2006 Holden Commodore VZ SS Thunder – Today’s Tempter

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 25.06.2018

Ditch the bowtie badge and nab yourself a superlative Aussie V8 workhorse - with a manual to boot!

The VT-VZ series Commodore was born at the height of the Australian car industry’s late 90s optimism.

Anticipated as the All-Aussie Holden that might find itself sold overseas, the VT was penned by local-boy Mike Simcoe who in 1992 had just returned from making waves at Head Office in Detroit.

The third-generation Aussie Commodore was a ground-breaking line for Holden, and was hugely successful for the brand. The mid-life update VY had a further AUD$250 million dollar shoved behind it, and adopted more muscle and angular lines than the rounded VT and and VX.

The VZ arrived in 2004, and along with it came a new line of Alloytec V6s, and 2006 saw the arrival of the Gen IV V8.

This 2006 VZ SS Thunder represents the penultimate manufacture year of the VZ Commodore.

A rare find with a six-speed manual, it’s our ideal specification mated to the Gen-four 6.0lt V8.

Finished in Red Hot red, and with only 147740kms on the odo, the car looks to have been kept in great condition. We’d ditch the Chev badge up front, and the 20" wheels but for under $16,000 we reckon we could overlook them for now.

The car also comes with a hard cover tonneau, black leather interior, cruise control, central locking and other factory features.

The steering wheel surface is a little worn, and the driver’s side seat is getting a bit of grey wear on the bolsters, but with a big ol’ V8 and a manual gearbox to boot – we’d find it hard to go past this stunner given the increasing rarity of Aussie utes.

The car is listed for $15,990 via Pennant Hills Auto Traders in NSW.

You can check out the full listing here!

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