1980 Holden HDT VC Commodore Sedan (Build No.492)

Description

The history of the Brock Commodores began with Holden’s official withdrawal from motor sport by the end of the 1979 season.  Lacking a major sponsor, racing legend Peter Brock and the remaining Holden Dealer Team personnel hatched a plan to fund their motor sport activities by producing specially modified road cars, offered through 57 carefully selected dealers.  Holden agreed to supply brand new SL/E VC Commodores to HDT’s facilities in Melbourne to be transformed into bespoke high performance road cars, each taking approximately 20 man hours to modify.  Designed to compete with the best European sports sedans, this was an Aussie muscle car with a touch of class, combining interior and exterior enhancements with a series of engine and suspension upgrades.  Holden’s hottest engine of the day, the 5-litre V8, benefited from L34-type heads with bigger valves, a matched inlet manifold and gas-flowed head porting, along with a dual exhaust, raising power output to a healthy 160 kW at 4500 rpm.  Bilstein front strut inserts and shock absorbers tightened up the handling, while a heavy-duty limited slip diff got the power to the ground, enabling the Commodore to complete the 0-100 km/h dash is just 8.4 seconds.  The Brock Commodore sported a unique appearance thanks to flares, spoilers and stripes (all designed by Holden’s own styling guru Leo Pruneau) along with German-made Irmscher alloy wheels.  Inside refinements like the Momo steering wheel (with individual build numbers), footrest and black column shroud were complemented by distinctive HDT badging on the glove box.  Using the SL/E as a base ensured the Brock Commodore boasted numerous luxury items like air conditioning, power steering, electric windows, four-wheel disc brakes, dual exhausts, a premium stereo and more.  After receiving overwhelming support for the project from the Dealer Council, HDT commenced production of a limited run of 500 Commodores and they were released in three colours only; Firethorn Red, Palais White and Tuxedo Black, all with deep carmine burgundy velour upholstery.  The runaway success of the VC Commodore ensured a healthy future for HDT and interest in these early cars has never been stronger, with values climbing all the time.