I remember when my dad brought home his then brand new imperial blue 88 executive company car, with a carphone. Never missed a beat with 250000 k's. Such a great car.
Folks had one back in the day. RB30 Auto. Dark blue, same colour interior as the one in this video. Then another mate bought a white SL with the 5 speed. We all drove the heck out of that car. He painted the interior black. Stolen once, and recovered. He sold that car for peanuts to another mate, and went out and bought another VL Berlina which he still has. So lots of memories with the good old VL's. I have two of the original hub caps from my parent's VL in my garage..Nice little thing to remember it by.
Best car ever created by far My mum had a 910 bluebird when I was born then upgraded to a 1990 r31 skyline, there started my love for boxes with wheels My first car was also a 1987 r31 ti and for the last 4 years I've had a 910 bluebird too
So I think you liked it ... And why not. Absolutely stunning car. Brings back memories because it's so simple, and its what was actually around when I grew up. Yes we all know what a VL looks like, but seeing a mint one, inside and out is very special and brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for sharing the drive with us, I especially love the handling review. All of the survivors are either flogged out, or heavily modified, hearing you describe driving one that's still factory, and that you love it, that's well worth the watch.
The base model VY/VZ's & early VE's can be picked up these days for pretty cheap, but will also end up like these in another 20 years or so; time to buy-up now and put away for the future.
Got an 88 SL factory 5 speed. Bought it 16 years ago with 300,000km on the clock. It now has 718,000 and counting. I love it. Drives as good as a new one. Agree with the road noise, but can't fault it otherwise.
By far the best holden ever created, gods engine, lots of design ideas taken from the 910 bluebird Holden literally sat there and said, what if we mix a 910 bluebird and Nissan's upcoming idea of a r31 skyline The VL was then born What a beautiful example of Australian motoring
The VL is probably the best Commodore made before the GM America influences/business model of around 2005. The Nissan engine was great. My friend had a turbo for a while but crashed it!!!! The build quality was high and smooth as any luxury car of the time.
1st gen commodores are awesome because they’re a German based vehicle improved for Australian conditions making them better than their original design. That’s what Brock saw in them when he wanted to sell them overseas.
I loved my 87 wagon.. The problem the 3lt had was the dropped down nose radiator position. The Skyline wzs dead level the the back of the block.. The 3lt VL cooked heads unfortunately..great motor..
Oddly enough 3.3 efi from vk, produced 8kw less and 20nm more of torque than vl. Despite the old engines age it's 0-100 time was almost identical to the vl.
I always thought might as well by a Skyline, Imagine if Holden had continued with engine instead of the 3.8. Got to say they have aged beautifully and have that 80s nostalgia down. I prefer the Styling of the VK but I bet the VL drives better with that Nissan motor.
They were running the Buick six in VL test cars during VN development.They had planned to use the Nissan engine in the VN but it was shelved as it was getting to expensive to import it and the marketing dept pushed the V6 that the VN was bigger so it needed a bigger engine.
@@ESP351 I didn't know that as I'm a mere dabbler when it comes to Cars, I remember a few people putting the 3.8 in older Commodore models back in the day, I think it was a fairly hefty conversion, I wonder if any of those prototype VLs with the 3.8 survived, I bet they would be worth a mint.
@@nowhere529I have a hardback called Project VN and it had the engine development chapter and it had pics of the V6 in a VL station wagon and it had a bonnet bulge in it.I gather it sat higher than the Nissan engine.They were doing hot weather testing in Alice Springs.I doubt any of the prototypes survived and would have been crushed.
I'd love to build a stock one of these with modern turbo, engine management, sound deadening, tyres etc, but keep it looking pretty stock. A modern VL, but still a VL
Ironic having an engine from a land that regards the engine as the heart of the car and therefore important to be made by them. Obviously some people still view it as being just as Australian as a Kingswood.
wasnt it unusual for the "sl" to have a tacho dash in a non turbo the executive came with steer and clock cluster a-c was still a dealer or factory fitted option
I had an 1986 executive 5 speed with tacho dash, air cond and manual steering and country pack suspension 😮 Sold around 2005 for $1K with around 400,000 kms and it still ran smooth.
My doctor bought The turbo Berlina new for his wife i couldn't afford it whe n sold it another elderly gentleman i worked in his yard mowing for many years he had vl executive sedan in beautiful light green silver when it was 10years old he said time to get rid of it i said i forgot what kms u done nearly 4thousand kms he replied i said straight away what money 💰 u chasing no im giving it to my favourite nephew 😓 cheers Stephen from QLD Cobas 🤠🐨🦘✌️
I remember when my dad brought home his then brand new imperial blue 88 executive company car, with a carphone. Never missed a beat with 250000 k's. Such a great car.
Folks had one back in the day. RB30 Auto. Dark blue, same colour interior as the one in this video. Then another mate bought a white SL with the 5 speed. We all drove the heck out of that car. He painted the interior black. Stolen once, and recovered. He sold that car for peanuts to another mate, and went out and bought another VL Berlina which he still has.
So lots of memories with the good old VL's.
I have two of the original hub caps from my parent's VL in my garage..Nice little thing to remember it by.
My parents in 1987 had the skyline.
Best car ever created by far
My mum had a 910 bluebird when I was born then upgraded to a 1990 r31 skyline, there started my love for boxes with wheels
My first car was also a 1987 r31 ti and for the last 4 years I've had a 910 bluebird too
Superior car.
Looks like this one has a Berlina cluster with all the gauges, tacho and digital clock..
Yes someone has swapped it over I'd say, they were a must over the crappy SL / Exec variants.
So I think you liked it ... And why not. Absolutely stunning car. Brings back memories because it's so simple, and its what was actually around when I grew up. Yes we all know what a VL looks like, but seeing a mint one, inside and out is very special and brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for sharing the drive with us, I especially love the handling review. All of the survivors are either flogged out, or heavily modified, hearing you describe driving one that's still factory, and that you love it, that's well worth the watch.
god it brings back rental car memories driving these things and the skylines
The base model VY/VZ's & early VE's can be picked up these days for pretty cheap, but will also end up like these in another 20 years or so; time to buy-up now and put away for the future.
Got an 88 SL factory 5 speed. Bought it 16 years ago with 300,000km on the clock. It now has 718,000 and counting. I love it. Drives as good as a new one. Agree with the road noise, but can't fault it otherwise.
i had a 1986 sl the same car but in white.i miss it
I'm glad to see that you are happy with your new car that you have just purchased in your fleet
I wish this was mine haha
I had one back in 89 blue SL 5 speed, mags 2 1/2 exhaust and with A/C fun times.
By far the best holden ever created, gods engine, lots of design ideas taken from the 910 bluebird
Holden literally sat there and said, what if we mix a 910 bluebird and Nissan's upcoming idea of a r31 skyline
The VL was then born
What a beautiful example of Australian motoring
I would love a vl turbo manual imagine what one of those would be worth if you could find one
I had the vl wagon 5 speed manual when I was young. It’s the only car I regret getting rid of
The VL is probably the best Commodore made before the GM America influences/business model of around 2005. The Nissan engine was great. My friend had a turbo for a while but crashed it!!!! The build quality was high and smooth as any luxury car of the time.
@@Warpedsmac very much so the best thing they did for the Commodore was getting rid of the dirty old 202 boat anchor
That RB30 sounded great from the outside. They are a fantastic car . Still look 38 yrs later
1st gen commodores are awesome because they’re a German based vehicle improved for Australian conditions making them better than their original design. That’s what Brock saw in them when he wanted to sell them overseas.
I loved my 87 wagon..
The problem the 3lt had was the dropped down nose radiator position.
The Skyline wzs dead level the the back of the block..
The 3lt VL cooked heads unfortunately..great motor..
This one has a tacohmeter back in the day I had to guess when to change gears by ear
back when nissan made great motors
Oddly enough 3.3 efi from vk, produced 8kw less and 20nm more of torque than vl. Despite the old engines age it's 0-100 time was almost identical to the vl.
Very nice. That's how I like my cars too. All original unmodified. I have a vp berlina same colour combo
I always thought might as well by a Skyline, Imagine if Holden had continued with engine instead of the 3.8. Got to say they have aged beautifully and have that 80s nostalgia down. I prefer the Styling of the VK but I bet the VL drives better with that Nissan motor.
imagine if nissan kept supplying rb motors for future commodore models
nah mighty ecos are cooler
They were running the Buick six in VL test cars during VN development.They had planned to use the Nissan engine in the VN but it was shelved as it was getting to expensive to import it and the marketing dept pushed the V6 that the VN was bigger so it needed a bigger engine.
@@ESP351 I didn't know that as I'm a mere dabbler when it comes to Cars, I remember a few people putting the 3.8 in older Commodore models back in the day, I think it was a fairly hefty conversion, I wonder if any of those prototype VLs with the 3.8 survived, I bet they would be worth a mint.
@@nowhere529I have a hardback called Project VN and it had the engine development chapter and it had pics of the V6 in a VL station wagon and it had a bonnet bulge in it.I gather it sat higher than the Nissan engine.They were doing hot weather testing in Alice Springs.I doubt any of the prototypes survived and would have been crushed.
I'd love to build a stock one of these with modern turbo, engine management, sound deadening, tyres etc, but keep it looking pretty stock. A modern VL, but still a VL
VLs are good they can go hard,even now you can put them on classic rego.
What a gorgeous car! How good is a mint VL 👌
Actually opel based car with Japanese engine and holden badging.
Love it!
My first car rb30 manual i cained the he'll out of it couldn't kill it
Ironic having an engine from a land that regards the engine as the heart of the car and therefore important to be made by them. Obviously some people still view it as being just as Australian as a Kingswood.
Would you like to take my 1988 VL Berlina 5.0L for a review. I bought this in 1993 from Patersons Ringwood .A/c works in mine for crew comfort.
Wow Steve! Absolutely! Feel free to send me an email :) info@shedshirts.com.au
I kick myself often selling my Executive VL 5 sp in 2004 for $1,350
I still think... the vl would be perfect with the vn v6..
bt1 was a police car only!
wasnt it unusual for the "sl" to have a tacho dash in a non turbo the executive came with steer and clock cluster a-c was still a dealer or factory fitted option
I had an SL 5 speed and mine came with the horrible clock 😢
This has obviously had the dash changed from stock
I had an 1986 executive 5 speed with tacho dash, air cond and manual steering and country pack suspension 😮
Sold around 2005 for $1K with around 400,000 kms and it still ran smooth.
I don’t think the VL was under appreciated at the time….I had the Nissan Skyline with the same engine…..wonderful engine and never let me down.
Cool
How much power did the NA RB30 actually make?
114 KW
*German car with Japanese engine
skyline was better
My doctor bought The turbo Berlina new for his wife i couldn't afford it whe n sold it another elderly gentleman i worked in his yard mowing for many years he had vl executive sedan in beautiful light green silver when it was 10years old he said time to get rid of it i said i forgot what kms u done nearly 4thousand kms he replied i said straight away what money 💰 u chasing no im giving it to my favourite nephew 😓 cheers Stephen from QLD Cobas 🤠🐨🦘✌️