Since the cat’s finally out of the bag and there’s no turning back from getting the 2014 Chevrolet SS sedan–the limited-edition version of the Australian Holden Commodore we’ve been hearing about for ages–we can go back to moaning about the other performance cars General Motors has in its overseas portfolio that aren’t coming here.
Of note are the VF Holden Commodore Sportwagon and Ute. Because Australian English doesn’t sound 100-percent like American English, we’ll do some translating for you: Sportwagon is fairly self-evident, but Ute generally means “El Camino.” Fact is, we were supposed to get the previous-generation of the Commodore Ute–called the VE at that point–as the Pontiac G8 ST. But that didn’t happen in the midst of GM’s 2009 reorganization, and Pontiac’s subsequent demise.
Now they’ve been redesigned, though. Over in Australia, the Holden Commodore has a range of V-6 and V-8 engines available, positioned as a premium full-size car, wagon, truck, or executive sedan. In the U.S., the Commodore will be found with two engines: A 6.2-liter V-8 with 415 horsepower found in the 2014 Chevrolet SS, or a longer version, with a 355-horsepower V-8 available only to law enforcement as the Chevrolet Caprice police car; you’re already starting to see it hanging out in highway medians.
While details of the Commodore Sportwagon and Ute remain relatively scarce, one good thing to know is that the American spirit for muscle cars, trucks, and wagons like what the U.S. experienced in the 1960s and early ’70s is alive and well, hulking, limited edition muscle sedans like the 2014 Chevrolet SS notwithstanding. You just have to go to the other side of the world to find it.
Source: GM/Holden
