Ridiculous Rebadges: A Suburban from Down Under

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 10/19/2015 at 21:57 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, GMT400, Chevy Suburban, Holden Suburban

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Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.

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The Chevrolet Suburban has been produced constantly for the past 82 years, becoming the pinnacle and icon of American excess in that time. Big, brash, and thirsty, nothing quite says ‘Murica quite like a two and a half ton body on frame SUV used (mainly) for mall running. Its GMC cousin has been alive almost as long since 1937, bearing the ‘Carryall’ and ‘Suburban’ monikers before settling on its current ‘Yukon’. Right hand drive equivalents exist for these behemoths for individuals who dare drive them outside American roads, but for a short time in the ‘90s, there existed a variant that was solely RHD, sold in possibly the only other suitable country: Australia. The Holden Suburban as it was called sold between 1998 and 2001, with the dashboard of a second gen Blazer as well as the choice of a gasoline or diesel V8. Over the course of its three year lifetime, exactly 746 examples were sold, 460 in gasoline guise and 286 running diesel. The model was discontinued the following year due to the obvious lack of sales, though oddly enough it resumed sales soon after under the Chevrolet name as it had previously. I guess a two and a half ton gas guzzling V8 SUV just doesn’t feel right !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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GMT400 Chevrolet/GMC Suburban

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[First images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Second images courtesy of autogator.com and 2040-cars.com]

[Third images courtesy of gtcarlot.com and gmt400.com]

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Holden Suburban

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[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Third image courtesy of forums.justcommodores.com.au]

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Sources:

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LongbowMkII > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 22:01

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those are some good tailights

gmctavish needs more space > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 22:07

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That interior is decidedly weird to process

BringBackTheCommodore > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 22:18

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Holden Suburban. Now I’m picturin a Suburban hooning about around the countryside.

Alternative reality: The Night Rider being chased by Falcon XRs as he’s blasting down the road in a Holden Suburban.

Amoore100 > LongbowMkII 10/19/2015 at 22:48

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Any taillight with amber is good. Even on a Cavalier.

Amoore100 > gmctavish needs more space 10/19/2015 at 22:49

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Quite. Here’s a Blazer interior for reference:

I wonder if other RHD Chevy Suburbans (i.e. not the Holden Suburban) also used the Blazer interior...

Skunk > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 22:51

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I had the ‘pleasure’ of driving a Holden Suburban V8 in New Zealand. Oversize, smooth ride but wallows around the corners (and we have a lot here). But it towed the race bikes without breaking a sweat. $300 to fill the tank hurt; but was good fun to turn up at back country gas stations just for the looks (most top ups they would see would be $80).

911e46z06 > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 22:54

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Well I’ll be damned

Amoore100 > Skunk 10/19/2015 at 22:54

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$300! And I thought the price here in California was bad...still, did you have a gasoline or diesel variant? I don’t think the states ever got the diesel and so it’s a bit of a forbidden fruit, though the Holden in general was quite a rare bird...remember, any flaws with the vehicle are easily remedied by reminding yourself that this was a mid-90’s American design, and one of the best ones at that...

Skunk > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 23:02

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Petrol variant (as we call it here). $2 a litre here. You can do the conversion to that gallon whatsit measure.

It felt just like I expected an 80’s American vehicle to feel.

RazoE > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 23:10

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EDIT: Wrong gen sorry. Still good info, though

Don’t forget the Chevrolet Sonora. It had the front of the redesigned trucks, but still kept the body of the Yukon.

and the 2 door Tahoe.

Amoore100 > RazoE 10/19/2015 at 23:24

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Interesting! Never even heard or seen these...thanks for the info! Perhaps I should do an article on these some time...

ranwhenparked > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 23:38

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This looks awkward - they didn’t change the rest of the grille to accommodate the differently shaped emblem, so the Holden badge sprouted chrome wings to cover the gap.

gmctavish needs more space > Amoore100 10/19/2015 at 23:40

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I actually have a 2nd gen blazer, so I'm quite familiar with it haha. Yeah it seems like a random one to use for full-size interiors. Maybe the molds were already available through Isuzu, assuming the Isuzu Hombre interior was basically an S10 interior?

Amoore100 > gmctavish needs more space 10/19/2015 at 23:42

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You’d be right there although I’m not sure whether the Hombre was sold in RHD form...they definitely had tooling for both the RHD Blazer and Suburban, so I decided they just wanted to be different...

Hombre interior for reference.

Amoore100 > ranwhenparked 10/19/2015 at 23:43

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Quite. But it’s 90s GM, so what can you expect...they used a Blazer dash in a Suburban for crying out loud...

RazoE > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 00:40

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Mexico is the land of treasures. They also had the Ram Charger, and a Dodge Stratus with the SRT4 engine.

Amoore100 > RazoE 10/20/2015 at 01:20

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Heard of the Ramcharger, not of the SRT4 Stratus but yes, Mexico is the land of American cars not even sold in the U.S. of A.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 04:00

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the only problem with them was , they were just too large.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 04:02

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should do the 04-06 Pontiac GTO and all its variants.

Holden / HSV / Vauxhall / Chevrolet / Pontiac / Bitter.

LongbowMkII > RazoE 10/20/2015 at 06:22

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that tahoe has me full of want.

LongbowMkII > BringBackTheCommodore 10/20/2015 at 06:25

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mildly lifted on meaty tires in bright yellow/navy/red, loud supercharger whine...

sounds good to me.

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 08:05

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This is on my unicorn list: cars that look relatively normal but might not be. We don’t have too many Suburbans over here, but every time I see one I check to see if it’s a Holden. So far, no dice.

I also check Imprezas to see if they’re coupes. We never got the coupe and there are very, very few here.

RazoE > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 09:57

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Yeah, they’ve had turbo Cirrus’s’s’’sss’s’s’s’s and Stratussessisssess since 1996.

haier2 > RazoE 10/20/2015 at 10:17

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Sadly the gmt-800 two door Tahoe never made production. There’s another image of that red one with “scrap” written across the rear barn door. There’s also pictures of a white z71 4x4 two door prototype around the internet

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 10:24

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Interesting...we get Impreza coupes everywhere, and the Suburban too (obviously in Chevy/GMC form). I guess you can identify the Holden models by the sealed beam headlights?

Amoore100 > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/20/2015 at 10:25

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Good idea - said in Clarkson voice.

RazoE > haier2 10/20/2015 at 10:42

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What a downer..=( I thought I saw a few more online..

BringBackTheCommodore > LongbowMkII 10/20/2015 at 11:09

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For me, no sound has ever come close to the whine of the Weiand supercharger bolted to the 351W in Max’s Falcon XB GT coupe in the first. When he opens it up to chase the Toecutter, it’s sheer, aural bliss!

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 18:43

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I’d be identifying by badge :P I’m not at that level.

Nauraushaun > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/20/2015 at 18:43

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BITTER?!

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 21:13

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Hah! The reason I ask is because the forum I linked to in the article had mentioned that he badge swapped his grille to wear a Chevy bow tie, making his rare “Holden” seem like just another Chevy...

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 21:20

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Kind of. I went on the internet and found this. It looks like the Bitter variant never made it beyond the concept stage. Here’s a picture for reference of what could have been...

Doesn’t look much like either a Monaro or a GTO...or much of anything, really...

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 21:41

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I’m not sure if this is public knowledge but that’s a very, very common “mod” in Australia. It’s idiotic on a Commodore, more so on your super-rare Holden Suburban.

Some people have also been known to Opel badge their Holden Astras. Opel who came to Australia briefly, but left because they couldn’t sell any cars. Somehow they generated brand rep.

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 21:41

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Doesn’t look much like either a Monaro or a GTO...or much of anything, really...

So apt.

Actually it looks quite a lot like the Fiat Coupe, at both ends.

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 21:52

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Yes! I knew I had seen those styling cues somewhere although I couldn’t quite place it...

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 21:53

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Well I do want to Opel badge swap a Buick Regal rental car and see if they notice...or care, for that matter...

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 21:55

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The Opel looks so much better. Those orange indicators ruin 90% of American cars

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 21:56

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It’s weird that they chose such a distinctive car to copy

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 22:07

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‘Murican regulations. Usually ancient and make no sense but will last forever .

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 22:42

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Yeah there are a bunch of those. Land of the free you know ;)

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 22:48

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grumble grumble stupid twenty five year import rule preventing me from getting a damn Citroen C6 in my driveway grumble grumble yeah, right emissions and safety regs....

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/20/2015 at 23:10

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Australia has no such rule and yesterday I saw a Delica :D

Come down undah!

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/20/2015 at 23:22

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I wish...well, you may be able to get more selection, but we get significantly cheaper gas...my dad could brim the 15 gal (55 L) tank of my V50 the other day for under $40 US ($55 AUD). Still, we went to Fiji last spring and it seems that Toyota is the choice of vehicle at least in that region of the world, and I presume much of Oceania, so in that respect it’s just like home but with Aurises (Corollas) and Hiluxes instead of Priuses and Tacomas...

Side note: IIRC the 25 year rule was put in place because Mercs were being imported and sold at severely undercut prices and US dealers were losing sales...I wonder why that seems to be a U.S. only thing and why no one but us and Canada seems to have such severe import restrictions...

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/21/2015 at 00:00

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I think a lot of things are cheaper in the states. But I think Australians generally earn more. I think it balances out a bit, but who knows really.

Yeah so you got fuel for $1/L, you wouldn’t get that here. Recently the lowest it goes is $1.17 a litre.

Toyota are Australia’s favourite car now that Holden is slipping a bit. So yes, they’re everywhere. We have lots of Priuses don’t worry :P And yes, many many Corollas and Hiluxes too. Tacomas and Tundras, not so much. Many of those big American-style pickups never come here unless imported. I’ve seen maybe 1 or 2 Escalades in my life.

We have different restrictions to stop that. There are specifics I’m not sure about, but generally you can’t import a car that’s sold here. For example, the NA 2+2 Z32 300ZX was sold here, so you can’t import them. But you can import all manner of turbo models, 2-seater models, etc. You couldn’t import a cheap Merc that’s sold new here, only those that aren’t available in showrooms. Thus, most of our imports are awesome JDM cars. We already sit on the right side of the car so it’s very easy. My MR2 is a JDM import actually. Not sure how though given the rule I mentioned above, maybe it’s because it’s earier than what was available here. Build date is 01/1990.

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/21/2015 at 02:24

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Well, in the CA Bay Area it’s a bit of a rat race; there are so many nouveau riche from the start ups in the area not to mention Google and Apple that the pressure for higher salaries and more expensive products is pretty much ubiquitous; I’m pretty sure many parts in the rest of the states aren’t quite as crazy as here where Bentleys and Benz S-Classes are dime a dozen and seeing something like a 300ZX is way rarer than the literally thousands of Teslas in the area...

Well fuel prices have been dropping, we’ve fluctuated between $5 and $2.5 per gallon (convert because I’m lazy) in the past six months...

I think the most common cars here are probably the Prius and the Model S (I’m not joking there are so many here that it pretty much destroys your memory of seeing anything else on the road) Camrys and Corollas are around widely too, but as I said we have tons of luxury brands everywhere...still very few Saabs/Volvos though so my preferred sense of going against the mainstream is still active :)

I wish U.S. import laws were like that; it seems so much more logical because it weeds out those who undermine the system but still let people like me get the Peugeots and Lancias I want...even RHD wouldn’t be much of an issue since it’s all legal here and I never use drive thrus and toll booths are all electronic nowadays...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Nauraushaun 10/21/2015 at 02:55

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first time i’ve noticed that one.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Nauraushaun 10/21/2015 at 02:56

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by Erich Bitter.

also google Bitter Vero.

8)

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 10/21/2015 at 03:05

1

also

AU Ford Falcon & variant,

WL Statesman/Caprice & 4 variants,

WM Statesman/Caprice and 5 variants,

GJ Mitsubishi Sigma & variant,

Opel Karl & 3 variants.

Amoore100 > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/21/2015 at 03:14

1

Yep. Bitter Insignia too.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 10/21/2015 at 03:15

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Opel/Vauxhall/Bitter Adam as well.

Amoore100 > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/21/2015 at 03:16

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Looks like the Joker...

Nauraushaun > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/21/2015 at 06:08

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Woah! It’s a Statesman but not as I know it! Where are these sold!?

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/21/2015 at 06:12

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Interesting how common certain cars get in areas like that. I think the area you’re in is unique, everywhere has rich areas but not like that.

Yeah it really is punishing everyone to stop just a few people. No one really cares if you import a Peugeot, but the net they’ve cast is just too big. Crap really.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Nauraushaun 10/21/2015 at 06:29

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Europe. LHD Chevys bound for middle east diverted to Erich Bitter.

Nauraushaun > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/21/2015 at 06:34

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Wow

Amoore100 > Nauraushaun 10/21/2015 at 11:27

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I would think that places like New York and the like have a similar demographic albeit probably with fewer Teslas since many of the people owning them bought them with money from Tesla stock...

That makes me wonder: If I somehow drove something like a 406 Coupe up from Mexico and parked it in a shed for the next 15 years, would any one notice? I have a feeling they’re too busy cracking down on distracted driving and Nissan R34s to care about some stupid French Pininfarina coupe...

Nauraushaun > Amoore100 10/21/2015 at 17:48

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It’s nice to think that you could do that and no one would even chase you about it. Why would they?

I suppose they chase down owners of imported Minis and Land Rovers from time to time. Even those that are only marginally different to the ones sold here.

There’s a guy at the local fire station who has a 406. I always liked them and it’s very pretty. I run past there often and it’s there more often than not.