Holden VE Calais V 60th Anniversary Special Edition
May 28, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Holden has upped the ante with a new VE Calais V 60th Anniversary Special Edition. The car comes just at the right time to compete against Ford’s new luxury Falcon range.
The special edition comes with an array of additional features, most noteworthy being the electric sunroof and 19-inch SuperSport Alloy wheels.
“The Calais V 60th Anniversary Special Edition is the perfect vehicle for the individual or family looking for something extra special, along with the drive capabilities, safety and performance of the award winning VE Commodore.” GM Holden’s Director of Marketing, Philip Brook.
On top of the features available in the standard VE Calais V, the 60th Anniversary Special Edition adds: onyx / Light Urban interior trim combination; alloy faced pedals; chrome surround exterior door handles; silver highlights on leather steering wheel spokes; ‘60th anniversary’ floor mats; ‘60th anniversary’ rear badge.
The Calais will be available in just three metallic colours, Karma (teal), Evoke (dark grey) and Phantom (black). Holden has no specified just how many of these SE models will be made, suggesting they are produced to meet demand.
The car is on sale now priced from $56,790 for the V6 automatic and $61,790 for the V8 automatic.
Print it: 
Rain sensing, flat blade wipers
Not only does Calais V-Series detect rain on the windscreen, it determines how heavily it’s falling, and adjusts wiper speed accordingly. Because the wipers utilise flat blades, screen clearing ability is also improved over traditional wiper design. top quality
these are the same sytems used in bmws and mercs, it also has heated exterior mirrors with position memory and the calais-v has heaps of standard features, as stated above. what does the fg g6et have? yes a reverse camera which costs 500 just like a front parking sensors on the calais-v.
why does the fg xr8 have the same grey plastic dash with coloured plastic strips, the same monochrome screen, the same coloured plastic door handles and it also has 4 airbags like the fg xt. the omega has 6 airbags and alloys standard.
guys you need to put it in account that ford spent 800 million on the au back in 98 which failed and then 500 million on the ba facelift which adds to be 1.3 BILLION on one platform. the vy cost less than half the ba project which was about 220 million ofcourse holden at this time were working on their ve project and also the vt was such a huge succes, and they let go of the accelerator. yes the ba was great but the only main problem it had was with it’s brakes (”brake shuddering” car wants to sway left or right under braking).
Hopefully the new engine will boost sales on the interim before Ford or Toyota jump on the same boat, I know the Aurion engine with DI is already in the IS350 so they might follow suite soon after with a Aurion revision or a new v6 car lol… thats if they decide to play catch up.
I agree watto, its ok for good arguments even though the argument may be flawed sometimes, but when it gets personal, it just ruins the article comments completely.
Come now Senator. They both have trick bits on them and Wheels are comparing one overall package against the other.
Everything I’ve read about the new turbo I6 and NA I6 (in whatever form) says it is a winner. VF will up the ante yet again, of course. Take a loss as it comes.
Yep Joober. Some of these blogs really go down the toilet when it gets overly personal/insulting.
In the end you have to recongnise your own personal bias and accept the opinions of experts. I tend to prefer the VE mainly based on styling (i really do feel the FG’s exterior styling is overly fussy) however i can recongnise that these feelings are most likely personal bias. In the end wheels have declared a winner and thats that basically. Holden have had more then their fare share of wins over the years!
You gotta remember though, Ford have had 18 months to evaluate holdens package and make sure that the FG is superior, so its pretty obvious that it was gonna be the better car, now the shoe is on the other foot and holden has around 18 months before the VF is due which they can spend doing exactly the same thing, therefore (in theory atleast) the VF should be a better car then the FG when it comes along…
…but then ofcourse there will be the FH falcon (or whatever they decide to call it) in 2011! and on the game goes…
Couldn’t agree more Richo.Swings and roundabouts. I always liked the muscular stance of the VE. Omega’s look very average with wheels not big enough to fill those big guards which always seemed overdone. But the upper-spec VE’s and the HSV’s with big wheels are hot/mean looking machines.
If the FG had turned out to be a flop, I seriously may have got an SS or SS-V as my next car. The Turbo I6 in all it’s guises justifies my waiting in the hope that my favoured brand really moved forward.
Richo i think you are mistaken with the VT over EL. Not saying the VT wasnt a better car but if i remember correctly ( I may be wrong) the VT actually came out 16 or 18 months after the AU. then the BA and VY were almost in the same week i think
Eddy The Expert, its real metal aye? i take back my comments about cheap painted plastic.
Watto_Cobra, the 6spd was available in the BF but only in the Fairmont, Ghia, and XR6’s and 8. And Arlester, the VT came out in 1997. EL ran to mid 1998 and ford was creating those Sapphire falcons, the Sapphire falcons hold their value better than a AU forte.. i wonder why? lol.
As for those wiper blades on the VE commodore, all that did by changing to the european method was make the exercise more expensive. For the sake of making a wiper blade more technologically advanced and complicating the hell out of choosing a wiper blade so that it employes more people to be wiper blade experts… holden chose the european method. A wiper blade now costs about 30 bucks each when you could otherwise replace a wiper rubber for 3 bucks, theres your auto wiper technology bettering your complicated life because its too busy to flick a switch… wow must be an effort to do that. And that auto lights on feature… again you must be blind if you cant figure out its too dark. I was behind a Honda Odyssy, its lights kept turning on under every bridge on the freeway and because its tail lights blink on you think they put their brakes on… another pointless annoying technology.
Minnow, I’d heard somewhere you have to replace the entire wiper arm or at least most of it on a VE??
Minnow, come now. You don’t fall for the old Maxwell Smart turning on your tail lights to make ‘em think you’re braking trick, do you? Really? Truly? Seriously?
i have auto headlights and auto wipers on my VRX lancer and i have to say i think they work pretty well. They don’t constantly flick on and off with underpasses on the highway (maybe the honda system is too sensitive?) and they only seem to come on when its genuinely dark. The auto wipers also seem to work pretty well although you can manually adjust their sensitivity and if you have it set too low they never come on and if you have it set too high they go spako on you, but once you’ve found the right setting they work pretty spiffy. It’s not so much that people are too lazy to flick the switch, it’s just that its nice to not have to do it if you know what i mean?
Exactly, Richo. The car does it for you. It’s the same with ESP and sat nav. The car does it for you. And that’s nice. The Golf’s wipers ARE spooked by the shadows of freeway pedestrian overpasses and make a single sweep of the windscreen as a result. It amuses me. They are automatic, after all.
The interior looks nice, shame the outside says commodore.
That’s weird. I would’ve said the exterior looks very good but didn’t think much of the interior. *shrug*
Yeah, the whole wiper. You know how on the normal cars you can replace just the rubber, either thin or wide blades.. well the VE and many other cars like the focus, astra… most euro cars the the whole thing is replaced besides the arm and you either have to buy it from the dealer and you know how dealers like to charge very nice prices for the smallest things, or order it in aftermarket (trico just started making them), at an auto shop because there are so many types no one keeps them in stock.
“I suggest you do the same Duck and anyone else new.”
Watto_Cobra, I know what you mean about Dingo but I am not new to this site, Ive been on here before you know, a while now!
Minnow, how much do they cost each?
arlester Says:
May 29th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Richo i think you are mistaken with the VT over EL. Not saying the VT wasnt a better car but if i remember correctly ( I may be wrong) the VT actually came out 16 or 18 months after the AU. then the BA and VY were almost in the same week i think
Arlester, the VT come out in 1997 before when the AU was released in 1998.
Duck, my wording was poor, I didn’t mean you were new. You were asking where/why BM has gone.
Ok, i understand
Does anybody know the cost of VE Commodore Wiper Blades?
Richo,
your dates are wrong.
ford has not always followed holdens release
the best side by side release to date has been in august 2002 where the BA and VY were released with in a week of each other.
and what was the result again for the most equal comparison ever? (dont get on your high horse it was just a friendly dig ha ha)
VT V EL?
well the EL was about to wrap up, and the VT was just starting.
ford didnt release after holden there.
if a model from holden or ford hasnt lined up, then bet your bottom dollar thet the oposittion had thrown a series revision in to combat the others new model.
holden updates their models more frequently.
holden does smaller updates (but more of them) where as ford seems to do massive updates (but less of them)
therefore there will always be a point where ford is a clear cut winner until they fade into the pack, then hey presto!!!! they surge again.
i reckon fords sales would pick up a bit more if they updated frequently like holden does.
even if it is just a small head light drop like VR-VS VT-VX or VY-VZ
when ford went from BA-BF they spent the money on under the skin stuff.
if they had have spent that little bit less on under the skin stuff like holden does and put it towards a little face lift, im sure the BA release sales may have kept solid.
why did they wait till BF11 to change the headlights?
that should have been mandatory in BF1 IMO.
the BF1 did get much better tail lights than the BA though.
pity the headlight order didnt arrive on the same truck
oh and what were your winning results formulated off?
your feelings? styling?
i beg to differ with just a couple
Its funny how this has already turned into a ford vs holden debate. Again.
This car, while it looks okay on the outside, is probably full of milk tray plastic. Just like every holden.
And any Holden drive has to admit that, right? Its flimsy, even with a huge price tag. Who are Holden trying to impress? They’re not a luxury or sports brand. They make taxis!
^And Ford dont! Dumbar*e!
Hey John, BMW’s and Mercs are used as Taxis overseas whats your freaking point assclown?
I agree ChrisGT, thankyou. He’s not making sense is he?
yep ford use metal do they, every single door handle in the fg range is coloured plastic execpt for the g6e’s and they are as thin as a stick, also the silver strips are plastic obviously! and they use so much grey plastic espicially the xt, every single model in the ve range has satin chrome finishes on the steering wheel cup holders and all doors handles except for the omega. Guys why are not talking about bentley’s or rollers here!
Senator, do you know the cost of wiper blades for the VE Commodore. Will the FG have them to?
Atleast the ve door trims are full stitched leather, including the door handles or rests, not like the fg where the doors are mostly plastic with a small rectangular area of leather.
yes the fg falcon interior is better, as the ve is outdated but still looks great, but the ve still uses quality materials as stated in alot of reviewers in the usa about the pontiac g8. Does the g6et have 8-way electric seats and memory for up to 3 people for both front seats?
not sure duck, but they are standard for calais-v, statesman and caprice.(go to clais-v, holden web and it’s under key features; exterior). It does not seem that it is a option for the other ve’s.
Not sure if the fg g6et will get it, all i know is that it usues the same wipers as the fg xt.
Senator, do you know what John is saying because holden dont make cars for taxi’s how come fords are in taxi business too? So is Beemers and Mercs in Germany.
I know the G6ET seat memorises its position (also display settings) to the flip-key fob being used at the time, in effect giving each key holder their own personalised settings when that person uses the car.
This is all going over board comparing even door stitching, isn’t it? Anyone should just go and sit in, and drive both, and choose the one they like more. They both look good.
Duck, John may have bagged out Holden, but he didn’t even mention Ford. Just guessing, I’d say he’s not a fan of either and prefers Euro or Jap.
Have you noticed a few people have bagged Holden, then when you ask why they think Ford is better, they often say they don’t like Ford either.
Don’t take it hard if someone says they hate Holden and just assume they are a Ford fan if they don’t state that, because it seems like a lot of the time they don’t like either. *shrug*
Their choice. It’s no longer Ford vs Holden. For me its getting more and more like local vs. imports.
The new Ford FG Falcon don’t use wide flat blade european wipers like used on Commodore, Corolla and Focus for example. I had a zoom on the picture of FG falcon at different angles plenty of times (on CarAdvice, FG falcon first steer article) and they are the same traditional ones used before. I thought they would have used the european wipers……oh well! I was wrong.
How come the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore dont have a rear windscreen wiper? Sure it does not look better but its good in heavy rainfall.
Thanks Watto_Cobra, I didnt say anything along the lines of “unlike Fords, who have amazing interiors”
I agree also, that with people who dont only recognise Fords & Holdens as transport, it is becoming more local vs import. And yes, my favourite cars are Euro cars, and I love Jap cars too because of how much effort they put into their sports cars.
To some people, Im afraid, Ford vs Holden IS the big picture. Maybe some of them need to take a ride in an R34 GTR, or an M6. :D
I hear ya. I’d love an Aston Martin DBS or Audi R8. A long way out of my price league though. I buy Aussie wherever possible, the new F6 sounds the goods so that’s what I’m aiming for.
IMO G6ET and Calais-V (V8) of good luxury, great performance, attractive, Aussie made, and reasonably priced. They tick nearly all the boxes.
Yeah, if someone says they don’t like Ford or Holden, I no longer assume they prefer the other.
nah they are both great cars but the turbo tops off the g6e, great performance and much better than the ford v8 and it’s quick!
the ford turbo times are amazing 5.1-5.2, and a fg f6 got 5.2 form the latest wheels, but im sure it could hit 5.0 or even 4.9.
I see your point john but holden and ford make quality cars, that match and even beat numerours european cars. even the yanks want these fords on their streets just like the commodores. hopefully ford usa open their eyes and consider to import some new falcons in the not too distant furtue.
Unlikely, the way the $US is at the moment. The G8 deal was done well before the $US went downhill.
Well, the last car I had was a commodore, a VX Exec. It was horrible, unreliable, everything broke. I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge the new models, but I’ve only had experience with the tacky older models. Even though I wouldn’t buy either, I have to say, the new ones do LOOK cool, obviously I havent driven them, but yeah, from an aesthetic point of view, thats my opinion. And the new Ford’s suprised me, to be honest.
As an example, my dream car is an RS4. But right now Im saving for a twin-turbo E34 BMW 450i. Hah, I just cant get past the Euro thing.
^Have had nothing wrong with our VT (relaible wise).
Could anybody answer my question at the time i posted at?…………………..May 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Geez, I stuck my nose in at the local Ford dealer today, and forgot to have a good look at the wipers Duck. Sorry ’bout that. Two mates and myself lined up a drive in an XR8 manual for next weekend, because they haven’t gotten hold of a Turbo yet. Will have a good look then.
I fully understand why wagons have a rear wiper. The airflow/backswirl off the roof/sides is always dumping heaps of dust/rain/whatever onto the back window. Can’t say I’ve ever thought “why doesn’t this sedan have a rear wiper?”
Some hatchbacks do have a rear wiper though because they suffer from the same problem as wagons.
I know what you mean about VT reliability Duck, you may get a good one or a bad one. I’ve heard stories about Aus but my has been “almost” faultless.
Original battery lasted 7 years. Got a slowly leaking waterpump replaced under warranty at about the four year mark. Absolutely no other problems.
Yeah be good if you could find that out (about wipers) Watto_Cobra thanks!
The thing I want to know is this:-
Every new Falcon I think, whether single CD XT or flashy in-dash 6CD G6ET says “mp3 compatible” on the Interior Command Module.
Does this mean “plug in mp3 compatible” or is the actual in dash CD player mp3 compatible? The $450 tech pack gives you bluetooth and full iPod compatibility (on-screen playlists, etc) on anything less than a G6E.
I bought a Kenwood mp3 player for my AU about 8 years ago. I only change discs a couple of times a year to update with newer stuff because you’re talking 150-200 songs per disc so I didn’t option the 6-stacker with the head unit, no need to.
If the unit in the FG play mp3 CDs standard, which I suspect it does, I won’t need to get a bloody iPod or hook up my mp3 player to it.
100th Comment! Yeah! :D Holden Commodore V V8 (two tone dash colour) Versus Ford Falcon GG6ET! :)