HOLDEN’S Statesman and Caprice may not enjoy the status they once did, but they still have relevance in this big, sunburnt country. Where else can you buy so much car for the money? The latest WK versions are getting quite refined too, with much of the electronic trickery you’ll find in European luxury cars, as well as ever-improving standards of finish. The 5.7-litre V8 might be relatively crude, but it’s effective and doesn’t require high-octane unleaded fuel to produce its 245kW. And it handles the four-speed automatic transmission quite nicely. Dynamically, there may not be a lot of finesse, but the big Holden does most of the things most people need. And it looks pretty sharp too.

WH Holden Caprice
Released: June 1999
Ended: May 2003
Family Tree: StatesmanHOLDEN'S latest Caprice, based on the WK Statesman and launched in May 2003, is the successor to the WHII version that went on sale in August 2001. It in turn followed the WH Statesman released in June 1999, which delivered 225kW and 460Nm of torque from its 5.7-litre Chev V8. The current Caprice produces the same torque with 245kW.
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