(first posted 8/27/2015) The WB Statesman represented the last old-school Holden before GM’s Australian division fully embraced the downsized, European-derived Commodore and the modern, front-wheel-drive J-Body Camira. An attractive refresh of the existing Statesman – not Holden Statesman, as these were marketed as the “Statesman by General Motors-Holden” – the WB-series would be the last truly full-size luxury sedan manufactured by Holden until 1990.
The WB Statesman arrived at a tumultuous time. The oil crisis had rattled the Australian car industry. Chrysler’s Valiant was axed after 1981 due to sagging sales. Japanese automakers were increasing their presence, with Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan investing heavily in local production.
In the late 1970s, former GM-H Director of Public Affairs Evan Green was working as a journalist. Interviewing Sir Brian Inglis, then head of Ford Australia, he found the oil crisis had cast a pall over the man. Sir Brian even went so far as to say in the interview that Ford was “stuck with the Falcon”.
How fortunes change. As the oil crisis subsided, buyers flocked to larger cars. The faltering Falcon was now soaring and ascended to the top of the sales podium. The smaller Commodore that had been so popular at launch was still selling, but the Falcon was selling better.
WA/WB sedan prototype. Interestingly, this photo had it labelled as a “WB Calais”, presaging the arrival of that nameplate several years later.
Holden had contemplated continuing the lower-rung big Holdens for a “WA” generation so that it could sell a traditional, full-size offering to consumers unwilling to downsize. American-born GM-H design chief, Leo Pruneau, was tasked with designing a refresh of the existing (HZ) Holden. Pruneau’s previous works had included the 1965 Opel Diplomat and the 1965 HD Holden, and he had worked closely with GM design chief Bill Mitchell. The WA sedan was to migrate to the larger Statesman body and floorpan, while the wagon would retain the existing body but feature new front sheetmetal.
Wagon prototype
Ultimately, the Kingswood sedan and wagon prototypes still looked old-hat. This was especially apparent if you compared them to the XD Falcon which, although featuring many carryover components from its predecessor, boasted clean, European lines.
WA/WB Kingswood prototype (above), HZ Statesman (below)
GM was unwilling to shell out more money for a more extensive makeover, and the basic Kingswood platform dated back to the 1971 HQ Holden anyway. Furthermore, GM didn’t see an investment in two separate family car model lines as being worthwhile for such a small market.
Besides, GM-H was willing to take a bold risk. In the late 1970s, it was a profitable division of the General Motors empire. While Ford executives were ruefully committing to a large Australian sedan that was looking too big and too thirsty for a market grappling with inflated petrol prices, Holden had a slick new, right-sized Commodore. The WA Kingswood project was dumped, and only the ute and Statesman would receive a revision and live past 1980.
At first it may seem odd that GM was unwilling to fork over more money for the revised big Holdens, considering the division’s profitability and market dominance. One needs to consider, though, that Holden was storming into a new decade with gusto. The Commodore had launched in 1978 and cost $AUD110 million to develop; although it looked similar to the Opel Rekord, it had been heavily Australianized. Holden had also invested $AUD300 million dollar in a new four-cylinder engine plant at Fisherman’s Bend, and was about to launch the radical new Camira which would be Holden’s first front-wheel-drive car. A revised Kingswood was a low priority for a division that was taking so many bold steps. In fact, Holden had even considered replacing the Kingswood and substituting the Commodore with a front-wheel-drive, J-derived model!
Pruneau may not have been able to fashion a modern and attractive Kingswood with the money and metal he had to work with, but he redeemed himself with the WB Statesman. Featuring a new, six-light glasshouse and a 3-inch longer, squared-off roofline, the Statesman was crisp and somewhat American in design. Importantly, it looked more prestigious than its arch-rivals, the Ford Fairlane and LTD, which looked far too similar to the Falcon they were derived from.
From the HZ, only the Statesman’s windscreen, hood, front doors and front quarter panels carried over. It was that last part that frustrated Pruneau, as he felt the HZ’s creased fenders were ill-suited to the crisp, sheer-look lines on his WB. To conceal this crease, WB Statesmans wore ugly, thick rub strips on their flanks.
Inside, the WB had a brand new interior with a wider center console and standard bucket seats. The longer roofline resulted in extra headroom, and Holden engineers in turn moved the rear seat back further and secured additional rear legroom. The base DeVille had black dash trim and soft cord cloth on the seats, while the more expensive Caprice featured walnut dash applique and velour trim (leather was a no-cost option).
DeVille models had standard air-conditioning, 14-inch wheels, thick carpets, rear air-conditioning vents and power mirrors, and initially retailed for $AUD14,790. You could option cruise control and power windows, or select the $19,769 Caprice on which those items were standard fitment. The Caprice also had larger and more attractive 15-inch wheels and a different grille. Optional on both models was a limited slip differential as well as an Outback Equipment Package. The big Holdens were priced higher than their Ford rivals, and were in the same price strata as luxury Europeans.
The only engine offering was Holden’s 308-cubic inch V8, producing 168 hp at 4400rpm and 266 ft-lbs at 2800rpm and featuring a 4-bbl Rochester Quadrajet carburettor. The only transmission was the Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic, although this was replaced in 1981 with the locally-manufactured TriMatic.
Thanks to the efforts of Chief Engineer Joe Whitesell and his deputy, Peter Hanenberger, Holden had recommitted itself to handling prowess and launched “Radial Tuned Suspension” in the 1977 HZ Holden. Accordingly, the WB still featured little logos advertising the much-publicized feature. These cars may have been large – around 9 inches shorter than a Chevy Caprice, roughly the same width and with a 2 inch shorter wheelbase – but they weren’t complete land yachts to drive. Front suspension was independent with short and long arms, while out back was a four-link liver rear axle with coil springs. Four-wheel disc brakes were standard, as was power steering using a recirculating ball set-up. These weren’t exciting handlers, but they were pleasant to drive with a hushed interior and plenty of low-end grunt from the smooth V8.
The WB Statesman was a fitting capstone to a long line of flagship Holdens. Holden had come a long way from its first luxury flagship, the maligned 1968 Brougham, which was effectively a Premier with a longer trunk but no increase in wheelbase.
The WB also sold reasonably well. From its launch in 1980 until 1983, 5,450 Statesman de Villes and 3,055 Statesman Caprices were produced. WB Series II production, from late 1983 until 1985, comprised 4,269 de Villes and 1,153 Caprices. For traditional Holden buyers, the WB was a very satisfactory update on the existing, proven platform. For Holden’s coffers, the WB was likely a profitable venture thanks to its low development costs and high list price.
For a car that seemingly earned an eleventh-hour stay of execution, the WB had been a modest success thanks to the easing of fuel prices. Holden executives would have wished the rest of their lineup had been so successful. The Camira had received accolades and extremely flattering press coverage, but its quality control left a lot to be desired. Holden’s warranty claims soared by 60% between 1982 and 1985. The T-Car Gemini was losing to the modern, front-wheel-drive Ford Laser in the sales race and its replacement, the 1985 RB Gemini (Isuzu I-Mark) was a flop and lasted only two years. Finally, Holden’s old inline six and V8 engines were becoming increasingly hard to adapt to emissions standards, and the former ended up being axed for Nissan-sourced sixes in 1986. The less said about Holden’s worst engine, the “Starfire” four created by hacking down the Holden six, the better. Ford had managed to out-flank Holden not only with its traditional large car, but also with its modern, FWD offerings.
From 1985 until 1990, if you wanted a luxurious Holden you would have had to settle for the most luxurious trim level of the Commodore, the Calais. But although the Calais was smaller than the WB Statesman, between 1986 and 1988 it was available with a Nissan-sourced, turbocharged inline six and a sporty, semi-hidden headlight front. Those older, more conservative buyers turned off by this very different kind of flagship may well have wandered over to a Ford dealer and purchased a more traditional Fairlane/LTD.
The Statesman name would return with the 1990 Holden VQ Statesman (no longer marketed as a separate marque), a stretched version of the VN Commodore. The new VQ was a pleasant and modern offering, but it suffered from the same issue that affected the 1980s Ford Fairlane and LTD: it looked too close to the plebeian sedan it was based on.
Eventually, Holden’s prestige full-size line would receive more ostentatious and expressive styling, but none ever topped the square-rigged WB for sheer presence. What a beaut, indeed.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1978-81 Holden VB/VC Commodore
Curbside Classic: 1988-91 Holden VN Commodore
Automotive History: The 1970s Aussie Six-Cylinder Small Cars – When Long Noses Were Fashionable
Automotive History – The Valiant in Australia Part 1 and Part 2
Those were nice cars the WB series, Utes and Panel vans were built as well as the Statesman sedan,
Did you know about the late assembly Premiers built in 1980 I didnt untill a mate showed me the build plate on his example GMH along with its dithering over what to do about its lack of a mid size sedan apparently built another run of HZ Prems my mate Glen and his wife lucked onto one used in 86 253 V8 and traumatic trans, I dont know how many were made and theirs is the only one Ive ever seen, Falling petrol prices caught GMH with the wrong product and the larger Falcon used little more fuel than the Commodores anyway for not really much more interior space but the Fords could be had with tree shift and a front bench seat making them a full 6 seater.
I have never seen these before. They are Beautiful!
I am not a chevy guy
The car in the first pic would be perfect if the rear overhang was shortened by about a foot and then converted to a 2door.
what American car is mechanically/structurally most similar to these cars? I am fascinated by these beauties. I am going to go on a limb and suggest that a 77-78 Nova is close.
I think it most resembles 77-90 GM B Body cars due to its size, RWD and looks. It contains more then a few ques from all the American B Body cars while allowing a distinctive look all its own
The cars are most like the F- and A-body cars with a front chassis section that bolts to the body, and the suspension is similar in layout. The commercial variants (ute, panel van, pickup) had a full-length chassis.
The 68-72 GM A bodies are the closest. Front springs & shocks, most suspension bushes,wheels, and even the brake pedal pad will interchange.
I know because they’re parts I’ve replaced with HQ-WB ones on my ’69 Skylark.
Sadly, I’m not from Australia, so I don’t have the pleasure of experiencing what Aussie built cars are like.
Sorry but I have to disagree. I never liked the WB Caprice or Statesman. That side strip was hideous and the whole thing, to me, looked like a heavy handed, low budget make over of a body well past its use by date. The Fairlane and LTD models from Ford thrashed the WB in the market. I don’t recall these being anything like the same price as luxury European brands – a Mercedes 280 SE (the lower end of the S Class range) was more than 4 times the price! You mention Leo’s other great car – the HD Holden. As I recall that was one of Holden’s biggest ever styling failures! Funny, a HD does not look so bad now but back in the day, following on from the EH, the “kidney scoop” front fenders were the source of derision and jokes. My uncle had always been a Holden guy until the HD, when he switched to Fords (which we never thought could happen!).
Ashley,I liked the shape of the HQ Statesman,quite pure,but also like the WB series Caprice,despite the thick side mouldings.Just today I saw a very nice looking deep green WB Caprice,they are a car that draws your attention,a certain presence.Seeing that pic of the Holden Calais reminds me of my auntie,by marriage,she owned one like that and in the small midlands town,50 houses,a local died ,so on the morning of the funeral she drove into the cemetery,parked the Calais just inside the gates and tidied up that cemetery.Approximately two hours before the funeral she tried to open the door of the Calais but it was locked and her keys were in the ignition! A major panic attack.She ran to her home and phoned GMH,60 miles/100 klms away and the infrequent bus service just managed to deliver a replacement key as the hearse approached,phew.
Meant to say that it was an early form of central locking for GM Holden.
A couple of seconds with a coathanger opens any of those old ‘Dores theft proof they were not.
Isn’t a car I can’t get into, different tools, different techniques, but no car is theft proof….I shoulda been a car thief….
Ashley, I would disagree with you there. Admittedly the side strip was heavy-handed, but it did serve to disguise the side “eyebrows” over the wheel arches that did so much to date the earlier models. The rest of the WB body was a far more coherent design than the earlier Statesmen with that awkward-looking roofline and ’55 Studebaker-like rear fenders/taillights (that replaced the flat vertical HQ wagon taillights of the original!).
The WB looked in step with the times, whereas the earlier models were certainly distinctive but a bit awkward from the rear – as though the design was rushed into production before it was quite ready.
I assume the price comment was in relation to the midsize Mercedes rather than the S Class. I can’t check prices at the moment but an uncle replaced a M-B 280E with a WB Statesman (don’t think it was a Caprice) when they came out.
Uuhh well the WB Statesman DeVille and Caprice has always been my favourite Holden car and I have a 1983 ,Series 2 DeVille and I can tell you I just love looking at those body panel thick strips that run along the sides, they are well suited to that model. And it made the luxury car look more distinguishable between the others. I also think that GM at the time could have done a WB Premier in 1980 and did the same boot design but only shorter and not as much Crome on the grille , bucket seats and updated dash same as the DeVille and it would have outlasted ford and everything at least up till 1990. But uh well now everything is pretty much stuffed and gone so we only have those positive thoughts of what should have happened.
I consider it a travesty that Holden is no longer producing cars in Australia. I’d buy a Holden HR through WB if they were sold here in the USA, particularly on the west coast USA. My favourite Holdens are the HR Premier, the HK Brougham, the HQ Statesman, and the WB Statesman. I’d also buy a VB Commodore.
Somewhat more “Cadillac” style then the first gen Seville, (In fact I think I like it better!) Interesting that the DeVille was below the Caprice,,That had to confuse many Yank tourists!
Someone in the design department must have been looking at Cadillacs. The ornaments on the hood and steering wheel are a cut & paste job of a Caddy wreath & crest with a lion substituted into the center.
To my eye, it’s a handsome car, and the instrument panel looks much more attractive than what we were getting from GM in North America in the early 80s. That said, I can see how the exterior styling would have seemed out of date in 1980, especially compared to Euro-look Fords.
I think it’s better looking than any Cadillac I’ve seen of the same vintage.
De Ville used to be the top model, but when Ford brought out the local LTD, GM had to bring out an extra model on top of the de Ville. Of all the names they had available to them, why they chose Caprice is beyond me – in Australia it’s a brand of toilet paper used in ‘institutions’.
Institutional,Wow that’s would be actually worse that calling a car “Chevrolet Charmin”!
Well, it does start with a C….. 🙂
More like calling a car “Chevrolet Scottissue”.
I’m fascinated by the Citroen-esque steering wheel. A feature never seen on any other GM car, anywhere, to the best of my knowledge.
And there’s something about the Australian use of two letter model prefixes that makes my brain lock up completely. To this Yank, they don’t make the slightest bit of sense other than changing the second digit for changes within a model. Am I to assume that Australian cars are never listed by model years? And we’re talking a nomenclature along the lines of Packard’s ___________ Series designations?
Model years for Holdens run September to september always referred to by prefix some models ran for more than one year,
I would say the model updates were a bit more arbitrary, and were more often in the 18-24 month range. Also a car’s registration is by its build date, it is only in more recent years that the model year has been used by some manufacturers, eg Subaru.
Holden made a big thing of changing to model years for the Commodore back around 2009, but have since gone back to the VF code and Series II minor updates. Probably too much conflict between model year and build date.
It is a weird combination of sixties Detroit preportions and the eighties GM roofline. It does look a little like a Lagonda. Mark me down as not a fan. Funny that the Caprice trim level was above the Deville. I guess Holden was more Chevy than Caddy at heart.
Thanks William for this writeup. You mentioned that the trimatic auto replaced the THM350 during the model run. Being a tri instead of quad matic, I assume it was still a three speed, was it the American metric THM200 that USA large models had so much trouble with?
THM 180/200 it couldnt cope with V8 motors.
If Wikipedia is to be believed, the Trimatic was just a re-branded THM180.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-Hydramatic_180
Wiki for once is right but it was beefed up some by that time, and being locally built helped with local content rules
The Aston Martin Lagonda was a big influence on Leo Pruneau.
And the prototype is wearing Bundts.
I like the wraparound rear window ones (post VP) and Holden really nailed it with the WH and finally the WM. The WM has an incredible presence.
Close, but they look different to me.
Wow, what a pretty car! I’ve never before heard of it, and to my eyes upon first viewing, it looks like a cross between a DeTomaso Longchamp and a Russian ZiL Limo!
It does look a little bit like that ZiL, doesn’t it? Wonder which came first?
Though that generation of ZiL has always looked particularly like what you’d get if you crossed a Mercedes 600 with a Lincoln Town Car.
You’re right, it looks like a Grosser Lincoln!
I quite like the idea of this Statesman, but my first thought on seeing it was “ungainly hack job”, and what came to mind was some fictional Chinese (or whatever) state limo, the result of an attempt to cobble together styling cues from Western luxury cars.
In profile, it looks as if someone has made a collage of bits of different cars.
Seriously….what a nasty little comment from an ignorant little person
And here’s the Longchamp!
The Opel Rekord D designed by Chuck Jordan had that front end (and more) a year before the Longchamp. The Rekord D was the source of the Holden’s styling, and its basic elements lived on for quite a while.
Very interesting! I guess there’s still something “italian looking” about the WB even if its design language came from the Opel. Maybe it’s the “slung back” (for lack of a better term) look of the greenhouse, or the fairly high trunk, but it sort of resembles a ferrari 400i to me as well, if only in style rather than details.
WB Statesman has shared significant design/proportion solutions with Opel’s 1969-1977 Kapitän/Admiral/Diplomat-B triple plus with the Senator-A (B). As the so called K.A.D. IL6 / V8 flagship triple was discontinued in 1977 they were replaced by the Senator-A IL6 which was inaugurated in 1978…and got lasted till 1986 as Senator-B. Both the K.A.D. triple and the WB Statesman were influenced by various doses of North-American GM design solutions.
And a stock photo of the Admiral…
Interestingly Leo Pruneau was at Vauxhall in in the late ’60s when the PD Viscount project was still alive and that too has a similar look to the Holden HZ and the Opel KAD ‘B’.
http://files.uk2sitebuilder.com/uk2group53061/image/42.vauxhallpdviscountfullsizestylingmodelno430.06.67d-777841gmarchive.jpg
Beautiful looking car.
B is incorrect. Correct is A2 till 1986.
Another interesting look into the alternate universe that is the Australian car market! I think the WB Statesman looks like it has a really long hood, like the greenhouse is shoved back on the body.
You said the roofline was longer, with the rear seats pushed further back. Comparing to the HZ Statesman, it appears that the increased length was all to the rear. The HZ’s rear quarter window is ahead of the rear wheelwell. The WB’s quarter window is directly above the wheel.
The newer car sounds more confortable to ride in, but I prefer the look of the HZ Statesman.
The firewall and windscreen are carried over from the 71 HQ model the roof was extended at the rear.
Re the quarter window BOC, it’s all an illusion created by two things:
* The HZ’s only rear quarter window is in the door; the WB has one in the door and an additional one in the pillar (above the arch).
* The HZ used the SWB Kingswood short rear doors, with a filler panel between the door and the LWB wheel-arch. The WB got longer rear doors, doing away with the filler panel.
You see kids, this is what happens when a pack of Cadillac stylists take acid and attack a poor defenseless Chevy Caprice.
Internet win of today!
I actually quite like it. Yes, the proportions do look somewhat 70’s, but I think the squared-up roofline, flatter trunk, and flush rectangular lamps make it not look too out of date. In fact, from some angles, the nose reminds me of the late G-body Monte Carlo CL/Classic after it went to flush lamps for ’86. Not perfect, but a handsome car overall.
Always interesting to see what is considered full-size in any given market. If this is 8″ shorter than a contemporary Caprice, that would put it at 204″. Bigger than a G-body (the ’80 Malibu was 193″ so I’m guessing the Cutlass Supreme was probably a few inches longer but still below 200″) but smaller than a B-body. A nice tidy size, actually.
Here’s a 71 HQ Statesman De Ville. This is the first Statesman, which replaced the Holden Brougham.
The Statesman was a deluxe, longer-wheelbase version of the contemporary HQ family sedan (Belmont, Kingswood or Premier trim).
The original Statesman came as a De Ville, the higher trim level, and the plain jane Statesman, usually known as the ‘Custom’.
They came only as a 4 door sedan, but they did make at least one wagon (in black), badged as the Statesman ‘Estate’, which I saw in a Holden dealers in Sydney. I wonder where it is now.
Fun fact: The name ‘Holden’ did not appear on the HQ Statesman. It was badged ‘General Motors’ instead.
But of course we all called it a Holden anyway. 🙂
A guy I worked with had a HQ Chevrolet Statesman wagon the export model unknown in Aussie it was 350/350 12 bolt LSD rearend but Chev badged like the sedans sold in NZ, were wagons on the menu in South Africa? I have no idea perhaps someone knows but thats the only Statesman wagon Ive seen that was factory not backyard built.
That has a very strong Pontiac vibe with that front end, ’71-’72 Tempest/Le Mans.
‘General Motors’ hub cap
Tail lamp shared with station wagons.
…and Cadillac’ish…
A bit of rear overhang to differentiate the Statesman from the more plebeian models
I’m always fascinated to learn more about the cars from the Australian market. While I was aware of this car, it is great to discover more about its gestation and role in the market.
I also vaguely remember one of the “New Car Preview” guides that I have from around 1980 showed this roofline as a possibility for a new Cadillac model. It has that GM look, and was pretty clean and handsome for a transitional design.
I remember an interesting interview in Wheels with Leo Pruneau, in which he noted that one of the key changes he wanted to make with the WB was to increase the boot depth. In the HQ-Z Statesman (and Kingswood) the spare sat horizontally in the already-shallow boot, taking up a lot of space (HZ below). To free up space Pruneau wanted to stand the spare up at one side, but it wasn’t possible in the HQ-Z rear, and this drove the higher rear bootlid than the HQ-Z.
The spare in HQ-HZ sedans was bracketed on an angle against the axle hump not flat on the floor thats a mod. Thats why it took up so much room and why he wanted to change it. The spare stood up in the right hand quarter panel on the previous HK/T/G models.
It still made for quite a bulge hanging down from the quarter panel though. Heaven help it if the factory ran short of black paint!
IMHO, the WB Holden Statesman is the best looking Statesman since the HQ Statesman. From just about every angle.
It’s a bit of a pity that they were not able to re skin the body below the belt line. Those clumsy mouldings really ruined the looks of it. Still, I’d happily have a nice Caprice in my garage…
I like WB Stateman’s proportions as well as its whole appearance very very much! Glad about posting this article. 🙂
Same here. I find it more attractive than previous Holden Statesmans except for the HQ Statesman.
I feel I’ve seen those rear light lenses somewhere else. Contemporary Mitsubishi Galant or Sapporo or something??
I really like the front end and hood line of the blue car. I have often wondered what 70s and 80s domestic sedans would look like if the 5mph bumper regulation had never happened. Kind of like this car I imagine, which is not unlike an early 350SL Mercedes or ’72 Mark IV in its front end gesture.
It was hard to imagine it really, as the chunky bumpers themselves are what lead to more stiff front ends which went perfectly with the square lamps and so on.
Am I the only one that sees a lot of first gen Sable in that VQ???
As seen yesterday in a parking lot in Charlotte NC. Owned by a very nice couple from Australia, who recently had their car imported.
Sweet looking car. I’d buy one if I could have a WB Holden Statesman imported. I find it more attractive than any Holden Statesman before it, except the HQ Statesman
What an unlikely car to import! But they must really love it, and good on them.
Unlikely? How so?
I wish GM had imported a LHD version, as a “compact” RWD, this would have been a better concept for “Cimmaron” With Seville’s move away from all things “euro”,this Australian luxo car seems to be the “familiar” yet “foreign” ethos Cadillac was looking for. And RWD! alas, it’s perhaps too close to the FWD “A”s and upcoming FWD “C”s too pull that off.
I agree. If Cadillac wanted small car to add to its line-up of cars, they should’ve went with Holden of Australia, rather than Opel of Germany.
Well just thinking of the older cars that get privately imported here, the huge majority are sports cars. Although I guess I was thinking more of older cars that are imported to on-sell, rather than those imported when owners migrate. Generally the types of older cars that come here when owners migrate are those for which there was nothing comparable sold here new (eg Mustangs, Corvettes); I’d have thought that there’d have been plenty of GM cars in the USA that would have compared with the Statesman. But then again, my own Ford Sierra was privately imported into NZ when it was 7 years old, and Sierras were sold here new, so tjere goes that theory!
I’d buy either an HQ Statesman or a WB Statesman if I could afford to import it from Australia to the USA.
That colour scheme makes it look like an ex-army staff car.
From memory, WA was going to be a far more radical project, at least till the money dried up and GM embraced downsizing. There were sketches (never advanced to clays) of a six-light fastback sedan.
IMHO, I find the WB Statesman to be the best looking Statesman since the HQ Statesman. I’d buy either an HQ Statesman, or a WB Statesman.
Can anyone tell me about the wb statesman that has bench seats in the front. I have one and want to try to find out details.
I think the ute and panelvan could be had with a bench and tree shift manual so a Statesman ordered that way would be possible but Ive never seen one and with the left hand shifter entry on the later trimatics the shifter linkage would be problematic.
Looking at this car I repeatedly get signals in my brain from the 1979 Chrysler Newport, sometimes trimmed with a Gen 1 Monte Carlo front end, a 1965 Mercury behind, and various Toyota trim bits.
I remember cars like this. I was way too young to drive at the time, but I remember finding these way better looking than the much larger Chrysler cars of the early to mid 1970s.
CC effect: driving into town the other day to go to the waste transfer station and passed the blue WB below heading the other way. It’s on Trade Me for sale; is an ’84 2-owner car with 213,000km on it. Such a gorgeous shade of blue, and really suits the shape.
The ’80 WB Statesman is much more appealing to my eye than the ’80 Chev Caprice.
It appears to have been some kind of Received Wisdom that this kind of snooty name was a surefire way to move metal. See also “Chrysler by Chrysler”.
Appealing or appalling, Dr Stern? The Chev – yes, somedays, a bit dull, perhaps – is a far more coherent whole than the old Holden, no surprise given its clean sheetedness. Have you seen a WB in the metal? If you haven’t, you might just think, “Oh! That’s odder than I thought!” when you do.
As to christenings, I think GM-H should’ve taken a leaf and called the original the “Statesman by General Motors Holden by General Motors Holden”, myself. If the badge was a concern, it needn’t have been: it is a relatively wide car, after all.
By the way, anecdotally, I can only ever remember Aussies taking the piss (denigrating humorously) out of that wanky Chryco badge – even those who actually owned ’em!
No, I’ve never seen a Statesman in person. Perhaps it photographs artificially well. I do notice some odd details—the indicator stalk at a weird upward angle, the single-spoke steering wheel (Statesman by Citroën?), and otherwise like that. But I do like the 6-light greenhouse.
My favourite pisstake about the C×C was by one or another Australian motoring wag, along the lines of “are we sure it’s not the Chrysler by Ford?”.
I well remember these appearing, and wanting, really wanting to think it looked good, but to no avail. They were just messy, a cheap effort at squaring-off a very curvy original car (from 1972, the HQ). Worst bit by far was the armco-sized rubber strip down the side, a really clunky effort to emphasize straight lines and cohesion of that which does not cohere. The gaudy grille and Euro-slick headlamp/blinker arrangement: the very nice ’80’s tailights and boot not at all related to the ’70’s profile: arguably even the Citroen-esque wheel and el-cheapo US-style rosewood inside were incongruous.
Time has softened my disdain. They now just seem quite characterful, and solid-seeming. Perhaps I now “get” that which then I did not. Or, much more likely, familiarity and time softened my eyes.
Or even more likely, this: I drove one about 20 years back, and was thoroughly, shockingly impressed. A big, wafty barge with superb Opel Senator seats, lots and lots of room, quiet, smooth and relaxed, yes – but also very, very capable indeed. In fact, reader, they handle! Alright, not a Lotus, but pretty damn fine all the same. That’s a huge plus to find in an inherently US-type barge mobile. It makes that little and thick one-spoke wheel have meaning in that silly plastiwood dash, especially as there’s only 2.5 turns through the always-excellent-feeling (Australian) Bishop variable ratio steering. Four wheel discs of power and feel, far from a guarantee then. And 175-odd bhp and about 3700lbs meant a good 120mph-capable mover and 60 in 10 dead, with the 2.6:1 LSD giving an easy 80-90mph cruise. (I’ll gloss over the 13mpg, as it WAS 1981. Anyway, most were converted to dual-fuel, LPG and petrol, with LPG being half the price of petrol here, so call it 26 mpg for cost!).
In sum, these are unusual cars for a big fattie. Eccentric, even, given that they could gather up all that cheap glitz and size and smoothness and really shake a tail feather.
To my mind, for the peak moment in purely local design that they represent, they have been most undervalued till very recently. An oddball Aussie great, the WB.