viva would have vanished like the Cresta.

Two years later Chevrolet and Pontiac dealers ceased with the release of the Brougham.

If the dealer network did not change in the 60s the Gemini would have probably been sold through Isuzu dealers which would have then taken on Camira. It may have also made it difficult for the transition from Holden to Commodore.


Rationalization of marques began in Sept 1948 due to:-

G.M-H Dealership ANNOUNCEMENT (South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus Thu 9 Sep 1948 )
Now that production of the new Australian car has commenced, and importations are being greatly expanded of British Vauxhall cars and British Bedford trucks, General Motors-Holden's Ltd. have pleasure in announcing the following distribution arrangements :

As Authorised G.M-H Dealers for VAUXHALL and BUICK Cars, BEDFORD Trucks and Utilities
BOYDED PTY. LTD.,61 Keira Street, Wollongong. Phones 802, 242.

As Authorised G.M-H Dealers for HOLDEN — General Motors NEW AUSTRALIAN Car CHEVROLET and OLDSMOBILE Cars, CHEVROLET Trucks and Utilities, MAPLE LEAF Trucks
DWYER'S GARAGE, 37 Lower Crown Street, Wollongong. Phones 97, 469.

With car and truck importations from North America limited to a fraction of their former volume by dollar restrictions, the Australian public's needs of motor
vehicles must for time being be drawn chiefly from two sources — Australian and British.
To meet this situation, General Motors--Holden's Ltd. have taken two major steps:

(1) they have designed their new Australian car and have built new modem plants for its production in Australia at a cost running into several millions of pounds.
(2) they are wholeheartedly supporting the British drive for exports by vigorously marketing British Vauxhall cars and Bedford trucks, which are already Australian sales leaders.

General Motors-Holden's Ltd. wish to record their pleasure at the above Dealership arrangements, which will assure the public of the high standard of sales and
Service Aids that an essential to G.M-H. policy. GENERAL. MOTORS - HOLDEN' S LTD.

This rationalization continued until 1955 with hundreds of dealers effected. As Holden progressed in the market, dealers were later issued Holden franchises when Vauxhall and Chevrolet faded (as you have mentioned.) The distribution of marques was not always consistent as a group and varied in different locations and dealerships. The globalisation of GM (in Australia) began with the 48-215. The re-distribution of marques in the GM stable was a post war adjustment to supply and demand, market share and positioning all in the direction of globalization. GMH's descriptive rationale for these changes was not always consistent.
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Smitty2 on 25/01/2020(UTC)
Smitty2 Offline
#22 Posted : Friday, 24 January 2020 6:35:26 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: castellan Go to Quoted Post
.......................

HZ Premier wagon 5.0L 4sp Drool what colour, love the light blue with white roof with rack on top.


my company hack.... HZ Prem wagon with L31/M21, twin zorst ,4 wheel disc brakes
GTS instruments and wheel + cloth seat inserts, power windoes & rear tailgate and
GTS wheels and chrome trim in .. Atlantis Blue (the soft silvery metallic blue)

looked super.. went nice too :)

Club circuit racing...the best fun you can have with your pants on
we wreck 81837s only Offline
#23 Posted : Friday, 24 January 2020 8:46:45 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Smitty2 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: castellan Go to Quoted Post
.......................

HZ Premier wagon 5.0L 4sp Drool what colour, love the light blue with white roof with rack on top.


my company hack.... HZ Prem wagon with L31/M21, twin zorst ,4 wheel disc brakes
GTS instruments and wheel + cloth seat inserts, power windoes & rear tailgate and
GTS wheels and chrome trim in .. Atlantis Blue (the soft silvery metallic blue)

looked super.. went nice too :)



chest beating hmmm..
Dr Terry Offline
#24 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 7:38:31 AM(UTC)
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The late-60s also saw a huge adjustment to the dealership arrangements.

To my knowledge, up until 1968/69 there were 3 different "levels" of dealer. The top level were the distributors, of which there were only a few in each state. Stacks & Boyded were 2 familiar ones in the Sydney region.

Next level down were the "normal" dealers, like Suttons, John A Gilbert & Muirs etc. & literally 100s of others.

Bottom level were the sub-dealers. These were often small one-man concerns operating from service stations & small workshops. They saw most of their income from service work & spare parts & sold the occasional new car. AA Roberts at Homebush & Roy Bros. Croydon are 2 that I know of.

The distributor in each area was responsible for the dealers & sub-dealers in his area & all sales filtered down thru the system, so each level got a slice of the profit.

GM-H completely dismantled this arrangement in the late-60s so every dealer dealt directly with the GM-H zone office in their state. As such many smaller ones closed down.

The introduction of the Torana, Monaro & Brougham etc. & re-jigging the dealer network is (IMHO) the point in time when Holden transformed from being a model of car to being a brand or marque of car.

Dr Terry
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justgm Offline
#25 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 12:22:01 PM(UTC)
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I also think HK , It was a big step up from HR ,a lot of options , more like GM USA cars that you could personalise. I really like HQ , but for all its new suspension it did not handle well at all. Thanks Mark.
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castellan Offline
#26 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 12:57:34 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Smitty2 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: castellan Go to Quoted Post
.......................

HZ Premier wagon 5.0L 4sp Drool what colour, love the light blue with white roof with rack on top.


my company hack.... HZ Prem wagon with L31/M21, twin zorst ,4 wheel disc brakes
GTS instruments and wheel + cloth seat inserts, power windoes & rear tailgate and
GTS wheels and chrome trim in .. Atlantis Blue (the soft silvery metallic blue)

looked super.. went nice too :)



That's the best colour ! would love to have a car like that one you had, even today. with inter Air-con.
The local Holden dealer had one HZ Premier wagon that colour but 4.2L T Bar roof rack, I would ride past this car going to school and back, I would stop and look at it at times. them hub caps Drool
I have never been one for hubcaps really but I liked them HZ Premier caps and the HK-T-G Premier hubcaps as well, not the Brougham ones or any other Holden ones. I don't think much of the HK-T-G GTS caps. I like the HQ GTS type wheel with the dress trim on them.
castellan Offline
#27 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 1:12:39 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: justgm Go to Quoted Post
I also think HK , It was a big step up from HR ,a lot of options , more like GM USA cars that you could personalise. I really like HQ , but for all its new suspension it did not handle well at all. Thanks Mark.


The HQ gets a bad wrap but mainly because of the standard shocks were rubbish. a dedicated understeering pig but so were the HD-R and HK-T-G even more so.
HQ steering was heavy and harder to park than before them. the coil rear end is better handling and the leaf sprung HQ is better than all leaf sprung before them. The Falcon leaf sprung were total shit and wagons and Fairlanes LTD were even worse.
HK1837 Offline
#28 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 1:24:38 PM(UTC)
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HQ can handle fine, it was just designed not to. All you had to do was drive a HZ or a UC and you knew what a HQ or LH was capable of. Jason Richards held the Touring Car Masters Lap record around Mount Panorama in a HQ for a long time, these run a standard HQ chassis and suspension tweaked.

HK GTS327 (and HT-HG GTS350M) drove really well as they had to race with the suspension they had on the road.
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Smitty2 Offline
#29 Posted : Saturday, 25 January 2020 6:14:05 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: HK1837 Go to Quoted Post
.................

HK GTS327 (and HT-HG GTS350M) drove really well as they had to race with the suspension they had on the road.


.. have to agree, my HT GTS 350 manual did go where it was pointed




Club circuit racing...the best fun you can have with your pants on
castellan Offline
#30 Posted : Sunday, 26 January 2020 9:20:48 AM(UTC)
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What I found was that the V8 VB Commodores handled the best, you could never put a foot wrong it pointed like a bird dog, brakes a bit of a worry tho. never understeered and over steer was magic, you needed enough power to hang the tail out, but the 6 cyl did not cut it cause lack of power to hang the tail out enough. being a small light car helped to toss it around.

I had a XG Longreach and you could not get it to understeer unless you did something really dumb, handled really well, but my VS ute was the biggest bucket of shit handling car ever mental understeer and spastic oversteer, until i got that all sorted out myself and then got the VS V8 ute they handle better than the V6 because you have the torque to hang the tail out on demand.
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