Holden Caprice

The Holden Caprice is a full-size luxury car which was produced by Holden in Australia from 1990 to October 2017. The similar Holden Statesman, which was also introduced in 1990 as a model below the Caprice, was discontinued in September 2010. Between 1971 and 1985, Holden marketed their long-wheelbase sedans under the Statesman marque.

Statesman and Caprice are essentially long-wheelbase variants of the Commodore range, and as of 2006, were the largest rear-wheel drive sedans offered by GM. Internationally, Statesmans and Caprices have been rebadged as the Buick Royaum, Daewoo Statesman, and Chevrolet Caprice. In addition, these cars have formed the basis of the Chinese-built Buick Park Avenue and the Bitter Vero, a rebodied version from Germany.

The main difference between the Statesman and the Caprice lies within their equipment packages. Moreover, Caprices are commonly powered by V8 engines rather than V6s and, whilst modern Caprices may be mistaken as fully specified versions of the cheaper Statesman, the two were separate Holden models in the past. In appearance, Caprices can be distinguished by their unique interior and exterior trim such as the grille insert. In addition to the large V8 engine, in latter years, the Caprice suspension was often more sport-oriented (from the 2003 WK series).

Traditionally in Australia, the Statesman and Caprice have been direct rivals to the Ford Fairlane and LTD, respectively. However, Ford's decision to discontinue these models in 2007 left Holden with the Chrysler 300C as the only direct competition at pricing point occupied, at least until the launch of the Hyundai Genesis in 2015. As announced by Holden in 2014, its entire Australian production comprising the Caprice ceased in 2017.

The word "caprice" means impulsive, unpredictable or sudden condition, or series of changes or a brief romance.

It was the right car at the wrong time. A few years later people woke up to the fact that the WB was one of the best big Holdens of all time, and the values of used examples took off with a lion's roar.

Prior to the introduction of the Holden Statesman and Caprice models in 1990, Holden marketed its long-wheelbase sedan range through a separate Statesman marque, absent of all "Holden" branding. These original vehicles, were sold through the General Motors-Holden's dealership channel, and were based on the mainstream Holden range (Belmont, Kingswood, Monaro and Premier), offering more luxury, additional length than the Holden sedan and coupe models (the Statesman shared the same wheelbase as the Holden Wagon, Utility and Panel Van), and styling to differentiate it from the smaller Holden sedans. The first of such cars were introduced in 1971 as the HQ series Statesman, replacing the short-lived Holden Brougham. Although designed specifically for the Australian market, front end styling of the Statesman Caprice bears a strong resemblance to the 1971 North American Chevrolet Caprice. Subsequent HJ, HX and HZ models were updates to the original HQ bodywork, as was the final WB series which introduced a new six-window glasshouse. WB represented the most significant update yet, with only the front doors and bonnet common with the HZ sheetmetal. Notwithstanding these alterations, the WB fell short of great market success, that is, until 1984 when production cessation was announced, generating a rapid sales ascent. For Holden, the decision had been made—the line's discontinuance was irreversible.

In March 1990, after a six-year hiatus since the WB Statesman's dismissal, demand for a long-wheelbase luxury sedan in Australia saw Holden resurrect the Statesman and Caprice names. Given the model designation VQ, these new luxury models utilised the long-wheelbase chassis taken from the VN Commodore station wagon, as opposed to the VN sedan's short-wheelbase. These VN models were in turn heavily revised and enlarged versions of the Opel Omega A. In comparison to the regular Commodore sedan, VQs added an additional 110 mm (4.3 in) of length, and were still 64 mm (2.5 in) longer than the VN wagon.