The name Caprice was first used on a Holden in 1975 but has its roots in a car from the 60’s. It has always been a luxury badge. There have been 4 distinct designs – the first spanned models HQ-HJ-HX-HZ-WB, the second spanned VQ-VR-VS, the third spanned WH-WL and the final one is the current WM-WN shape.
To help understand where it fitted into the model landscape, I’ll give you some history of the time.
Through the 60’s, Holden and Ford controlled about 80% of the Australian market. The top selling vehicles were what Australians referred to as large cars, but by American standards would have been considered compacts. The Ford offering was a heavily Australianised Falcon, and the Holden was a similar sized vehicle known as the Special in the early 60’s and the Kingswood in the late 60’s.
1964 Holden Special
1965 Ford Falcon
1968 Holden Kingswood
1970 Ford Falcon GTHO – the fastest 4 door car in the world for many years.
Holden controlled the family car market but Ford owned the big luxury market with an Australianised Ford Fairlane. These were the preferred transport of rich farmers before Landcruisers were around. Holden wanted to get into the market but did not have a suitable LWB vehicle.
So in 1967 the fairly unsuccessful solution they came up with was a Kingswood with a trunk that was about a foot longer than the Kingswood - the Holden Brougham was a bit odd looking.
1967 Ford Fairlane
1967 Holden Brougham
The Brougham was part of the lineup until 1971, when it was replaced with a true LWB flagship, the HQ Statesman.
Never actually badged as a Holden, the Statesman by General Motors was much more successful. It was built on the same wheelbase as the HQ Kinsgwood wagon, as would all Statesmans until the 2006.
There were two versions, The Statesman Custom and the more luxurious Statesman DeVille. The Custom competed with the Fairlane and DeVille competed more the newly released and more luxurious LTD.
1974 Ford LTD
HQ Statesman Custom - 1971 - 1974
HQ Statesman Deville - 1971 -1974
In 1974, the Statesman range changed again. The base model became the Statesman DeVille and the Caprice badge appeared on the upmarket version known as the Statesman Caprice.
HJ Statesman DeVille - 1974 - 1977
HJ Statesman Caprice - 1974 - 1977
HX Statesman DeVille - 1977 - 1978
HX Statesman Caprice - 1977 - 1978
HZ Statesman DeVille - 1978 - 1980
HZ Statesman Caprice - 1978 - 1980
WB Statesman Deville - 1980 - 1984
WB Statesman Caprice - 1980 - 1984
These two models continued until 1984, through 4 different models, the HJ, the HX, the HZ and the WB. The final version actually outlived the Kingswood, which was replaced by the smaller Opel based Commodore in 1979.
The LWB vehicles disappeared between 1984 and 1991, and reappeared as the VQ Statesman. This was based on the VP model Commodore and featured a US Ford-like wraparound rear window. The models were now Statesman and Caprice, so this was the first time the Caprice name was used on its own.
VQ Statesman - 1991 - 1994
VQ Caprice - 1991 - 1994
The next two models were the VR and VS, and shared their model name with the Commodore.
VR Statesman - 1994 - 1995
VR Caprice - 1994 - 1995
VS Statesman - 1995 - 1999
VS Caprice - 1995 - 1999
In 1998 the new VT Commodore was released, and the Statesman and Caprice were given their own model name again, the WH.
WH Statesman - 1999 - 2003
WH Caprice - 1999 - 2003
The WH lived on for two versions of the Commodore – the VT and the VX, and was replaced by the WK just after the VY Commodore was released in 2003. WK was replaced by the visually similar WL.
WL Statesman
WL Caprice
The next big change came with the release of the WM shortly after the VE Commodore was released in 2006. This is the current model. The Statesman badge was retired during the WM model life, and a sportier Caprice V was added.
WM Statesman
WM Caprice
WM Caprice V
Despite mostly having V8’s and all being RWD, Statesmans and Caprices have really only ever been seen as luxury cars rather than sporty. There are a number of sporty versions that have been available over the years, usually done by the official Holden tuner affiliate, originally HDT (Holden Dealer Team) and later HSV.
WB HDT Magnum
More to come when I get time.
