Holden Brougham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holden Brougham was a large luxuriously equipped automobile made by General Motors–Holden's Ltd. of Australia between July 1968 and 1971.

It was based on the mainstream Kingswood of the same years, but with a greatly lengthened rear body. The model was a hasty response to Ford's successful Fairlane. The boot was simply extended, rather than lengthening the model's wheelbase.

The Brougham followed the Kingswood's model cycles: the HK was launched in July 1968 with the new Monaro coupes (other HKs were launched in the previous January). The whole HT series was announced in July 1969 and the HG in August 1970.

Because of its luxury positioning, the Brougham was only available with an automatic transmission, first a two-speed, then a three-speed after the HG's launch.

The only engine was a 307 in³/5.0 L capacity (actually Chevrolet's 'small block') at launch. After the HT series in 1969, a Holden designed 308 in³ superseded it.

Throughout its production life the Ford Fairlane outsold it by a large margin. The Brougham was replaced by the long-wheelbase Holden Statesman in 1971, on the redesigned HQ platform.