1979 Holden HZ - Kingswood, Premier and more 

The Holden Belmont, Kingswood, Premier, Monaro 2 door coupes only in the first two models had this body style from HQ, HJ, HX & HZ in Utes both coupe utility (Ute) and cab Chassis with tray or other body carrying styles, sedans, station wagons, Panel vans also the longer wheelbase luxury Statesman and Statesman Caprices ( excluding the later and last of this style , the WB series only in ute, cab chassis and Statesman Caprice, these were sold alongside the earlier Holden Commodores that took over from the HZ sedans) had a variety of engines and transmissions, the first HQ Series had engine sizes from the basic 173 ci (2850) Holden six to the 202 (3300) the smallest V8 was the 253 ci ( 4.2 litre) in 3 speed column, 4 speed stick, Trimatic 3 speed auto, 308 ci V8( 5 litre) same transmissions as 253 but later with Turbo 400 auto that replaced the trimatic as there were a few warranty recalls as the trimatic was not ideal behind the 308, also the top V8 was the 350 ci Chevrolet that could be optioned with the two door and 4 door Holden Monaros with 4 speed Muncie trans or turbo 400’s and the 350 was an option on the Statesman De-Villes, later H models in the series had different drive line specs, but you could order just about anything in anything back in those days, I owned a beautiful HJ Holden Premier sedan that was highly optioned with 308 V8, Turbo 400 and LSD with lots of other options and was a wonderful car that performed extremely well and with thoroughly effortless highway and interstate cruising with bags of power and torque and I ended up travelling hundreds of thousands of miles in that car, super reliable and durable those Holdens were!👍

Really appreciate you covering this. My memories are of an HZ Holden Taxi with RSL Cabs Sydney 1981 to 82 in red and blue livery. My dad got me to steer while on his lap one time.

Basic car introduced in 1971...it finally learned how to turn corners in an acceptable fashion at the end of 1977 - still had a wheezing old engine (with 1976 Smog equipment) from 1963, though. A real shame - core design had potential. I owned an HJ ('74-'76) - it was a stunningly lacklustre car!

The HZ has been referred to as an HQ with all the bugs sorted out. Radial Tuned Suspension was a whole new term, that entered the everyday language, and became well known all over. My biggest automotive mistake was not keeping the 1973 HQ Statesman DeVille I once owned. It was a fairly 'full house' model: 308 c.i. (5 litre) V8, console shift auto, intergrated air conditioning, power assisted steering, power disc brakes, electric windows, tinted glass, cloth seats, factory radio cassette, remote exterior mirror. How could I have predicted that Aussie classics now sell for a lot of money.

Thanks for this. I had a Holden HJ Wagon for my first car with the 3.3litre and three on the tree. But my friend had the updated HZ model that you showed here also in 3.3 and three speed. and the RTS Raadial Tuned Suspension made a massive difference to the handling and I believe saved drivers lives. The older models were wallowy and pretty avererage handling and the geometry changes transforrmed the car. The Engineer of the RTS was Peter Hanenberger - a German-born automotive specialist who worked all 45 years of his professional career for General Motors (GM) and subsidiaries including the Chairman and Managing Director of Holden.

HZ, great car. Had a three-quarter frame chassis making it a very strong car.

I went for my licence in a 4.2 litre HJ with 3 on the tree. Dad replaced it with a HZ with same drive train. RTS did make a big difference.

These HZ Holdens continuted to deliver to Holden the number one selling car in Australia. The Holden full size models being the top selling car in Australia since the early fifties when the factory had geared up production enough to meet demand and reduce the year or so waiting list that started with the November 1948 first limited sales. Even with that model people had orders for the car before they saw one, just based on rumours. By 1958 around fifty percent of new vehicle sales in Australia came out of the Holden factories. This led Holden to being the most profitable return on investment General Motors divsion in the world. However for the next model with too much Opel design ideas in the first Commodore, Holden soon lost that number one position. With that sales decline and the vast expense of re-engineerin the Opel weaknesses out of the Holden Commodore as much as they could, Holden found themselves making an unheard of loss. Not learning any lessons from this Opel experience, the out of touch General Motors head office continued to impose Opel designs on Holden and possibly charging Holden too much for the designs too keep Holden less profitable so avoiding significant high Australian business taxes. Transfer pricing of multi national companies was a hot topic in Australia but not well understood. Lower profits also meant less money to develop new models for emerging market demands. The end point being the demise of the Holden name and GM struggling to have a car in the top 100 cars sold in Australia, let alone 50% market share. You would have been laughed at if you suggested that sorry state from the fifties until the 2010s.

Another fabulous brochure we would rarely see . One Holden model spin off I have always found fascinating is the Holden derived Mazda Roadpacer. I think mostly Holden with a Mazda rotary engine. Would be a fantastic brochure if you had it especially if the two were compared..

The last and best of the true Holdens (Kingswood, WB had no Kinga sedans or wagons! Always wanted to see what a WB Kingswood sedan would look like) Had a metallic blue with white roof 4•2L T bar auto Kinga wagon, even though it was a touch underpowered with the small V8 and traumatic, traumatic sorry, it was still one of the best cars to drive I've owned. Had every Kingswood a few Premiers from HK to WB (van and ute) and every Commodore from VB to VE but I still prefer the HZ. Worst Holden I owned was a HB Torana followed closely by the first Camira. Cooked that on a dirt road and just left it there with the key in the ignition and a note on the dash board "Take the bloody thing. It's cooked and f#cked and don't run no more".

My family car was 75 HJ Kingswood, light chocolate brown with white roof, six seater with bench seat front same tan vinyl in HZ, column 3 manual or 3 on the tree. With 3.3 six she went around clock or speedo 3 times that how many kms in 26 year period we had her. I end up buying 94 Holden VR Commodore with IRS, 3.8lt V6, 4 speed automatic to replace tied old girl. But heard local TAFE college brought HJ to learn to fix, restore car, the teacher use be our mechanic knew car well enough. HJ didn't have power steering, no air conditioning, no power windows, heater wasn't great as we carry blanket in winter to keep warm when went to play football. Definitely different times back then LOL.

These do remind me of an Opel Commodore B with a different front. They do look nice and with a 4.2 engine too would be a good car to drive. We did get a 3.3 engine in Vauxhalls in the UK but im not sure if it was the same engine. Nice brochure and its interesting to see these as there isnt really any other way to view these brochures in the UK.

It's shame we didn't get these Holdens, I think they could have been sold with Vauxhall being part of GM ( at the time ) Being right hand drive they would suit our roads. Great video

nice too see this holden brochure, this holden zed, this model based opel cars, in Australia now how many this cars are still on the road now

i own a earlier model..HQ HOLDEN KINGSWOOD it's the best car holden ever produced. the Hz is a later model all derived from th HQ

Had a hj sandman with a 5 litre or 308 v8 you could option a larger motor if youwonted one you could get a 350 chevy motor in the hq model s

Was the Belmont still available in HZ ?

I had a 1970 HG Kingswood. In my view, it was better looking inside and out than the HQ, though from HJ, on, the dash design and nosecone style had a more rugged look. I had a mate with an HZ, and i wasn't jealous at all. The HG look was my preference. I sold the HG for a VB Commodore so in that car, i got to experience HZ era Holden sixes and handling. It rode and handled great, particularly on the open road. The 202 was hard to start but performance wasn't bad. It "ran on" often after i turned the ignition off, which annoyed me. The Trimatic auto was just rubbish. Constant slipping and slurring if you didn't top up the oil, which it used plenty of. The HZ had the same drivetrains so I'm guessing it had the same issues. Since Holden stopped production, i just drive Toyota's now. Other than fuel, tyres and servicing plus gubbermint charges, which every car attracts, I've never spent a cent on them. If Holden made their cars like Toyota now does, they may still be active manufacturers.

a blue or green screen wold work wonders

Have u got the Proton saga be nice to see that u don't see many over here

If you were a surfer guy and you wanted to get the girls, you needed a Holden Sandman 4.2 V8 van. Lots of room for surfboards or hanky panky in the rear of the van. A conservative family man would want a Kingswood SL sedan or wagon, or, if he could afford it, a Premier. These were old style Holdens, nothing like the European inspired Commodores. Certainly more American in design, as were all the previous large Holden cars. There were many Chevrolet styling cues.

holden and ford made so many decent cars...too many imports to compete.

the HZ certainly had much improved, and hugely needed handling... but that is about where it ended! very good looking cars, though!... extremely poor room... well for tall people, great for fat people! The carpet tried to go wall to wall, but, well that kind of didn't work to well either.. They still had huge engines that had prodigious fuel consumption and little forward progress... so all in all less than ideal. I was used to driving a Renault 16 TS which was like a breath of fresh air and when I was in my parents Holden... it just was hopeless... Particularly in the city (Melbourne) where I could zip around quickly in the R16, and the Holden just would not fit.. too wide,,, ideal for fat people!!!! You could zip around quickly and super comfortably anywhere in the R16 without having to tap into an oilwell and at twice the speed..

Take it from one who rode in one many, many times, don't feel left out, you missed out on nothing.

I bought the last of the HZ in 1980 It was clear that the workers were told they were losing their jobs It was like the bad quality of the American cars. They couldn’t find the electric problem & built quality was terrible Not one panel gap was the same. Sold it a year later. Quick note: l had a HX which had not problems