I drove a 1972 HQ Premier as a late-model used car in the mid-to-late 1970s, and it had the red 202 badge on the bootlid.
Look, I may be wrong about this, but it was clear to me (and to others who drove the car) that it was punchier and more urgent in its acceleration than the usual Kingswood 202 - and a close relative had one of those at the same time. The explanation that I was told was that the red-badge 202 was the high-compression version. The high-compression version was optional in the same way the 186S was optional in the HK/HT/HG, but ALL Premiers got the peppier version 202 as the standard six. The high-compression 202 had red paint infill on the badge.
I'll tell you an interesting anecdote about the hi-comp 202. Back in the day, I took the car to what you would now call a "track day" at Warwick Farm racetrack. It was organised as advanced driver education and Peter Wherret ran these days and employed well-known racing drivers to ride with participants and give advice on cornering lines etc. John Leffler was one of these drivers, if memory serves; but there were several others and it was pot luck who hopped in your car. The HQ Premier Tri-matic 202 astonished the instructor who said it almost felt like a 253 V8 at the top end of 1st and 2nd gears... and he had ridden in a lot of Holden sixes. But he hadn't ridden in a Premier before with the high-compression 202.
Holden had a long history of tweaking the "red six" with warmed-over versions of the 179 and 186. It seems to me they continued this tradition in a low-key sort of way with the high-compression 202 in some early HQs. I thought it was common knowledge what the red badge meant. What I'm not sure about is whether it was just the compression that was different or whether some other things were special such as maybe the distributor base (for better springs/weights that "recurved" the ignition timing), or the carb main jet, etc.
Even years before before ADR 27A, California-inspired emission requirements were gradually being legislated through 1973-1975, and this may be the reason red-badge 202's disappeared after 1972. It was getting complicated to have different versions of engines that played a bit fast and loose with air:fuel ratios, ignition timings, etc.
On another matter, the head restraints might have appeared in 1973 on most HQ models, but the Premier had them even on the bench seat version from the very start of the HQ run in 1971/2.
Edited by user Wednesday, 15 May 2024 3:01:52 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Added detail, spelling error