1982 Holden WB Statesman de Ville – Today’s Aussie Luxo Tempter

By: James Robinson, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 17.07.2017

Last of the breed

The WB was the last iteration of Holden’s big, four-dour luxury sedan on the old Kingswood-related platform.

Released in 1980, production of the WB ran for just over four years, ending in 1984, at which time Holden execs decided they would no longer be continuing the separate Statesman marque, but instead focus on more lavish variants of the Commodore.

The WB was the successor to the HZ and, for the most part, was an exercise in styling tweaks and redesigns rather than wholesale change. This trajectory for the WB was largely due to GM execs wanting to keep costs low.

The design was penned by legendary GM stylist Leo Pruneau, and featured a much more elongated, squared-off roofline than its predecessor.

There were two different specifications of the WB Statesman that customers could choose; the de Ville and the Caprice. In total there were 9719 de Villes and 4208 Caprices made in both the Series 1 and Series 2 WB models.

Power was derived from a locally built 5.0lt V8 that produced around 126kW and was mated to a three-speed automatic transmission.

This particular WB Statesman is a 1982 de Ville model and, according to the seller, has 265,346 kilometres showing on the clock.

The seller adds that the interior of the vehicle is in good condition, while the engine and has been converted to run on a dual fuel gas system.

The de Ville is $20,000 and anyone keen on this classic Aussie luxury sedan can view the full listing here.

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