Stocky
For heaven's sake, take a Bex and lie down for a minute.
Jo was talking about the old HQ based one-tonners and I said thank heavens they don't make Holdens like they used to. I was referring to OLD Holdens, not bloody VQ's.
Old Holdens - drum brakes, gutless 202's, three speed manuals and autos, handling that was absolutely terrible by today's standards, very little primary safety built in, not much secondary safety. No ABS, no ESP, no airbags, need I go on?
Your argument about the way modern cars collapse in a prang? Have a good look at the VN-VP series after a serious head-on. They rate very poorly for crash protection, because their bodies were based on the old VB floorpan, widened to suit the bigger VN body. Drive a VN on a rough road, feel the body flex by placing your fingers between the window frames and the roof gutter. The VN body was soft and weak compared to many other contemporary cars - fact, not my opinion. Holden acknowledged the fact with additional strengthening in the B pillars in the VP, and further strengthening in the VR. But even then, the body is very weak compared to the VT shell, and the VE is much, much stronger again.
Old cars (ie older than VN's, older than any Commodore, were built of heavier guage steels and had simple boxed frames which had little in the way of protective body crumple built in. The perception that a strong body that doesn't bend much in a prang is good, is totally wrong. The impact is transmitted through to the passengers with much worse results than modern cars which are designed to absorb much of the impact forces.
As for performance - try any V6 against a 202, 253 or even standard 308/304. The chances are that only the 308 will have much of a chance of beating the V6.
Todays Commodores are streets ahead of pre VN's, and much safer than VN to VS series. Even the VT-VZ can't come close to the structural integrity and primary/secondary safety of the VE.
You can love your VQ to death. The simple fact is, it isn't as safe or as strong as today's Commodores. Fact, not opinion.
By the way, between the VN and the VR I have owned, I have put up over eight years in those two models, so I have a pretty fair idea what I am talking about.
