Holden Sunbird: A gutless wonder doomed to fail

When Holden created the Sunbird, the Aussie carmaker took everything that was good about the Torana and made it worse.

Story, by Peter McKay, originally published in Drive on 30 October, 1999

A Holden Torana for the executive, albeit an executive who knew bugger all about performance and resale value, the Sunbird hit the streets in 1978 and hit the wall soon after.

Despite an overall jazzier interior and improved handling, initially it gained the reputation of being a gutless wonder (in the scale of power machines, it rated just above Cling and Clang’s police mobile in H.R. Puff n Stuff)

The good news was that its original four-cylinder Opel engine (which was a great little performer until you started it up), was replaced later that year.

The bad news was that its substitute was the dreaded Starfire 4 (soon to be known as the ‘Misfire 4’), engine.

Being marketed alongside the last of the Kingswoods was a big ask, but up against the new VB Commodore, it was suicidal, since in comparison the Sunbird didn’t have many advantages. Then again, against my daughter’s tricycle, the Sunbird didn’t have many advantages.

Looking back, it was a car that was doomed to fail from the outset.

Any positives that it did have were completely overshadowed by the ground-breaking Holden Commodore. Indeed, history has shown the release of the VB well and truly killed off the Sunbird.

Mind you, the car was an argument for euthanasia if there ever was one.

So, what happened next?

While the UC Series Torana was dropped by Holden in 1979, its Sunbird counterpart lumbered on until September 1980 before GM-H decided to put the car, and the buying public, out of their misery.

There was brief conjecture that a UD Series model could extend the life of Sunbird, Holden going so far as to assemble a couple of prototypes based on the Opel Ascona B from Europe.

But, commonsense, of a kind, prevailed and GM-H signalled the end of the Sunbird, instead slotting the much-maligned Starfire 4 engine into the four-cylinder variant of its shiny new VC Commodore. That car too, was a stinker, saved from further embarrassment by the Holden Camira, which came along in 1982 as GM-H’s new mid-size car.

Holden finally had the car to take on the Japanese onslaught led by the Mitsubishi nee Chrysler Sigma, Mazda 626 and Datsun Bluebird.

Have you ever owned a Holden Sunbird? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below.

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