When Holden unveiled its 2013 VF Commodore yesterday, the only model shown was the top-of-the-line Calais V-Series trim level — which combines performance and luxury into a single offering priced in the upper $50,000 range. But as much as we like the Calais offering, there are other trim levels that are part of the Commodore line — including the Comfort (Berlina, Omega, Z-Series), Sports (SV6, SV6 Z-Series, SS Z-Series, and SSV Z-Series), and Luxury (Calais). And since the model that will arrive in U.S. showrooms as the Chevrolet SS performance sedan will be a performance-focused vehicle (or a 4-door Corvette, according to some at GM), something tells us that it will resemble the Sports series of the VF Commodore, more than anything else.
Luckily, Holden (seemingly by accident) released one photo of the VF Sport range during yesterday’s announcements. It’s the image you see above, and it has since been pulled from Holden’s media archives.
The photo in question contains GM Holden Design Director Andrew Smith kneeling against the front fascia of the VF Commodore. The model, however, contains the words “VF Sport” printed on the front license plate, and bears a different appearance than the VF Calais.
For instance, the front grilles have an entirely different design compared to the Calais, including:
- Holden’s Roaring Lion logo is positioned in the center of the grille, rather than being attached to the top of the first bar
- Both the upper and lower grilles are blacked out, rather than having the shiny metallic look of the Calais’ grille
- The lower valance of the sport model’s fascia seems to have a different shape, with a different design for the lower fog/LED lights
Notice the design differences between the front fascias of the Holden VF Commodore Sport (left) and Calais (right). Click to expand.
Whether what we see here is, in fact, the design that will be used for the 2013 Chevy SS sedan remains to be seen. At the least, it seems that what we see here is the actual design for the VF Sport range — which has traditionally been characterized by a more aggressive design.
As a reference, the current VE Commodore includes the following models in the Sport range:
- SV6 and SV6 Z-Series trims powered by the 3.6 liter V6 LFX engine, and
- SS Z-Series and SSV Z-Series powered by the 6.0 liter V8
Stay tuned to GM Authority for more on the Holden VF Commodore, the Chevrolet SS Performance Sedan, and other GM News.
Comments
The Z series range was just a limited edition that had a lot of extras put into it, just so they could sell more of the VE in the lead up to the VF. It has been confirmed that the Commodore range has been shortend. We know there is the Calais and Calais V so far. I think there will only be one comfort model.
I think it has been confirmed the Berlina name has been dropped BUT the Berlina product is now the base model. Know word on whether the VF’s Berlina will be called Omega or a new name.
Here is the Chevy SS
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/02/this-is-the-2014-chevrolet-ss-performance-sedan/
Nice looking badge, too bad they’ll have to put a bowtie on there somewhere.
I’d much rather have a Chevrolet bow tie than a symbol that looks like the Gryffindor logo from Harry Potter.