Retro Stories by David Burrell
Was Holden’s 1968-71 Brougham really that bad a car?
According to some folk it is. You only have to read automotive blogs, magazines and books to realise that the Brougham is a convenient stick with which to beat GMH.
I’ve always liked the Brougham. Maybe it is because our next-door neighbour bought one in late 1968. Back then, I thought it was the most luxurious car I’d ever ridden in. The seats were soft, the power windows were a revelation (!!) and it was so quiet.
In recent years, I’ve also appreciated the Brougham as a visual reminder of how Ford outsmarted Holden with its long wheelbase 1967 ZA Fairlane. It was an example of Ford leading the market from second place.
When the Fairlane was released in March 1967, GMH had nothing in the pipeline to match it. How embarrassing for the sales leader! What a failure for GMH’s product planners not identifying the gap in the market.
GMH’s senior executives realised they had to do something. The first idea was for a long wheelbase version of the soon to be released HK Premier. But, after the styling and engineering teams had figured out what it would look like and how to make it, and the finance folks had done their calculations, everyone realised the cost was too high. Plus, it would not be ready until mid-1969. Much too late. The idea was ditched.
No one is sure who came up with the idea to extend the boot of a Premier. It was quick and cheap and maybe the folks at GMH hoped no one would notice. A clay model was quickly created.
To evaluate this proposal, a Fairlane was acquired and compared to the clay model. Meantime, product planners decided that if this was a luxury car it might as well be stuffed with almost every significant luxury option as standard.
On paper the packaging was attractive. An owner would be pampered with the five litre Chevrolet V8, powerglide automatic, power disc brakes, power windows, power steering, limited slip differential, brocade upholstery, thick carpet, copious amounts of sound deadening material, heater/demister and vinyl roof as standard.
Only a radio and air conditioning were major options. It was significant value for money. A similarly equipped Premier was almost the same price. A comparable Fairlane was at least 10% more.
At one point the car was to be called Statesman, but GMH probably thought the name Brougham would bring more prestige to its Fairlane fighter. After all, Brougham had been used to describe the most luxurious of Cadillacs since 1912.
The trouble was, the name could not hide what the public saw: a long-booted Premier.
The Brougham’s brochure did the model no favours either. It was a list of pretentious statements billed as the “Brougham Philosophy”. These were mocked mercilessly, especially the one that said:
“The Brougham Philosophy: A true luxury car should be seen and not heard.”
I don’t recall who it was, but one motoring writer later said that the Brougham:
“Should be heard and not seen.”
Motor Manual magazine road tested the Brougham and Fairlane for its January 1969 edition. It is in the AMHF’s collection and I read it again while researching this story.
The report concluded that the Fairlane was the better car on the road, and quieter. They thought the rear seat comfort was much the same in both. The testers preferred the Fairlane’s front bucket seats over the Brougham’s bench. They added:
“As prestige cars the Fairlane and Brougham have a lot of appeal. In appearance the Brougham is a little flashier than the Ford, but the Ford is decidedly the larger car—and it does not look as much like a Falcon as the Brougham does a Holden Premier.”
Buyers were more adamant in their opinion. Despite the Fairlane being 10% higher in price, it outsold the Brougham by more than 10:1. The subsequent HT and HG model Broughams sold no better.
In the 1980s and 1990s Broughams were worth very little and many were raided for their V8 engines. I even saw one in a demo derby. In recent years, however, the model has undergone a renaissance. Now they are sought after. Those that currently have one rarely relinquish their ownership. I wish I’d bought one when they were almost being given away.
