The original HDT Commodore was obviously going to be a hard act to follow, but Peter Brock decided to do something rather different when VH replaced the successful VC range. Rather than taking the full-on SL/E as the basis for Brockmanship, he opted for the base SL model instead.

This obviously meant that the performance could be purchased more cheaply. It also meant that the character of the VH Brocks was quite different from that of the 1980-81 HDT. Where the HDT was more luxury hot rod (as Leo Pruneau described it), the VH Commodores to emerge from HDT Special Vehicles were far more basic in terms of creature comfort, while the top-line Group Three model was considerably longer on grunt.

The VC HDT basically offered only a choice of colour and transmission. But come VH and the Brocked Commodore was available in numerous guises. It started with an ex-GMH option pack called the Commodore SS.

Holden had used the SS name successfully 10 years earlier. Remember the Holden SS was its 253 engine, four-slot box and basically Belmont trim? The SS was in fact the precursor to the four door Monaro range (known as GTS/4) and was a runaway success, offering great value for the bucks.

Here then, was a brightly coloured, no frills performance sedan. The specification included a slippery diff, with a final-drive ratio of 3.08-to-one and an old fashioned M21 gearbox that was not available on any other Holden. This was a close ratio box (with maxima of 74, 102, 136 and 188) that GM-H obviously believed suited the style of the SS. Other V8 manuals were equipped with the M20.

Opening price was $13,385 for the 4.2 litre. Or you could spend a little more for the 5.0-litre version. In theory, at least, in practice, some fellow called Brock put his name on most of the 308s. All SS's were manual and painted a particular lurid fire-engine red. Their performance was all but identical to what could be achieved in a plain white 4.2 or 5.0-litre Commodore SL manual.

Essentially, they were Claytons Brockmobiles - more show than go, more image than substance. The suspension remained bog standard and some critics unkindly described them as bright red taxis.

The SS was certainly very red. The grill and doorhandles were painted red and the rubber side moulding removed. The lower sills and window surrounds were painted black. The bumpers too, remained red but retained their clack rubber inserts. There was a small bib spoiler, which was painted black (perhaps to prove it was there). Black SS badges sat on the front fenders, just ahead of the doors. A set of sliver

Cheviot Quattro alloy wheels, shod with common or garden 70-series rubber kept the car off the bitumen.

Fortunately, the base SS was just the beginning of the VH performance story. This Commodore went direct from factory to showroom without ever occupying space inside the Special Vehicles workshop.

There was plenty of logic behind the SS. That elegantly lusty machine, the original HDT Commodore had to lug a fair amount of additional weights around - air-conditioning sound deadening, a whiz-bang stereo and electric window lifts all provide their fair share of avoirdupois.

Now avoirdupois and racetrack success don't usually go together. Peter Brock (and numerous other Commodore races and respective racers of Commodores) wanted a basic 5-litre manual that could be sold through the dealer network in sufficient numbers for homologation as the basis of a racecar. And the very fact that the basic SS would fail to satisfy discerning enthusiasts automatically spelt big business for the already thriving Special Vehicles operation.

What the dealers finished up getting were 4.2-litre manuals. The 5.0-litre manuals received various degrees of Brocking before the point of sale. (Just ask anyone who tried to buy a stock bog-stock 5.0-litre SS!)

Brock got into the SS act with the Group One version. This was a 4.2-litre with a suspension kit, Uniroyal Wildcat rubber, heavy-duty brake master cylinder, high- capacity air cleaner, Group One decals, sports steering wheel and gear knob. Mods to the suspension included heavy-duty springs, and roll bars, heavy-duty mounts, Bilsteins and revised geometry. There were no body changes and no internal engine changes. The Group One kit added $1,995 to the price of the 4.2 SS.

VH:

........A New Troupe of Supercars

Better value probably was the Group Two. It cost $3250 over the base car but provided all the Group One gear plus blueprinted cylinder heads, exhaust heads, exhaust extractors, chrome rocker covers and oil-filler cap, fuel vaporisation kit (should have read fuel anti-vaporisation kit?) , gas flowed inlet manifold, front fender wind-splitters, boot lid spoiler and Group Two decals.

Then came two versions of the Group Three. A 4.2-eqippped car added $4750 to the price of a base SS, while a 5.0-litre car cost an additional $5500. Obviously, all Group Three Commodores included all equipment of the lesser versions. They also provided those final touches that that qualified Peter Brock's hotshot Holden's on the first row of the grid of the world's top GT sedans.

Blueprinted ignition and engine, 225/60 x 15 Uniroyal Wildcats on Irmcher Tuning alloy wheels (a-la the previous HDT Commodore), front air dam, body-side rocker extensions, rear-body wraparound underbody extension and Group Three decals combined to distinguish the group Three from its lower siblings.

The performance of a 5.0-litre Group Three was significantly improved of that of the HDTs. Carefully worked are the major factor. Consultation between one Peter Brock and one 'Dyno' Dave Bennett of Perfectune resulted in superior inlet manifolds finding their way into Group Three. Essentially, GN-H supplied the castings to Dave's specs and Perfectune applied the finishing touches. The Brock Yella Terra head has its Australian Design Rules registration in the name of Perfectune.

Perfectune performed wonders on those heads. Gas flow was almost 30% better than standard GM-H heads, thanks to specially contoured valve throats and seats. The valves were unshrouded and the chamber almost completely machined. In view of all of this, it was scarcely surprising that the Group Three revved far more enthusiastically than any previous Commodore.

At the top end this meant only five more kl/h than the HDT could manage, but the Group Three peaked much more quickly. Ideally, it would have had a fifth gear. Thus equipped, a genuine 225 kl/m - right into Phase 111 GT HO territory! - would probably have been achievable.

Brock's VH Group Three is considered by many a HDT devotee as the greatest machine produced in the series, with few frills and lots of eye-widening grunt.

In 1982, Brocks Group Three was a knockout. It offered better performance than any other sedan in the Australian market, to beat it you needed to look at a top-line Porsche or something Italian and probably red (called Ferrari or Lamborghini). This car was aimed squarely at the petrol-head brigade (yeah, you out there reading this), most of whom, couldn't have cared less that refrigerated air, lecky windows and even a sound system weren't part of the standard deal. No the Group Three wasn't your velour glove, concealing the iron fist as its predecessor had been, rather it was pure iron fist and proud of it.

Those who hankered but couldn't organise the bread had cheaper options. It was even possible into a V8 engined VH for less than the cost of the base SS. The cheapest 4.2 manual cost $12,775, compared with the base SS's $13,859. If you could manage without the fire-engine livery and the Cheviot mags, then $1,000 spent on getting the cylinder heads worked over might have been money better spent.

Throughout the VH model run, the popularity of Brocked Commodores strengthened further. It became obvious that all manner of customers wanted their Holden to go harder, handle better and look spunkier than the standard ex-factory unit. There was scope for some new Special Vehicles projects and the advent of the VK in March 1984 would bring even more "excitement" from that North Melbourne operation that promises, "We build excitement".