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experience. The fashion in which this big girl enjoys being thrown around in corners is just so incredibly endearing that you can’t help but become a little mistyeyed. Even this V6 example is really throttle-steerable, combining beautiful balance adjustment from the rear with the joys of uncorrupted steering feel, and yet it’s also more supple than the ZB pair.

Sure, the VFII’s brake feel is a bit wooden and its lounge-like seats (with a quaint squeak in the test car) lack lateral support, but there’s loads of cohesion here. Its broad gearing means second and third are all I need on this road, relying on the engine’s torquey elasticity instead of frenetically chasing the right ratio, and somehow this all fits with the Calais V’s loping, lounging character. Warts and all, we’re going to miss this car immensely.

On the enthusiastic schlep back to Melbourne airport, I share seat time with vehicle development manager Jeremy Tassone and can’t help but mention my unending admiration for the loveable VFII. “That car has absolutely gone as far as it could go,” comments Tassone. “We’ve brought it further than we thought we ever could. That car has been through years of evolution; now this [the ZB] is the revolution.”

Given the shared Commodore and Calais nameplates, that’s exactly what the all-new ZB is. A revolution.

Does the front-drive 2.0-litre feel like a Commodore?

No, not at all. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a highly competitive, hugely driveable car. And historically, this is far from the first time where a nameplate has morphed into a different type of car with a different philosophy. Lighter, more efficient, and better packaged, it’s the liftback-sedan (or handsome wagon) that SUV-averse families will probably love.

The V6, on the other hand, is the car that really should get people talking. Its strong personality and terrific all-wheel-drive system give it a genuine USP, especially in wagon form, and perhaps especially as the Outback-style Tourer. In a rear-view-mirror test, the ZB’s broad visage definitely has presence, which partly compensates for its less-than-inspiring form elsewhere.

And we still haven’t seen the VXR, whose unique bumpers, bright colours, and glitzy 20-inch wheels could be just what the ZB’s styling needs.

The new car was never meant to be a large, butch replacement for the VFII. The rear-drivers’ broad stance and masculine flavour might stop traffic at Summernats, but they weren’t creating enough at Holden dealers anymore. So while the ZB may not speak with a strine accent, or a V8 bark, maybe it’s the car Holden needed to have. Only time will tell. @wheelsaustralia 57