A unique road trip was undertaken by Wheels Magazine in the late 1990s when it drove a left-hand-drive Holden Commodore SS from one side of America to the other in an epic journey.
Hitting all the landmarks such as Rodeo Drive, the Grand Canyon, the Golden Gate Bridge and many more, the trip gave a hint of what Americans might expect in the future.
The Tiga Mica VT Commodore was not just left-hand-drive, but featured a supercharged V6 instead of the usual 5.0-litre V8.
It caught the eye of Americans from Los Angeles to New York in what was an eight day journey featuring comparisons along the way against Ford’s Taurus SHO and the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP.
Los Angeles to Arizona marked the first day through the Cajon Pass and I-15, plus a trip to Ford’s desert proving ground at Kingman was met by a refusal of entry, obviously.
Day 2 left Arizona and headed to Colorado as the trip bypassed the Grand Canyon to travel through Monument Valley.
Passing through Utah led to a surprise for the Wheels Magazine crew when a semi-trailer flew past the Commodore at 135km/h. Dropping a kilometre behind, the crew attempted to catch up to no avail and gave up when the speedo hit 165km/h.
A noise occurred during the third day in the pulley idler and a trip to a Chevrolet dealer in Grand Junction delayed the trip slightly. The dealer wasn’t able to help despite the shared lineage of the supercharged V6 to the Pontiac GTP Grand Prix, but another did after a call to Holden at Fisherman’s Bend to rectify the problem.
The Commodore effortlessly climbed the Rockies and headed through the Eisenhower Tunnel exiting Denver to enter Kansas City.
Making its way to Missouri on Day 4, the Commodore had to manoeuvre around plenty of poor driving in the latter state before beginning the trip towards Detroit, Michigan.
A stop at the Gateway Arch led to Illinois before making the pilgrimage to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the prospect of completing laps was toyed with, but ultimately a question was never asked.
Colorado’s mountain passes were next, then ‘Motor City’ Detroit where the Holden shines in front of the locals, who continue to ask why it isn’t sold there.
Day 6 is spent completing photoshoots across Detroit, which is highlighted by a security guard asking about it’s ‘Canadian’ (Victorian) number plates…
Moving to Ohio through Cleveland, the cops were out in force on this section of the road trip.
Stopping at Cleveland’s Riverfront Stadium for the comparison against the Taurus SHO, which the Commodore left rather favourably.
The final day of the trip departed Ohio and arrived at the Big Apple to complete the eight-day journey.
Visits to Punxsutawney Phil aka ‘Groundhog Day’, through New Jersey and the Holland Tunnel on the way to New York.
Times Square, Central Park, Lower Manhattan, Wall Street and the Battery in front of the Statue of Liberty were shoot locations to round out the journey.
This was the third time Wheels took on an overseas market in a Holden having driven a VL Calais Director built by the HDT through the US in 1986 and a HSV SV500 across Europe in 1990.