While not as famous as HSV the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) will be familiar to many Holden enthusiasts. HDT was the go-to tuning division for Holden in the 1980s and was run by Kiwi race legend Peter Brock – the nine-time Bathurst 1000 winner.

The wheels came off the partnership partly because of Brock’s belief in a component called the “Energy Polarizer”, which he began fitting to special performance Holden Commodores being built by HDT during the 1980s.

The Energy Polarizer was a largely unproven device said to align the various energies of the car to give it a boost in performance. It never really became an accepted performance modification.

Sadly, Brock died while driving in a rally in Australia on September 8, 2006.

Now as a contemporary tribute to Brock and his motorsport legacy, the crew at HDT have built a limited run of retro-styled Holden Commodore sedans designed to reflect the performance models launched during the Brock days. HDT have named these cars the Heritage Series and have design cues taken from the legendary VL Group A Commodore. (more…)

Australian tuning firm HDT has announced the new SS Group A or ‘Blue Meanie’, a VE SS based replica of the SS Group A VK Commodore of the 80s.

The iconic Australian brand, HDT is now owned by Queensland businessman Peter Champion and is making a business of building retro-styled VE-based replicas of HDT classics.

While earlier replicas have been based on the original HDT’s VC and VH-based models, the new HDT’s latest model has been created to honour what is perhaps the most fondly remembered of Peter Brock’s special Holdens.

The original was powered by a 4.9 litre de-stroked version of Holden’s 5.0 litre V8, the new VE-based replica is powered by a 350kW version of Holden’s 270kW V8.

To attain this level of power, the SS Group A is fitted with a tweaked camshaft, cool air intake, reprogrammed ECU and a fully customised exhaust system.

Power output can be pushed even further – right up to 500kW on buyer request.

Modified brakes and Bilstein springs and shock absorbers have been added to help handle the extra power and retro Aero-look 19-inch wheels fill the guards.

To complete the perfect SS Group A look, extra work has been put into the body kit, with the grille, rear wing, bonnet bulge, wheels, ‘Formula Blue’ paint job, badging and decals all clear in its inspiration.

With just 250 of the new SS Group A cars expected to be built, the new HDT – priced at $75,000 AUS is set to attract nostalgic Holden fans and collectors.

The original VK model, which originally cost $21,950 AUS and developed 196kW, will currently get up to around $120,000 AUS for mint examples.

To find out more click here to visit the HDT website.

Darryl Jorgensen’s HDT VC Replica doesn’t just look tough. With a heavily worked 308 under the hood, it screams it

Ah, you’ve got to love the ’80s. A time of brown business suits, brown curtains, extensive facial hair and some of the worst TV shows ever seen. It was also a time when Holden dominated Ford hands down. Sorry Ford fans, but there’s no denying it, the ’80s did you no favours. Falcons were shaped like square boxes, and to top it off, the V8 was dropped from the model line-up completely.

Holden, on the other hand, had Peter ‘Perfect’ Brock creating amazing inventions like the Polarizer. Okay, so maybe that was a big flop too, but apart from that Holden well and truly cemented its name as an indisputable force on the roads and tracks of Australia and New Zealand.

The fact that 20-something-year-old (almost 30 ” we know the truth) Darryl Jorgensen has decided to build a 1981 VC HDT (Holden Dealer Team) replica goes to show that 1980s Holdens have developed a cult following. Sure, most ’80s Holden fans opt for VKs and VLs, but the VC was really where the Commodore success began. Brocky owned HDT at the time, and built the HDT vehicles to a spec that he himself wanted, with a little guidance from 50 Holden dealers across Australia who would on-sell the vehicles.

Kiwi Made

Darryl’s VC isn’t a genuine HDT car and he’s more than happy about that. “If it were a genuine car I couldn’t modify it, it would be too valuable,” he claims. He’s correct, too, with a bargain genuine HDT VC these days going for in excess of A$50,000 (a smidgen over NZ$60k).

Darryl purchased the car two years ago, and luckily for him the HDT body kit had already been fitted. The impressive wheel flares that distinguish the HDT cars are reminiscent of those found on A9X Toranas, and the way Brocky raided the GM parts bin when building the HDT cars, chances are that’s exactly where they came from. Darryl’s car isn’t a 100 per cent replica externally, and isn’t even close internally, unless perhaps to one of the 12 HDT VCs that came with a factory roll cage. The skin sports a few different graphics to the real deal, but only the trained eye would know the difference.

Engine-wise the car packs one very stout 308, put together by Darryl himself along with help from friends and family. The engine was based on a Trimatic block as opposed to a later four-speed block, as the Trimatics are notably stronger in construction. After the block was decked and bored 40-thou it was fitted with a modified and lightened crank supported by ACL bearings. Attached to this are shot-peened A9L rods with ACL race pistons that give a compression ratio of 10.5:1. During the build Darryl decided only the best equipment would find its way into the motor, since he notoriously lacks any form of mechanical sympathy.

Because the car will see both circuit and strip work, as well as a lot of street miles, a VN Group A sump and oil pickup have been fitted and the oiling system has been modified. Felpro gaskets are now secured between the block and injected 304 heads thanks to ARP studs. The heads themselves were chosen for their high flow rates have been ported even further and fitted with Manley three-piece valve springs. Manley was also the brand chosen for the roller rockers and one-piece chromoly push rods and guide plates. During the head work the stud size was enlarged for an even more secure fit, and the spring cavities widened to accommodate the large valve springs.

Breathe Easy

The original HDT cars were limited to running cast extractors and Chev Silverado air cleaners (GM parts bin specials, remember). Darryl’s, on the other hand, can breath easy thanks to Procoated Pacemaker headers and dual mandrel bent 2.5-to-three-inch pipes that flow into a Flowmaster muffler. The intake side of the motor is just as impressive, with a Torque Power dual plane high-rise intake manifold being home for a 750cfm Quickfuel billet carb. She’s a thirsty engine setup, but thanks to a comprehensive fuel system that starts from a 65-litre custom drop tank, its thirst is well and truly quenched. Being a clever all-round mechanic/engineer, Darryl knocked the alloy tank up himself. A Holley Blue fuel pump draws liquid from the tank’s internal surge tank through Earl’s fittings, while a Holley regulator tells the pump when enough is enough. Darryl stuck with MSD products when it came time to sort out an equally tough ignition system. Before dropping the engine into the bay, Darryl spent a lot of time ensuring the bay itself was up to scratch. All unused holes have been welded over, the strut towers have been seam welded and the whole lot was painted in Palais White to match the exterior.

Fast Moving, Fast Shifting

Despite the Trimatic block, there was no way a three-speed auto would find its way behind the motor. Instead, Darryl chose to fit a W57 Toyota Supra box with a Castlemaine Rod Shop bellhousing. He knows the torque will push the Supra box to its limits, but so far it’s held up to the task. Further down the driveline is a custom two-piece driveshaft built to NZV8 touring car specs. Because Holden didn’t change its rear sub-frame bolt pattern for many years, a later model VP Commodore sub-frame could be slotted under the VC. The LSD that came with it has been shimmed tighter than standard for obvious reasons.

The handy part about bolting in the newer rear end was that it came complete with disc brakes. So to make sure the front could stop equally well, cross-drilled rotors have been installed with Bendix pads. A one-inch PBR master cylinder ensures there’s enough pedal pressure to haul the approximately 1400kg car to a halt.

No Creature Comforts

The genuine HDT VCs were based on the luxury SL/R variant of the Commodore and were very highly specced for their time. But Darryl’s has been stripped out to just the essentials, obviously with a focus more on performance than comfort.

A pair of late-model Nissan seats replace the standard velour pews, and adding to the modernised look are custom white-faced gauges and carbon fibre panelling. With a four-point roll cage in the rear the back seats are long gone, although a decision was made to keep the stereo for the drive to the race track and back.

Style And Stance

That modern look has been carried on to the exterior stance. Monroe gas shocks were fitted in the rear along with Pedders super-low springs, while Monroe inserts on the front shocks are matched up with King springs. The result is a low yet driveable combination that handles superbly. The custom alloy camber plates up front and heavy-duty sway bars no doubt play their part, too.
The 16-inch Simmons two-piece rims suit the vehicle perfectly. They are in keeping with the car’s character, not to mention boosting its tough-looking stance.

After 18 months in the build the car has just hit the streets, and it will very shortly reach both the drag strip and the circuit. Darryl wanted a car that would be good in all areas and that is exactly what he now has. But you only need to look at what he listed as his dream car to know he’s far from finished.

Darryl Jorgensen – Owner details

Age: Not telling
Occupation: Automotive service manager
Previously owned Cars: LJ GTR Torana, 1990 Ford Sierra Cosworth, many fast Jappas
Dream car: 1981 VC Commodore twin turboed, manual and street legal ” oh yeah baby
Why the VC: Wanted big Aussie muscle
Build time: 18 months
Length of ownership: Two years
Darryl thanks: First of all my father Allan and brother William for all the late nights and hard work spent in the garage drinking beers, oh, and building a killer engine. Adrian at Franklin cams, Scott Campbell at Fast Parts, Morice McMillan at Elite oils (07 847 0638), Graham at Carr Engine Recos, Taylor Automotive, Wayne at Archer Engineering, Tim at Pro Coat, my bosses Tim and Warwick at Halbro Forklifts for untold time and products used on the car that they unwillingly paid for (thanks guys), and all the boys who lent a hand for their hard work and their wives for letting them out, Nick, Craig, Brad, Adam, Derek, and anyone else I may have forgotten, you know who you are. And finally my partner Angela for all her support and late dinners in the garage

1981 Holden Commodore VC – Specifications

Engine: 308ci (5047cc), Trimatic 308 block, block decked and bored 40 thou, shot peened A9L rods, 10.5:1 compression, ACL race pistons, ACL race big end bearings, modified and lightened crank, ARP head studs, ARP main stud kit, ARP rod bolts, 304 Group A sump and pick-up, high-volume oil pump, JP adjustable timing gear, JP double row timing chain, Felpro race gaskets, Franklin Cams solid cam, Romac racing damper, Gilmer belt drive system, 304 injected heads, Manley three-piece race springs, Manley retainers and keepers, Manley roller rockers, ARP rocker studs, Manley one-piece chromoly pushrods and guide plates, Torque Power dual plane high rise manifold, 750cfm Quickfuel billet carb, half-inch phenolic carb spacer, K&N filter, Earls dual feed fuel line, 65-litre alloy drop tank, Holley blue fuel pump, Holley fuel reg, MSD 6AL ignition controller, MSD billet distributor, MSD Blaster 2 coil, MSD firewall plug, Moroso racing leads, Pacemaker headers, dual mandrel bent 2.5-to-three-inch exhaust Flowmaster muffler, triple-core V8 radiator, dual fans, Samco hoses
Driveline: W57 Supra gearbox, CRS bell housing, Redline shockproof oil, billet steel flywheel, 1800kg pressure plate, five-puck full ceramic paddle plate clutch, ARP flywheel bolts, ARP clutch plate bolts, VP rear diff, modified LSD, 28-spline axles, custom two-piece driveshaft
Suspension: Monroe gas rear shocks, Monroe gas inserts front, Pedders rear springs, King springs 350-pound coil-over front springs, custom built alloy camber plates, heavy-duty sway bar, Whiteline alloy strut bar
Brakes: Cross-drilled and slotted rotors, Bendix ultimate pads, PBR one-inch master cylinder
Wheels/Tyres: 16-inch Simmons V5 two-piece rims, 225/50R16 front, 255/50R16 rear tyres
Exterior: Group A racing kit, flared guards, rear spoiler
Interior: Nissan 200SX front seats, Momo steering wheel and shifter, Auto Meter electric oil and water gauges, four-point roll cage, white dials, Pioneer head unit, Pioneer speakers
Performance: Estimated 450hp (336kW) at 6000rpm (7000rpm rev limit), yet to be dynoed

Words: Todd Wylie Photos: Adam Croy

Holden Commodore VC HDT Brock Special

There was a raging oil crisis in the late 70s and early 80s. There was not enough crude to go round. The price of a barrel of oil was going through the roof. In New Zealand you could only run your car for six out of seven days a week. Our fine friends in the Middle East must have been pissing themselves laughing at us all. We needed their oil and we kept paying the price. However, not everybody was concerned about the oil crisis. Peter Brock had brought the Holden Dealer Team at the tender age  of 34 and the cars he went on to build pretty much gave the oil crisis the big one fingered salute.

“With the dealers behind him, Brockbrought HDT in December 1979 and it was renamed HDT Special VehiclesOperations PTY LTD”

Brock had already secured his place in the hearts of the Ozzie racing fan. In fact, he was practically a household name. He had been racing Holdens for the Holden Dealer Team since the early 70s with legendary success. He had a short break from HDT late in the 70s and then came back to the team in 1978.

In 1979 Holden withdrew its support from HDT and its then owner, John Sheppard, put it up for sale. A few of the hard core Holden dealers like Warren Smith from Melbourne and Vin Keane from Adelaide came up with an idea that Brock could build a limited run of special Commodores using the HDT name. These special cars could only be sold only through dealers who supported Brock s Race team. Of course, this would provide hype in the middle of the oil crisis and vehicle sales should all go through the roof. There were 50 dealers who jumped up with their hands in the air offering support.

With the dealers behind him, Brock brought HDT in December 1979 and it was renamed to HDT Special Vehicles Operations PTY LTD.

Building the V8 Beast

Since the early 70’s Holden had been supplying Brock with cars and he could never leave them standard. He’d lower them, put wide wheels and tyres on them, extractors, different cams, sort the heads out — the list went on. These were company cars, not racing cars — just Brock’s daily drivers. When the dealers asked him to make them the special Commodores, it was as if his dream had come true. He could make these Commodores go harder, just like he had been doing with the earlier cars and they’d pay him for them. Bring it on. Vin Keane from Adelaide supplied HDT with a light blue VB Commodore, 253cui V8, M20 four-speed gearbox and a horrible diff.

This VB was to be the first HDT Special Vehicle — the development donkey. Out came the 253: bin the M20 gearbox and toss the diff. The bigger 308 V8 was inserted, an M21 gearbox put in or a TH350 three-speed auto, if you wanted it and a limited slip diff out the back. Also, a lightened flywheel from the L34 engine was put to use with the manual cars. They wanted to put the big valve L34 heads on too, but GM said no. So, Brock figured out how to use the L34 porting in the new heads so he could get bigger valves in. HDT also did some machining of the inlet manifold so it would breathe better. HDT had developed the engine to an almost fire breathing stage. Because they had improved the engine’s ability to breath so much, they needed to get more fuel and air into it.

They found the L34 fuel pump ran a few psi more than the standard pump — so in it went. The standard air cleaner was pathetic (vehicular asthma), so it was binned in favour of a much better breathing unit. During the build process, Brock found himself in the GM parts and accessories department where he came across an isle with these huge air cleaners. They turned out to be air cleaners for the Chev Silverado Ute that they had been importing. “Lets try one of those,” says Brock. “It’ll never fit mate, it’s too big,” was the reply. After a bit of twisting and realigning, it fitted. Brock was told “It’s too big mate, the bonnet will never close”. Slam! Guess what? It fitted and it breathed.

Brock wanted to fit extractors to the engine, but GM-H said no because they rust out. GM-H had the final say on this because they were the ones that guaranteed the cars and they didn’t want any rusty bits falling off their cars¦ sigh. Plus, the car had to pass the GM-H; the exhaust emission tests, which it did with flying colours. So, at the end of engine redevelopment, they had a hot little number that could get up and go hard. Brock wanted it to handle as hard as the engine went. So, in went Bilstein gas shocks on all four corners, heavy duty springs that had been lowered, reworked cambers and castor and bigger anti-roll bars front and rear. And, of course, it just had to have fatter rubber under its guards to grip the road and get the power down. No ordinary wheels for this baby.

The original Blue VB had a set of 15 x 7-inch Simmons rims on, but Brock wanted something a bit different. He found the German company Irmscher made these Aerostyled 15 x 7-inch rims and he fell for them. Brock liked them so much they stayed on HDT cars until the early LM5000 VK Commodores. On to these rims went Uniroyal 225/60/15 tyres that were pretty wide for the time.

Leo Pruneau, head of Styling for GM-H, was responsible for the look of the car. Brock wanted a brutal-looking road car. The bodywork had to be able to fit those wider rims and tyres, so flares similar to the A9X Toranas were fitted. A front dam and rear deck spoiler were also fitted, giving the car the look of the racing cars — just on a more refined scale. (more…)