Holden's VZ Commodore breaks cover

UNDISGUISED images of the still secret new Holden VZ Commodore have been published on the independent LS1.com.au Holden fan website.

The photos were taken by an LS1 reader on a mobile phone camera in Port Melbourne last month. The car does not go on sale until August.

The ‘scoop’ shots are the latest to embarrass Holden leading up to a major Commodore release. In 2002 official PR photographs of the VY model leaked onto the web after the "long lead" media launch.

The recent SS pictures show it painted in a new lively blue hue very similar to that found on the current Ford Falcon BA XR series.

Much of the speculation centring around the VZ has concerned its new HFV6 drivetrain, but very little about the revised Holden’s look has come out until now.

These spy photos reveal a slightly more rounded nose with the bonnet and bumper sitting flush with one another in profile.

The bonnet now houses a "bull nosed" raised centre section (to accommodate the new engines) that runs the length of the larger grille.

The grille shape itself is a development of the VY SS, but now looks like a "Holdenised" version of the five-point Mazda grille.

As in today’s VY II, the Holden logo sits in the middle of a black single horizontal bar, although for the VZ the badge is significantly larger.

The raised grille section forms part of a vertical 2005 Audi A6-style snout that runs down below the front number plate valance to also incorporate an equally sized bumper air dam.

New, significantly larger rectangular headlights featuring new rounded lenses (that include semi-clear indicators) complete the nose job.

In the high-series SS model pictured, the current VY II’s small round "running lights" disappear.

It appears the front mudguards are also new. The SS features a very Aston Martin-like air-vent complete with a chromed horizontal bar through it. It may contain the indicator repeater that used to live there.

Redesigned tail-lights, now incorporating three circles within the VY II’s triangular housing, complete the VZ SS’ look. An oversized "SS" script lives in the bottom right hand corner of the boot lid, just above the bumper bar.

The VZ is the final styling update of the V-car platform based Commodore before the all-new Zeta architecture-based VE arrives in the first half of 2006.