Statesman Caprice

The Statesman Caprice was the flagship of the Statesman marque, the long-wheelbase luxury sedan range that Holden sold under a name of its own from 1971. It arrived in October 1974 with the Statesman HJ, which kept the Statesman de Ville and dropped the basic Statesman Custom, and its standard equipment included air conditioning, leather seating, electric locking, power windows and no fewer than 13 interior lamps, making it the most luxurious car General Motors offered in Australia at that point. The Caprice was visually distinctive, with a specific radiator grille, Cadillac style front bumper overriders, lavish fluted hubcaps, whitewall tyres and a bonnet ornament borrowed from the Chevrolet Caprice, and it was Holden answer to the Ford LTD. The HJ and HX models were offered with the 308 cubic inch V8, an electromechanical rear drum anti-lock braking system became available on the Caprice from March 1976, and the HJ Caprice was sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Caprice Classic. The final WB series, released in May 1980, produced 3,055 Caprices, and the Series II added 1,153 more before the Statesman name ended with the last cars in January 1985.