1988 Holden Commodore Executive review from Australia and New Zealand

Well not much at all has gone wrong with the car accept for those that do as a result of increasing power and not doing it properly.

I bought the car slightly worked and it was fitted with larger turbo and intercooler without the correct modification of the drivetrain and fuel sytem. About three months after I got the car the old immobiliser system started playing up and it saw the car being towed to an autoelectrician where the immobiliser was modified and repaired. Then a few months later I realised the gearbox was beginning to slip under load going up hill in second gear. This was also made worse by the death of the fuel regulator, which applied short inconsistent bursts of power as fuel flow was not controled properly. I got the fuel regulator replaced and the engine ran smooth again, however now I started to realise the condition of the gearbox and a few weeks later after some very gentle driving I had to have it reconditioned. Perfect the car ran perfect! No problems at all.

Around 3 months ago I started noticing a strong shudder in the tailshaft under acceleration both pos and neg. As a result of the reconditioned gearbox more strain was put on the centre bearing and hence that needed to be replaced.

So after the fuel regulator and gearbox and centre bearing it think I have been reasonably lucky, the only things that havn't gone are the engine, turbo and diff. I pray they don't.

Overall the car has been acceptional for the kilometres that it has done 230 000km is quite a long time for all original parts so I guess that you can't expect pure perfection without a little more cost.

The cars paint is immaculate and I care for it on a daily bases, tree sap is immediately removed. The interior is standard however immaculate as well, all original seats have no stains and the carpet has been protected by mats, it is a station wagon however the boot is also in a mint condition as a result of the thick black rubber mat that protects the floor, there is very little scratches from things falling out of the boot and hitting the bumper. The mags were on the car already and are also perfect.

The only part of the car that is not up to my standard is the front bumpers as they have numerous stonechips and also on the corners have large scratches from what looks like a trolley scrape or a car reversing and scraping the bumper when I reverse in to spots.

By the way I never do that anymore.

I am extremely happy with the car considering it is a Turbo and I only paid $5000-6000 including the rego.

The car has recently had new shocks and springs in the front, which lowered it by around 1.5 inches. The back cannot go down anymore without tubbing the back.

The T-03 turbo is perfect, enormous power with drivabilty at lower revs, currently the intercooler is hidden, but a frontmount is planned.

The car is definately unique and it is subtly stunning especially just after a polish, turning heads when on the cruise.

It is perfect for chucking the surfboards in the back and travelling with a few mates, everyone has said that the back seat is the best seat ever.

The front are also extremely comfortable and the driving position is great.

The sound system is damn good with 7x10 Kenwoods in the rear, 6"kenwood splits in the front doors with 3inch kenwoods replacing the standard ones in the dash. A 444w sony amp runs a 12 inch sub, which is plenty loud and bassy enough.

The one thing I want to do is get the engine detailed and run some crome pipes for asthetic appeal.

Ohh also the car is running a 3 inch exhaust with simoda cold air induction that makes all the difference. A turbonetics blow off is also fitted now as of today so that I can let people know it's a Turbo!!!