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lotofwind said..
Why not just bring back the original PV, as it was, but with a modern dash/mod cons.?? And more fuel efficient than the olden days beast was.
But, really, in the end its just transport to get you from A to B...(each)., who cares what it looks like as long as it fits ya gear in it.
It an LE so I dont think they are thinking it will make them millions.

What's this if it's not a modern Panel Van?

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Mark _australia said..

This is obviously a GenY marketing person/s attempt at profiting from an Aussie icon - Holden, give a couple of car heads the blank canvas FFS

Sadly more like GenX - Trying to relive the glory days

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Ian K said..

What's this if it's not a modern Panel Van?

It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

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cisco said..


It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

Form follows function. If the purpose is load carrying the better design is the one that will win hearts. The Sandman was derived from an over-ornate sedan. It was converted to a load carrier as an afterthought. The Kombi van of that era was designed from the ground up and packed twice as much load space on a smaller footprint. That's why owners became endeared to them and irrationally kept them on the road way after their use-by date. Plenty of each sold back in the day but now there there are way more Type 2 Kombis still running around with surfboards than HQ/HZs.

(Then again Wollongong has got to be the Type 2 Kombi capital of Oz, maybe they all end up here?)

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Ian K said..

cisco said..


It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

Form follows function. If the purpose is load carrying the better design is the one that will win hearts. The Sandman was derived from an over-ornate sedan. It was converted to a load carrier as an afterthought. The Kombi van of that era was designed from the ground up and packed twice as much load space on a smaller footprint. That's why owners became endeared to them and irrationally kept them on the road way after their use-by date. Plenty of each sold back in the day but now there there are way more Type 2 Kombis still running around with surfboards than HQ/HZs.

(Then again Wollongong has got to be the Type 2 Kombi capital of Oz, maybe they all end up here?)

I'd vote to bring back the over-ornate van's of the era. Glamping is a big deal these days and the numbers of semi-retirees, who can only afford the odd weekend away, is only going to grow. Hey, their kids can even use it to go to doof doof festivals in the bush.

Smaller, ornate, over the top, recreational vans is a market that should make a come back:

.be

The Sand Man, Sundowner and Drifter were more about being mobile bedrooms than load carriers however Telsta had a huge fleet of Falcon panel vans for quite some and they were loaded right up.

My XH 5 speed Falcon van was originally owned by a contract painter in Darwin. It has a one tonne rear axle and he loaded it up big plus roof racks with numerous ladders on top.

It is in excellent condition and I am selling it. I am a bit beyond "Don't Laugh. Your Daughter Might be in the Back."

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oliver said..

I'd vote to bring back the over-ornate van's of the era. Glamping is a big deal these days and the numbers of semi-retirees, who can only afford the odd weekend away, is only going to grow. Hey, their kids can even use it to go to doof doof festivals in the bush.

Smaller, ornate, over the top, recreational vans is a market that should make a come back:

I am with you. That thing is as sexy as hell but where do you do IT when the seducing has worked??

I have always believed a panel van is the best 2 person round Australia camper van going.

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Ian K said..

cisco said..


It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

Form follows function. If the purpose is load carrying the better design is the one that will win hearts. The Sandman was derived from an over-ornate sedan. It was converted to a load carrier as an afterthought. The Kombi van of that era was designed from the ground up and packed twice as much load space on a smaller footprint. That's why owners became endeared to them and irrationally kept them on the road way after their use-by date. Plenty of each sold back in the day but now there there are way more Type 2 Kombis still running around with surfboards than HQ/HZs.

(Then again Wollongong has got to be the Type 2 Kombi capital of Oz, maybe they all end up here?)

must be more folks up there with a shipload of fun money for toys....
seen the price of any VW model ( bugs, kombis etc ) lately?,
biggggg $
son bought a 'cheap' kombi ...just under 10 K a couple of months, wanted one for years...couple of weeks later shannons sold one...a 'splittie' for $204k...around the same time a 50's model sold in the US for the same amount of coin...
makes my head spin....
all that money for vehicles that weren't all that good back in the olden days,

HQ's?
my second car was a 4 yr old HQ Kingswood wagon... by far the WORST car l've ever owned...2 'oh' 2 ( 3 months later put a conrod through the block ) replacement from the wreckers lasted 12 days before seizing, while on holidays 300 k's away from home,

3 on the tree manual...if you fluffed the change from 1st to 2nd the gear lever would stick in the nuetral position but the car would be stuck in first gear, like it was seized too....first time it happened ( happened plenty of times after that LOL ) thought it WAS seized....drove it home on back dirt roads at 20ks..took an hour. next day pulled the gearbox out only to find there was nothing wrong with it...apparently "was" a linkage problem....soon worked that when it happened again...pull handbrake on...switch donk off...open bonnet and grab the gear linkages and pull like a mallee bull to free it up....shut bonnet....start car and take off before the point coppper in the middle of swanston st/ elizabeth corner could get his book out ( it WAS a looong time ago )

at least the the car didn't have the trimatic ( traumatic ) 'box' lol,

both front blinkers would vibrate loose from the bumber bar and swing around untill the harness would give up and they'd break off, adding salt to injury, l'd then run over them,

ball joint snapped at 20ks....just lucky l wasn't doing a 100k's at the time

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cisco said..
It is in excellent condition and I am selling it. I am a bit beyond "Don't Laugh. Your Daughter Might be in the Back."

How about "Don't laugh. Your Mum might be in the back"

stephen

^^^^^ Yeah, that is about right.

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oliver said..
It actually angers me how pathetic marketing people can be to even think this concept up. I wasted 2 minutes of my life, propping up my ears to 3aw when they talked about it, and then I even went to the website to read what it actually is.

All they've done is stick orange carpet in a commodore wagon and put some stickers on the side of it. This is one miserable attempt at marketing.

+1
thanks mate you saved me a lot of thinking and typing

my pride& joy l wish l use to own one like this many years ago .

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cisco said..

Ian K said..

What's this if it's not a modern Panel Van?

It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

wack a mattress in the back and line it with carpet ,pop some decals on it and some mag wheels and it will ooze character

Holden hahah just another company top heavy that's let its CEO`s rape the company of all its worth. Blame the working man?
Holden aint what it used to be. Support Australia buy china before it buys you ! .

Great development work Holden You've really done your research.

The new Sandman?

Like if you tried to make a chopper with a new ZX-9

Or a beach buggy with a VW Polo


It just does not work.

Did the Monaro of a few years ago work ? I reckon it did, they did a great job there
Not sure about Ford's GT though

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Mr float said..

cisco said..



It is a delivery van totally devoid of character.

wack a mattress in the back and line it with carpet ,pop some decals on it and some mag wheels and it will ooze character

Whack a V8 or big 6 into it with rear wheel drive and a manual gear box and it still won't have character. A pox box to say the least.

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gavnwend said..
my pride& joy l wish l use to own one like this many years ago .

If you did not have it then but have it now, what is all the wishing about?? Relive your youth NOW!!!

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shoodbegood said..
Did the Monaro of a few years ago work ? I reckon it did, they did a great job there
Not sure about Ford's GT though

Neither of them made it. Twenty years from now the original Monaros and GT Falcons will be worth shiploads more than the recent attempts to prop up the GMH and Ford market shares.

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Chook2 said..
We use a sports wagon at work and they handle like crap on our the gravel roads.

They actually handle better than the sedans. A few years back they took a HSV Sedan and Sportwagon around the track on the Australian Top Gear and the Sportwagon was faster. Something about more weight over the rear while still sharing the same chassis/wheelbase.
At least the Commodore isn't made in Taiwan (yet) and is a full sized rear wheel drive car.

Man that sucks I had one of the originals I was getting all excited. Crappy station wagon shiiitttt

they were utes to

^^ What an awesome photo, reminds me of my younger days in the pilbara. The fences are a classic of yesteryear as are the tyre planter boxes. That Sandman was as about techy as things got.

I hope he has knee pads on... no mattress and all.

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gavnwend said..
bring back the shagging wagon.my adolescent days haven't finish yet.

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kk said..
^^ What an awesome photo, reminds me of my younger days in the pilbara. The fences are a classic of yesteryear as are the tyre planter boxes. That Sandman was as about techy as things got.

I'm guessing you haven't been to Darwin lately

my Holden saltman.Fits 3 blokarts in the back, 2 assembled, 1 in its bag, 10 sails and camping gear and chillybun. Plastic tray easy to hose the salt out after a days salt harvesting. Owned a VS with canopy before the VE. Works for me!

My 1984 Fairmont fits 2 Blokarts in the boot and one on the back seat.

My 1997 Falcon panel van will fit at least 6 blokarts in the back plus a couple of Lake Lefroy Mini Yachts.

The Fairmont is Silver and the panel van white which means less heat absorption than black.

Except for trendy value and showing off, why would anybody in Australia have a black painted vehicle???

Hi Cisco, I've gone over to the dark side. Sailing a class 5 as well.

Well done. With landyachts as with cars, there is no substitute for horsepower.

I have gone back to my roots and am concentrating on my 30 ft water yacht.

If you are interested I am happy to part with my LLF Mini (built by me) and "Nappy Rush" (built by Paul Day) for the cost of the wheels ($500) plus freight.

The reason I have a black car is so I can find it at the salt lake at the end of the day!

There is a Paul Day LLmini here in Kal for sale, asking $700