Holden HZ is a full-sized automobile which was produced in Australia between October 1977 and April 1980 by
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thr ...
in a variety of equipment levels and in several different body styles. It was also assembled in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
.
Characteristics
The Holden HZ received minor updates to the exterior over the HX series, and saw the introduction of what Holden termed "Radial Tuned Suspension" (RTS) across all models. RTS made significant changes to the
suspension of the car, greatly improving the handling finesse, while at the same time not compromising ride quality. ''
Modern Motor'' magazine described the HZ as "a great handler spoiled by the car" in a comparison against the
BMW 528i, contrasted as "a great car spoiled by the handling". In this series, the base specification Belmont was deleted and the new Kingswood SL became the base luxury level for sedans and wagons, with a lower specification Kingswood sedan and wagon only offered as a delete option on the Kingswood SL. During the course of the HZ series, equipment levels were upgraded in 1978 effectively to match improvements in the opposition Ford Falcon range, but the life of the full W size Holden looked set to end following Holden's release of the
VB Commodore in November 1978. After 1980, W sized Holden passenger cars were discontinued and replaced by the downsized
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
. The Kingswood luxury level lived on until 1984 on the WB Holden utility but the end of HZ saw the end of the Holden Premier alongside both the GTS and Sandman which were both deleted prior to the end of the HZ series. Production of the HZ series totaled 154,155.
Model range
The Holden HZ was offered in four
sedan and three
station wagon
A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
models, marketed as follows:
* Holden Kingswood Sedan
[Holden HZ Technical Specifications]
Retrieved from www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au on 23 January 2011
* Holden Kingswood Wagon
[
* Holden Kingswood SL Sedan][Holden HZ Kingswood SL sales brochure, H665, September 1977]
* Holden Kingswood SL Wagon[
* Holden Premier Sedan][Holden HZ Premier sales brochure, H664, September 1977]
* Holden Premier Wagon[
* Holden GTS][Holden HZ GTS sales brochure, H666, September 1977]
It was also available in two ute, two panel van and one cab chassis model, marketed as follows:
* Holden Ute[Holden HZ Utes, Vans & One Tonner sales brochure, K247, October 1977]
* Holden Kingswood Ute[
* Holden Van][
* Holden Kingswood Van][
* Holden One Tonner][ (cab chassis)
There were two special vehicle packages also available based upon commercial vehicles:
* Holden Sandman Ute][Holden HZ Sandman sales brochure, K249, October 1977] and Holden Sandman Van[ option code XX7 (passenger tyres) or XU3 (load rated tyres).
* Ambulance option code BO6, available on cab chassis and Holden panel van.
File:1978 Holden Kingswood (HZ) station wagon (28182068941).jpg, Holden Kingswood wagon
File:1978 Holden Kingswood (HZ) SL sedan (2011-11-30).jpg, Holden Kingswood SL sedan
File:Holden Kingswood HZ SL Wagon (16220478702).jpg, Holden Kingswood SL wagon
File:1977-1980 Holden HZ Premier sedan 01.jpg, Holden Premier sedan
File:Holden Premier (HZ) (16467683581).jpg, Holden Premier sedan
File:1978 Holden Premier (HZ) Wagon (11925073363).jpg, Holden Premier wagon
File:1979 Holden HZ Monaro GTS Sedan (17124308626).jpg, Holden GTS sedan
File:Holden HZ GTS (15874361762).jpg, Holden GTS (with optional polycast sports wheels)
File:1979 Holden Kingswood (HZ) utility (2015-06-18) 02.jpg, Holden Kingswood Ute
File:1979 Holden HZ panel van (18442010898).jpg, Holden Van
File:1979-80 HZ Sandman Van Atlantis Blue.JPG, Holden Van with Sandman option
File:1980 Holden HZ Sandman Panel Van (14069705280).jpg, Holden Van with Sandman option
File:1978 Holden One Tonner (HZ) cab chassis (2015-07-09) 01.jpg, Holden One Tonner cab chassis
]
Sandman Ute and Van
The final HZ Sandman, featured a choice of V8 engines only, along with a four-headlight grille and under bumper front spoiler. According to a GMH Price List dated 25 January 1979, a basic HZ Holden panel van was priced at A$6,076, with the Sandman option package an additional A$1,700. The further optional components also included 5.0-litre V8 engine and a limited slip differential. If a buyer selected every Sandman extra, the price would be more than 150% of the cost of the basic HZ model. By the end of 1979, the Sandman had largely lost its place in the contemporary Australian youth culture order figures were down and many of the vehicles were now being sold with the stripes and tailgate logos deleted. The Sandman ute was phased out of production prior to the van, the last of which was manufactured around October 1979; later production Sandman vehicles were fitted with alloy wheels as standard equipment, the same as those seen on the HZ Statesman SL/E.
See also
* Statesman HZ
References
{{Holden timeline
Cars of Australia
HZ
Cars introduced in 1977
1970s cars
1980s cars