Holden Kingswood

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The Holden Kingswood is a large family car that was manufactured by General Motors–Holden's Ltd. of Australia. The nameplate first emerged in 1968 with the HK series to replace the 'Standard' and 'Special' designations formerly used by the company. Kingswood took over from 'Special' and denoted sedans and station wagons; Belmont was the entry-level model. Premier denoted a high-specification model. During the HK–HG generation, there was an additional top-of-the-line luxury model called the Brougham. The Kingswood was offered in a large number of different body styles including a sedan, station wagon, ute and panel van.

Contents

1 HK–HG Kingswood
2 HQ Kingswood
3 HJ–HZ Kingswood
4 WB Kingswood
5 Kingswood exports
6 Mazda Roadpacer

HK–HG Kingswood

The first Kingswood was the HK, released in 1968. It was an all-new design that was larger and heavier than the previous HR Holden. It used the same six-cylinder engines, but introduced the first V8 into the Holden range, the 307 Chevrolet small-block. This engine only remained an option until midway through production of the HT, when the Fisherman's Bend engine facility began production of Holden's own V8, available as either the 253 or 308. Six months after the release of the HK saw the introduction of the Monaro, a two-door version of the Kingswood.

HQ Kingswood

The HQ series of 1971 was regarded as the most beautiful Kingswood. Subsequent facelifts, which brought welcome mechanical changes in later years, never captured the HQ's then-modern, pure appearance. The HQ was a completely new design, introducing larger 173 c.i. and 202 c.c six cylinder engines, or 253 and 308 c.i. V8 engines from the earlier model. It was Holden's most popular car, selling 517,614 units, a total that Holden has never surpassed for any single model since.

The HQ's main failing could be said to have been its ride. At the time, Holden's American boss, George Roberts, insisted that the HQ ride like a Cadillac, but it was arguable whether Australian buyers favoured this. Most motor-journalists criticised it.

HJ–HZ Kingswood

1976 Holden Kingswood, HX series.

Released in 1974, the HJ Kingswood received some major styling changes, including all new guards, doors and bonnet. The later HX and HZ releases made only minor updates to the exterior. When the HX was released, government emissions controls had been tightened and Holden needed to make significant changes to their engines, which resulted in a loss of performance across the range. The release of the HZ (October 1977), when the lower-end Belmont was absorbed into the Kingswood range and a higher-specification SL model was released, saw the introduction of what Holden termed RTS (Radial Tuned Suspension). RTS, on all models, made significant changes to the suspension of the car, greatly improving the handling. The Kingswood passenger cars were cancelled after the 1979 model year, replaced by the downsized Holden Commodore.

WB Kingswood

The last Holdens to wear the Kingswood badge were the WB utes, released in 1980. Although the WA and WB projects at Holden were meant to have resulted in all-new full-size cars, the 1973 fuel crisis and cost-cutting meant the scope of changes became more limited each time. Eventually, the WBs were updated HZ models with new front headlights, grilles and the new Holden Blue 6 cylinder engine. Production finished in 1984 when holden announced they were vacating the luxury and commercial vehicle fields to build more variations of the lighter,smaller Commodore.They would not release another car-based ute for six years.

Kingswood exports

Holden Kingswoods were manufactured in New Zealand at the General Motors New Zealand plant in Petone, near Wellington. From the 1960s Australian-made models were exported to South East Asia, and also to the Caribbean - the Kingswood was assembled in Trinidad and Tobago. South Africa's Chevrolet Kommando and Constantia were based on the HG and HQ Kingswoods. Its Chevrolet El Camino bakkie or pickup was in fact the Kingswood ute.

Mazda Roadpacer

In a bizarre technology swap, some Premier bodies were assembled by Japanese manufacturer Mazda and fitted with the company's rotary engine. The car was quite heavy and the rotary engine of the time was severely underpowered. To compensate for the lack of performance, Mazda loaded up the car with every possible electrical gadget.

Preceded by:
Holden Special Succeeded by:
Holden Commodore

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