Firstly cool website, now i have a few questions to ask. Does anyone know how many VL Calais Wagons were made? Did any of those come with leather seats and or electrie sunroofs? I heard that they were only made in 88, is this true or false, mine is made in 87, is mine a special make then? :?:

I believe they were made in 1987 as well but the majority of "genuine " Calais wagons were produced in 1988, and you want to know why, well since Holden anounced the "New" VN model comeing out they had something like 500 station wagon body shell's sitting around and a heap of Calais part's so to make the wagons sell and run them out they were all mostly turned into Calais wagons and sold at a half reasonable price. The Calais station wagons used V8, N/A RB30 and the RB30et. Yes some Calais wagon's did come with the optional leather interior at an extra cost, and I'm not to sure about the electric sunroof's as most of the electric sunroof's were done aftermarket by company's like Hollandia. And many new cars today still get the sun roof's done this way if they are in Melbourne most new car dealers use Prestiage Sunroof's in Burwood which employ Panel beaters, Spray painters and motor trimmers to do the job as if it was from the factory.

there were 200 vl calais wagons made. My brother has one with a group A interior so i would say that maybe they could be optioned with any interior from the VL range.

did the calais wagon have the pop-up lights cause theres 1 here where i live with normal exec, sl etc. headlights (maybe its a fake still looks good though)

Yep my Calais Wagon has the pop up headlights

Ive got me a N/A Calais wagon, the only difference between it and a normal calais is the wagon bit.......and the fact that on the VIN they are specified as a Belina not a calais but yeah pop up lights, electrics, same **** different body......

The VL Calais wagon was first released in April 1988 and a was only a limited edition of 200

Hi Yes I'm looking at a late 1988 wheels magazine and there is a smalll article saying there was 200 built. Thats interesting that the VIN say it was a Berlina. What to the others out there with Calais wagons say ??? Cheers

Quote: Originally Posted by PSICHO Ive got me a N/A Calais wagon, the only difference between it and a normal calais is the wagon bit.......and the fact that on the VIN they are specified as a Belina not a calais Also another difference is the wagon did not receive any rear headrests.

FAST MOVERS WITH A SOFT TOUCH First Published: August 8, 1998 The Age by The Age's DAVID MORLEY IT WASN'T until the popular VL model Commodore was on its last legs that Holden finally built a station wagon version with the bells-and-whistles Calais trim. But don't imagine that Holden was being philanthropic. No, it was more a case of "What are we going to do with all these 200 wagon bodyshells we haven't sold?" To be fair, Ford did the same thing towards the end of the XF Falcon's model life, launching a Fairmont Ghia wagon with similar market aspirations and very similar motivation. But for buyers, a Calais spec wagon made sense. Mum-and-dad buyers weren't going for the idea in huge numbers, but there were enough people who got to choose their own company cars and didn't want a low-end Mercedes-Benz or BMW, as well as a few buyers who wanted a Calais but needed the extra space for the kids and dog on weekends. So a batch of Calais wagons were dragged along the Holden production line and let loose on the market as something of a last hurrah for the VL range. Launched in March 1988, the Calais wagon was discontinued in August of the same year when the all-new VN Commodore hit the showrooms. That launch date was also two years after the 'regular' VL models, so it was very much an afterthought. For all that, Holden took the Calais wagon concept seriously enough to ensure it had all the marketing pull of the Calais sedan. The wagon was offered with three engine options. For $31,209, you got the Calais wagon with the standard, but very sweet, Nissan-derived three-litre in-line six. This was the engine in the bread-and-butter VL Commodore and while it wasn't an outright rocket, the performance was very accessible and the engine's demeanor was always gentlemanly. Thanks to Holden's Calais marketing strategy, the V8 option (which was about $1000 dearer on lower-spec Commodores) could be had for just $200 more. That meant that only the three-speed automatic could be fitted, but the manual gearbox was never offered on the Calais, anyway (although the six-cylinder sported a four-speed auto). If moving the kids and dog in a hurry was a priority, there was only one way to go: the Calais Turbo. The turbo-charged Nissan six took the price of the Calais wagon to $33,984, but it was a performance bargain. With the ability to whistle up 150kW and the automatic gearbox ensuring the engine couldn't be caught off boost, the full-blown Calais was one of the fastest wagons made anywhere in the world. The downside occurred any time a corner loomed on the horizon. In a succession of suspension re-jigs, Holden had effectively softened the suspension on each model of Commodore. By the time the VL rolled around, that's exactly what it did: rolled around. The front suspension was much too soft for any meaningful conversation between the driver and the front wheels and the live rear-end had so much roll oversteer that quick cornering became a lottery to see where the car would be pointing when the squealing stopped. With the turbo model, Holden made the slightly firmer FE2 suspension package mandatory, but it was a case of too little too late. In the wet, the turbo model is a particular handful and none of the variants were remotely reassuring on something like a gravel surface. Rear-wheel traction can be hard to find and even with the bigger 15-inch wheel-and-tyre package fitted to the Calais, grip was sometimes at a premium. To make sure the Calais wagon would appeal to buyers who liked their toys, Holden threw in plenty of standard equipment with the car. As in the Calais sedan, alloy wheels, air-conditioning and a decent stereo were part of the package. Calais wagon buyers also got cruise control, power windows (with the switches placed awkwardly in the centre console), central locking and extra instrumentation. That may not sound like a heck of a lot, but we're talking about a time in history when only things like big-dollar Benzes and BMWs got anything like anti-lock brakes. What Calais wagon owners did get, however, was velor and other soft trim that is probably best measured in hectares. The stuff was everywhere; along the sun-visors, across the roof and even on the door trims. Maybe it was seen as OK at the time, but nothing dates an early Calais more than the trim material these days. Some of the switchgear - particularly the wiper switches - were small, confusing and had their ergonomic roots firmly in the 1970s. Driving a Calais wagon (or any VL Commodore, really) is an exercise in understanding how far Australian family car dynamics have come in just 10 years. The Calais doesn't want to know about corners or bumps and while the straight-line performance would still be considered OK, just about everything else about the Calais wagon and its ilk would be the stuff of nasty jokes today. That's now reflected in the price, with privately sold Calais wagons starting at around $10,000. The very best, those with the turbo engines, for instance, are fetching about $13,000 or a fraction less in dealers' yards. As a family car with a bit of urge, the turbo is up there if you can either fix (it's possible) or put up with the iffy handling. The others - the normally aspirated six and V8 - really feel like old cars now. Prices correct at date of publication

Sin, Wagon's actually did come with head rests, i have seen two with them installed now, they use the front seat headrests.

touche sin, they didnt have the head rests in the back, thank good, there like shoe boxes, i guess the rear seat passenges will have to make do with whip lash Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

When i bought my Calais Wagon the guy i bought it off said that i had to insure it as a berlina because the insurance companies don't recognise the Calais Wagon.

There was 75 Turbo's, 75 V8's and 50 N/a wagons. All were built in 1988 and all were auto from factory and the only two colours available were burgundy or the dark blue.

thats rarer than i thought! i know of 3 between freo and me. a blue / silver one, and two burgundy over silvers - one of which is turbo. its pretty stock i think, but it moves.. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

On my Calais wagon the VIN specified my car as a Holden VL station wagon and release date was 10/87, and its white over silver. I don't believe that it was one of those 200 wagons, i think it was a special order as it was first owned as a company car. and was optioned with the leather trim and the Holliandia sunroof. Mine is also a auto.

Did you buy your wagon from a bloke out Blacktown way????? a while ago now????

I actually saw two yesterday. One was a V8 and looked alright and the other one was for sale but it was an N/A. It was burgundy looked pretty nice actually but the price was a bit hefty. The guy was selling it for $10,990 but it came with a load of spare parts said to be $1500-$2000 in value. I dunno, 11k is a bit too much for a calais wagon that is non turbo for me......

I would say there is more than 200 still going around either that or there are some good converted "Mock Up" Calais wagons cruesing the streets of Melbourne. I don't think they are that rare or sort after for that matter as wagon's generally don't bring the money a sedan would.

There was definitely only 200 built and the code on the build tag is A9Y for the model designation, but did you know that at the same time that Holden offered the Calais Wagon, you could also buy a Nissan Skyline Ti Wagon. and how many of these did Nissan sell......Zero!. Needless to say it was taken off the product range for the new model.