Originally Posted by: HK1837 
I was doing some research into what to look for next time I get into the GMH archives. Came across a reference to UD Sunbird.
Anyone know what it was exactly? If it isn't a typo I reckon it was essentially the 1980's equivalent of the TA Torana, it a car to see GMH through from the end of UC until the JB Camira was to arrive. For whatever reason they continued with the UC Sunbird past the end of UC Torana. Was the 4cyl Commodore the answer and they canned the UC Sunbird in later 1980?
not a typo HK...
actually saw a couple of them in the flesh.. plus drawings and clays for the UD
UE was also there in drawing form in 'wanna be' large scale sketch on a wall in the Salmon St. Design office
Why? GM and GMH senior management were really scared that VB would not hit it off with the Australian motoring public and so UD was kept alive (and also partly one of the reasons being a bit behind why WB sort of survived*)
As well as a face lift (from UC) that looked VB Commodore like (notably headlights and tail lights) the UD series also would have included a 5-door hatchback not previously offered. It was ugly as sin... think Rover SD1 styling
However it was finally decided that the cars would be outdated (remember their GM platforms dated back to the early 70s, engines even earlier being red motors as XT5 blue motors were not signed off yet) compared to the competition - Chrysler (Mitsubishi) Sigma, Nissan Bluebird and Mazda 626 . The UD project and 5-door Sunbird/Torana programs were killed off. The GM global J-car (aka the Holden Camira) was introduced in 1982 to replace them
4cyl Commodore was a stupid (IMHO) knee jerk market reaction .. hey we can get more sales but the public hated it. The forward model cost was never recouped. The Starfire engine development costs.. were hidden in the GM Detroit approved powertrain R&D budget for XT5 (both 6 and V8 engines) and no-one got their a#*ses kicked for that. The one off tooling costs were horrendous. Engineering sold it to the board as cheap, it was not.
*Really, in the end, WB only survived for a while because of the commercial models it had. Commodore had no ute or panel van ever thought of as a model in that car line
Ford of course then killed Holden in sales of these types of vehicles and not until the success of VN that Holden bit the bullet and came out with a utility VP? in about 1990
HTH
Edited by user Monday, 4 September 2023 7:34:07 PM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
