The trouble with Brock Commodores is that, like old Ferraris, no two are exactly the same.  It’s not that Brockmobiles suffer from any wild variations in quality control, but more the fact that HDT Special Vehicles offers the go-fast gourmet such a variety of go-faster goodies, few are able to resist delving deeper into the cheque book for that little extra something. As such, there’s probably no definitive Brock Commodore anymore.  Back in 1980, when HDT Special Vehicles was little more than a means of keeping Peter Brock behind the wheel of a racing Holden after the General had withdrawn its official support, there was only one Brock Commodore – powered by a moderately worked over version of the redoubtable five litre bent-eight and available in any colour you liked, as long as it was black, or red or blue.  By the time the Commodore line had progressed from VB to VK, soul by Brock came in no less than three distinct versions of the same Holden body.  The Group Three SS was essentially the direct descendent of By the time the Commodore line had progressed from VB to VK, soul by Brock came in no less than three distinct versions of the same Holden body.  The Group Three SS was essentially the direct descendent of that original VB-based car. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM PETER BROCK, GMH ANNOUNCES THE $30,000 COMMODORE

As benefits its market position, $30,000 Commodore doesn’t advertise itself as blatantly as other Brock creations Special Brock wheels  Neat boot spoiler  Five- speed Borg Warner T5 gearbox.  The latter is a $2850 option over standard four speed. Interior automatic Director with Brock steering wheel, digital dash and premium sound system.  Despite the velour, still lacking a little pizzazz for $30,000?

With spoilers, side skirts, Brock tuned suspension and a 177 kW version of the five-litre V8; it made no secret of its sporting nature.  The limited edition SS was a road racer, pure and simple.  All blue paint, spoilers, 16 inch wheels and decals, it was powered by a thundering 196 kW 4.9 litre V8 and designed specifically to allow Brock to homologate certain engine and drive train components for his Group A Commodore race car.  The third variant was the Calais Director.  The name is a clue to the nature of the beast.  The Calais Director is a Brock Commodore for the buyer who’s a V8 performance car freak at heart, but would prefer to do without the over street racer image and yearns for a few of life’s little luxuries in a motor car.  Thus Brock’s Director starts life as an ordinary Calais, with a base price of $23,610 for a V8 automatic and $24,108 for a manual straight from the factory complete with central-locking, power windows, velour trim, digital dash, trip computer, power steering, electric mirrors, tinted side and rear glass, air conditioning and rear seat head rests.  Director is more supple to drive than Group A SS, handles with slightly less precision.  The story is different on the open road, where the car will absorb rough patches without being nudged off line. The difference in price between the manual and auto models is due to detail differences in specifications between the two in area’s other than transmission.  Order a V8 manual and you get the goodies developed for the police special Commodores – such as revised inlet manifold, distributor, cold air induction system and stiffer springs and sway bars all round – as standard equipment.  The prices of the HDT packs which transform the Calais into Brock-style fast class therefore differ accordingly – front at the HDT’s Port Melbourne workshops with an auto and you’ll be relieved of $5970, while a manual pack costs $5490.  The 4.9 litre V7X engine – the old five litre destroked so the Group A Commodore race car could run in the under five litre class – is built with big bore cylinder heads and extractor exhaust system (autos also get the straight inlet manifold and distributor as well as the cold air induction system).  The V7X leaves the HDT workshops churning out the same 177 kW as the old five-litre V5H, which came from the factory with the big valve heads as standard. The suspension is upgraded with components developed by HDT in conjunction with Bilstein – dampers, springs and roll bars.  Mindful of the Director’s intended market, Brock has developed a more compliant suspension aimed at reducing ride harshness without compromising handling.  The underpinnings are now complementary by the addition of 15 by 7 inch alloy wheels in the now familiar HDT radial spoke design. No less serious than the mechanical bits and pieces are the cosmetic changes which subtly, but unmistakably; stamp the cars as genuine Brock specials.  Inside is a left footrest, Momo steering wheel and interior Brock/HDT identification, from the embossing on the steering wheel hub and manual gear lever knob, to the glove box badges.

  Outside is colour coded paint, the shark mouth sports grill and tiny ‘Director’ badgework on the front guards and rear light panel.  The final stamp of authority is the HDT Special Vehicles compliance plate in the engine bay, which spokesman Brendan Jones says has proven invaluable in preventing the appearance of fakes on the used car market.

It wasn’t all that long ago the headlines were warning of the imminent arrival of a $10,000 Holden.  With the Calais Director the $30,000 Commodore is already here.  Is any Commodore, even with Brock’s respected imprimatur, worth that much?  To find out we drove two quite different Directors.

Our first car was silver automatic.  To its base $29,580 specification were added side skirts ($405); rear spoiler ($275); Cobra alarm system ($610); and the long-range 90-litre fuel tank ($366); which brought the price up to $31,236.

Right from the moment we first fired it up, it was clear this was a softer more refined Brock Commodore.  The big V8 burst into life with a satisfying bellow, but quickly settled down to a subtle idle, rumbling like very distant thunder on a summer’s night.  Around town the engine remained unintrusive, easily drowned by the AM/FM stereo sound system if the music is good.  Only the instant throttle response, the lunging of the silver nose towards a gap in the traffic, the urgent metallic hustle of the extractors as the rev’s climbed, gave any clue there wasn’t just any V8 under the bonnet.

Heart of the matter, V7X engine produces the same 177 kW as earlier, slightly larger Holden v8.

The impression of softness continued on the drive through the suburbs.  The 235/60 15 Pirelli P6 tyres seemed less affected by road surfaces than the Potenzas on the Group A SS, for example, and less prone to tram lining.  The suspension, though firmer than the standard Calais, was more compliant over small amplitude bumps and thumps than any other Brock Commodore we’d ever tested. The trade-offs became apparent as we climbed into the hills for the first time.

The slight disappointment of the hills gave away to immense satisfaction on the fast, open roads beyond.  Here the Director auto came into its own, devouring straights, sweepers, climbs and S-bends with consummate ease.  Here the new found suppleness of the suspension proved its worth, ending the tendency to hop and skip over broken surfaces – and almost eliminating that rear end nervousness so characteristic of the VK Commodore and so accentuated by the Group A’s no compromise suspension.  On these fast open roads the Director was the almost complete tourer.  Almost, because the wind noise from A and B-pillars and the sunroof betrayed the Commodores relatively poor aerodynamic efficiency.

Our second test car was a green manual.  Its base price of $29,598 had been boosted to a hefty $35,604 (perhaps the $40,000 Holden is just around the corner) with the addition of side skirts, alarm, and 90-litre tank. as well as the big bore sports exhaust ($375), Group A style Scheel sports seats trimmed in Calais style velour ($1400) and the Borg Warner T5 five speed gearbox ($2850).

In more ways than one, this was a Calais of a different colour.  The subdued rumble from the engines was the same, but it felt every bit as quick as the Group A SS – a feeling confirmed when we compared acceleration figures with those of the Group A we tested earlier in the year and found them to be almost identical.  We weren’t able, unfortunately, to run the car over our usual measured 400 metres to accurately compare times.

The reason for the five-speed Directors excellent response off the line is due to the gearbox, which has lower ratios in the first two gears than the M21 four speed.  Combined with the a shift that is at once positive and precise, if perhaps a little notchy, it makes for a Calais which rivals the Group A over tight and twisty road, softer suspension notwithstanding.  Unlike the auto, it can be balanced using the throttle despite the lack of absolute grunt it has compared with the mobile blue road rockets.

The manual betters the auto Director when it comes to highway cruising, too, for no other than its fifth gear.  With the 3.08 diff, the T5 gives almost 54 km/h per thousand rpm.  At the legal limit the V8 is barely ticking over – so much so that for a quick, clean passing move its best to drop back a cog to fourth as the power doesn’t really start to come on strong until 2500 rpm.  The engine is therefore even less audible than in the automatic and there’s the added bonus of improved fuel economy at touring speeds.  More academic, perhaps, is the fact that the five speed is probably now the fastest four-door sedan ever built in Australia.  The immortal Falcon GTHO Phase Three would stretch its legs to 6150 rpm in top – and 224 km/h.  We didn’t have the car long enough to find out, but GM tells us the green Calais will spin to 4400 rpm in fifth, which translate to 237 km/h – or 148 mph in the old money

With the suppleness of its suspension, the brilliance of the five-speed gearbox, coupled with all those little Calais luxuries, the five speed Director is unquestionably the best yet from Brock.  It is as good a sporting sedan as you’ll find anywhere, marred only, perhaps, by the plasticky, velour-lined interior.  If you can accept that – and the fact that your $35,000 Commodore looks a little different to the humblest Commodore SL – it is worth the money.