The prototype of the Holden VF Commodore SSV debuted at the Gathering in 2022 to much fanfare, especially from the Australian Matchbox collectors. As a huge fan of the Chevy SS, I was thrilled to see that its Australian sibling would be coming to the Matchbox line (it’s common for owners of Chevy SS’s to badge their cars as Holdens here in the US). At the time, I called out my desire to see this model appear in the lovely Jungle Green Metallic color that was available on the Chevy SS, so imagine my disappointment to see this highly-anticipated new casting debut in an Australian-police inspired livery with no rear detailing – hardly the Chevy SS I know and love.
After an agonizingly long two year wait since the debut of the prototype, we finally have a fully detailed, factory-fresh VF Commodore SSV! Now this is the Holden I’ve been waiting for!
The orange paint is a nice color choice for this model, though it is noticeably paler than I expected based on the card art. There’s so much pearl in this paint that the car becomes almost yellow under bright light – unusual for a Matchbox! I can’t remember ever seeing this paint color on a Matchbox model previously.
My only major criticism of this new casting is that the front end looks just a little bit too flat, but it hardly holds the model back. The front end is fully detailed, with silver trim around the grilles and nice looking headlights. As a Chevy SS fan, I couldn’t help but notice that this model has the correct Holden fog light design, rather than the more aggressive fog light design of a rebadged Chevy SS. While it makes the model look a bit less sporty, it’s cool to see the proper Aussie spec on this Holden.
The side view makes me appreciate how well the design of these five spoke wheels fit this casting, and I’m glad to see them in the proper silver color. It would be nice to see the vents on the fenders detailed in silver, but I suspect that will have to wait for a Collector’s series release of this casting.
Around back is where we really get to appreciate the improvements over the debut white version of the Commodore. This model now receives fully detailed brake lights with reverse lights and even the little orange spec of the turn signal bulb visible within the clear section of the brake lights! There’s also a Holden badge and an SSV badge, though they are a bit hard to make out against this orange paint. It’s not hard to make out those aggressive quad exhaust tips though, as they really stand out on this casting and make the model look much sportier!
To my surprise, Matchbox also chose to include a little black lip spoiler on the back of this Holden! Most models only get printed detailing on two sides, so the spoiler is a nice little treat to help complete the look of this model, and I think it helps this model stand out as the performance trim of the Commodore.
As a proper Australian model, this Holden even gets a right hand drive interior. Matchbox interiors are never that detailed, but it’s cool to see the manual shifter and some detailing in the seats.
While the wait for this orange release of the VF Commodore SSV felt extremely long, I’m glad to finally have a clean, detailed version of this casting. The end result is likely to be one of the best Matchbox models of the year, and we can only hope that we don’t have to wait as long for the next recolor!
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