Big changes are afoot at Holden. After General Motors opted to shut down its only plants Down Under, its Australian subsidiary is shifting from a manufacturer to an importer of automobiles. The question on everyone’s mind, then, has been whether Detroit would keep its Australian nameplates in place, or replace them with global ones.
The word on the yellow-brick roads of Oz has been shifting back and forth, but the latest indicates that GM will kill the Commodore name when the replacement for the current model arrives. Holden’s only proprietary model, the rear-drive Commodore sedan, wagon and ute are set to be replaced by a front-drive model to be brought in from either Asia or Europe. And while Holden execs have been pleading their case, it now appears that – because the car will be so fundamentally different from the one it replaces – GM will push the same nameplate it applies to the vehicle in other markets rather than try to port over the Commodore name, killing it alongside the Falcon that Ford is discontinuing as well.
THE new Holden Commodore has been recalled for the second time in two months because the windscreen wipers might not work. Holden is recalling 27,074 cars built from 27 February 2013 to 31 August 2013 because faulty windscreen wipers may become …
Holden Commodore: 2648 — up 60.8 per cent. Hyundai i30: 2553 — up 1.6 per cent. Ford Ranger: 2317 — up 35 per cent. Volkswagen Golf: 2301 — up 46.1 per cent. Mitsubishi Triton: 2254 — down 13.5 per cent. Mazda CX-5: 1715 — down 3.5 per cent.
Well I believe Mary Barra is cleaning house…which is good and bad.
DETROIT — General Motors is telling dealers to halt delivery of all 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruze sedans because of a potential airbag problem, hampering sales of the company’s top-selling car amid an end-of-the-month sales push.
Some of the cars may have a “suspect” driver’s side airbag inflator module, according to a stop-delivery order sent to Chevy dealers nationwide on Tuesday and obtained by Automotive News.
Read the rest at the link above, but I had to share this part directly:
The Southeast dealer noted that many customers who have dropped off their Chevy Cobalts to have ignition switches replaced are driving Cruzes now subject to the stop delivery.
Cobalts are among the 2.6 million vehicles being recalled for a defective switch that can slip out of the “run” position and cut power to the power brakes, steering and airbags, a defect that GM has linked to 54 crashes and 13 deaths.
“What am I supposed to do?” the dealer said. “Tell them to bring the loaner back now?”
(DETROIT) — General Motors is recalling another 3 million cars because of a defect that causes a similar problem to one that led to an earlier massive recall of small cars, and is linked to 13 deaths.
As General Motors continues to pile on recalls, the scope has become staggering — and the work and customer interaction will all fall to the automaker’s franchised dealers. They’re the ones who will perform the actual repairs on what is already 17.73 …
I bumped in to Bill Holtzclaw from Cartersville, Georgia, virtually (Facebook) and he shared a few pics and some detail on his restoration of a 1967 Olds F-85.
Bill's F85
“I am doing a full, frame-off restoration on this 1967 F-85 Club Coupe. It has a convertible frame, 442 suspension, steel crank 330, .030 over with W-31 cam and 2” intake valves, close ratio Muncie 4 speed and heavy duty 3.91 posi rear. It is a radio delete, heater delete, carpet delete car with the factory cloth and vinyl interior. The drive train is built and the chassis is being assembled. The interior is done, the chrome and bright work is done. Next, we’ll pull the body and put it on a rotisserie. It will be two-tone Crystal and Midnight Blue.”
“I’ve had a lot of interest in this project from some of the leading Oldsmobile collectors in the country. It is my version of what would have been a 1967 W-31, which was introduced in 1968. All of the parts to build this car back in the day were available as either RPO options or over-the-counter upgrades. The W-30 package was available as an over-the-counter package in 1967. The W-30 cam and the W-31 cam are one in the same, and the OIA kit will work for both small block and big block cars. So, it was a possibility! ”
The upholstery turned out awesome! He used NOS fabric for the seat inserts. The car was a factory carpet delete car with a near-perfect vinyl floor covering. “I cleaned it and had it dyed the color blue (same as dash pad) that I wanted. It looks absolutely brand new! I had seat belts custom made to stock appearance, and the standard steering wheel came out nice, too.”
Check out the vinyl floor covering
“I had the gauges restored by R&M restorations in Greenville, SC. The odometer was re-set to zero.” The dash bezel was restored by Chrome Tech USA. They repaired the 44 year-old plastic, re-chromed it and then detail painted it. The radio and heater delete plates were purchased from Red Venom Enterprises. “They only make the radio plate, so I purchased two and trimmed one to fit the heater control panel and the PRNDL panel. ”
Bill did the polishing himself
He installed a Sunpro Mini Tach in place of the factory clock. Looks like it came from the factory that way!
Great Job - Bill!!
Final Product
Bill is also the owner of a 1967 Oldsmobile F-85 Town Sedan with “Police Apprehender” package. It has the HiPo 330/320 hp, Heavy Duty Jetaway and 442 suspension upgrades.
Nice!!!
Might be why he’s known as OldsMoBill. “I am also known as the “Oldsmobile Police”!” Bill states.
Bill, I hope you check back with your status from time to time and thank you for sharing.
