I am certain I saw a Commodore VE Today

[calaiscruise]

This is probably all a bit late, and after the fact now, but now seeing the camera pics (in the link provided), I'm pretty sure I spotted a group of black VE's about 6 weeks ago.... in of all places.. in NSW driving along the Great Western Highway, in the lower Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

From the front I thought they looked Holden-ish, and assumed they were VE's, but couldn't to a u-turn fast enough to catch them. From the rear they looked Volvo-ish but large.

 

[1991_Vn2nV]

It's because they knew when 2006 came along the LS1 wouldn't be euro compliant anymore, so they were testing out how the detuned 6.0 litre would go in the VT-VZ platform, that's what that VY is for

Then why have the flared front guards and dual exhaust setup? I doubt they knew that much about the euro compliance then, otherwise they would have made the alloytec engines euro compliant from the start, instead of having to change the alloytec V6's come 2006 (resulting in 175-172kw for the standard V6 and a drop of 5NM of torque for the Alloytec 190)

 

[buddyforu]

The 'bulked up' VY is infact a VE Mule. Ie, a VY bodied car hiding VE drivetrain components, hence the flared guards to accomodate VE's wider track.

 

[mouce]

Anyone in Melbourne who wants to know, there are regular test runs of the VE along the Western Ring Road. Sadly I've never had my camera with me, more to the point, they normally are doing well more than the posted limit.

In the last 3 months I have seen a VE on the Ring Road at least a dozen times. Always with the full car bra on, and super dark tinted windows. Seen a black one, a beige (brown) one and a white one. Not a fan of the door handles, but the headlights look damn good.

 

[cliffo78]

The 'bulked up' VY is infact a VE Mule. Ie, a VY bodied car hiding VE drivetrain components, hence the flared guards to accomodate VE's wider track.

I tend to agree with the opinion about the drivetrain components - have a look at the rear suspension links, that looks quite different to the current setup. As for the flared front guards, I think these are the stock items, I'll have to look at my VZ when I go outside next to know for sure... But from memory the flaring is no more than VT-VZ standard.

 

[Reaper]

Cheers.
Did the VY have the front guard bulges?

It looks like a VY body to me (not that it means much) however check the rear suspension guys. They have something *very* different to stock under there. I'd put my money on a Zeta platform with old clothes.

Reaper

 

[Troy711]

oh no, not the age old zeta platfrom debate

 

[Mr Squiggle]

oh no, not the age old zeta platfrom debate

Yeah! get over this allready, that set of pictures has been around for months and months or even a year. It's well known to be an early zeta car with current model panels, that have been pumped to fit the wide track, it all a happened long ago

 

[VS Omega]

Then why have the flared front guards and dual exhaust setup? I doubt they knew that much about the euro compliance then, otherwise they would have made the alloytec engines euro compliant from the start, instead of having to change the alloytec V6's come 2006 (resulting in 175-172kw for the standard V6 and a drop of 5NM of torque for the Alloytec 190)

Fair enough, but remember Holden already finalised the deal with Nissan for the RB30 for the VL back in the early 1980s, and knew they would be needing a motor which could run on unleaded and keep up with the emissions, hell they even had a back-up VM in the works just in case the VN wasn't ready (but I forget if they were small bodied with V6 or large bodied with RB30).

To be honest all this VY mule with 6.0 litre stuff is speculation, in my opinion it's an AWD 6.0 litre (those front tyres look almost identical to the rears in width), or possibly a HSV.. for all we know it could have been an emergency-scenario VA (making up a letter designation) designed in the event that the VE riding on Zeta wouldn't be ready yet and they needed something to keep people interested in the large Holdens long enough for them to finish. Or possibly they wanted to bring out AWD out for the VZ to whet everyone's appetite.

In all honesty anything's possible, even it being a stretched VY shell on the VE floorpan, it's not unheard of and certainly something to do to start testing when they're machines aren't tooled up for pressing panels yet.. whatever the scenario, I doubt we'll ever know unless someone makes a book about the VEs development similar to the book titled "Project VN" (an amazing read)

 

[andrewmac]

Similarity

Did anyone else notice the front looks a little more like the vt-vx than the current vz im not sure whether it is the emblem being covered or whether it has notrill grilles but the shape of the grill had a very similar curve to the vx did anyone one else think this or is it just me.
Maybe there taking styling cues from the different models.