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Phil Zmood - Holden Chief Designer | SHANNONS DESIGN TO DRIVEWAY | Ep 4
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- čas přidán 4. 11. 2022
- Phil Zmood helped shape and style over 70% of all Holden cars. That’s a Fact!
Not only did Phil get his hands on the design and styling of so many Holdens from the HK through to the VE - he was also the first ever Australian to be appointed as the Holden Design Director and later, he ultimately established GM’s Design Centre in China.
Winning an influential car design competition in London landed Phil Zmood a start in the Holden design studio and before long he was designing wheel caps, front grilles and badges for the HK Monaro. Then when Holden was looking for a true sports coupe to rival the likes of the American Corvette or the Datsun 240Z, Holden selected Phil’s concept designs of the Holden GTR-X coupe which became Holden’s planned solution to take on the sports coupes.
Perhaps Phil is credited most for his work on the HQ series - often agreed as the most elegant car ever designed in this country. The car that evolved into Kingswood, Premier and Monaro - plus the sports variants of GTS and commercial vehicles and luxury models which are much loved and collected by enthusiasts today.
Phil also championed a unique rotary powered extension of the Torana, called The Green Lizard, which almost made it into production before the US had last minute thoughts about the rotary plan.
When the Ford Falcon dominated sales for an all-Australian large family car with the XD, XE and XF models, it forced Holden into a heavy local debt and the writing was on the wall for Holden to survive in Australia. GM’s US management looked to Zmood to bring Holden into the future with a bold new design to re-imagine how Australians could look to the large Australian family car. It was the VN Holden Commodore, delivered with a refined and sophisticated surfacing over large panels and helped by a mighty V8, headed Holden back into winner’s corner.
Then came the VT Holden Commodore base with luxury and sports variants to a new era of trade and sports utilities. The design momentum extended to AWD wagons such as the Holden Adventra wagon, as well as cross-over dual cabs and Holden’s luxury long wheelbase. There was even the reborn Monaro coupe and an aggressive export program to the US and Middle East.
Phil Zmood oversaw arguably Holden’s most prolific period in the history of Holden design.
“Shannons are proud to commission this landmark series to celebrate the rich design heritage of the cars we all know and love. While Shannons plays a key role as Australia’s leading insurer for motoring enthusiasts, we also believe it is very important to preserve our automotive history for future generations” said Mark Behr, Executive Manager, Marketing for Shannons.
Mr Smoothy we called him in Holden. He came to my Buckromm / Mock up area many times to see the car take shape before Prototype stage as packaging of in cabin, mechanicals and under bonnet took place. Nice bloke he was.
Did you work in design at Holden when he was chief designer? Why did you call him "Mr smoothy"? There's probably a good reason for it. Sounds like you had great times with Phil. Who doesn't like the VN Commodore or HQ Holden or any other car that Phil zmood had a part in?
@@BlairSauer worked i Experimental for 28 yrs. Even though his surname was Zmood we all called him Smoothy. Went to the Styling Dept studios many times to look at vehicle we'd do mock up's on down stairs to see if it was what they wanted. Mike Simcoe & i started the same month & day at Holdens back then. I dealt with most of the stylists in my time there till i left at the start of VF proto type builds.
@@alexangelico2543 wow that's amazing. You would've witnessed a fair few generations of commodores come to life.
why did holden keep persisting with the red six for so long? don't get wrong I'm a big fan of that motor but by the time of vb commodore it wasn't as efficient as it needed to be.
@@jb7591 as an Australian radio legend used to say " When you're on a good thing , stick to it " . Or maybe you can't waste what you haven't got .
Love this series very much, however it brings me to tears every time when you realise what this nation has lost 😭 I mean, far out man, come on
@@shayjohnson5830 How do you know that , is it common knowledge ?
I remember the GTR-X and the Hurricane featured at the Melbourne Motor Shows back then.
These are all fantastic episodes. They are way too short. You could run these for an hour each. It would be facinating to hear more on their careers and delve more into ach model they influenced. These guys really have a great story to tell .
Phil and Leo, two of Holden Styling Gurus. Great work by them.
I always wish I had the privilege to see inside the high security design section at Fisherman's Bend. It must have been exciting to work there.
Great episode and so important we capture the stories of our Australian car designers.
Would love to have heard alot more about why certain vehicles has certain design features, such as the vn commodore squared off arches, or the complex body lines of the hq to the faint lines in the vt bootlid for example. Not enough about the small things that people would never notice. Still, great interview of a very talented man. Can't wait to see Peter Hughes or Mike simcoe as they were arguably the beat designers this country has ever seen.
Tremendous video! Phil Zmood is an Australian gem. One of the most responsible fellas for the cars we dedicate so much of our lives to. 😃
Great stuff, thanks for putting these docos together. Truly fascinating eras in Australian automotive history, and getting the stories from the people that were there is awesome. Thanks again
Thanks for the enjoyable video. Seeing the cars we drove and loved, but now all gone, crushed recycled etc. They were the good old days, they wil never be back, just glad I got to enjoy it then!
The GTRX body moulds still exist, the last time I saw them along with a set of panels was at a backyard classic car restorers property on the mornigton peninsular mid 1990's. I don't know if Ray is still alive he would be in his 90's now, but somebody must know where the moulds are.
Another Holden legend. We had a legend in Leo pruneau and now he have another legend in Phil zmood. Great men with great passions for cars. What would've happened to the VN Commodore without Phil zmood?
3:33.......if only I could jump into the screen and be at that show!🤠👍
Congratulations on this excellent series, giving insights into the people, culture and corporate compromises that shaped our automotive heritage. As a suggestion, a segment on Ford's Steve Park would be an opportunity to showcase his significant influence on production models and show cars.
Thanks to Phil for giving us the Holdens we are proud of.
The best cars on the planet Holden .
GTR-X. The greatest car that never was🙁
A zooped up 186 GTR-X, a V8 Corvette beater, absolutely amazing !!!!!! One of Holden's biggest mistakes, not releasing this car. It was so close to hitting production as they were even working on prototype brochures. I have had this car as my wallpaper on my mobile phone for some time.
Brilliant once again.
The Melbourne Museum (courtesy of Ian Wong) put on a great exhibition of Phil's work some ten or so years ago. As an Industrial Design graduate from RMIT then working at Ford I was fortunate enough to be invited to the opening night, meet Phil and see up close an unhindered many of the original sketches and ideation thumbnails that lead to the iconic designs built by Holden. The GTR-X (the restored car I'd seen on display at Holden's HO in Port Melb.) is truly one of the great sports car designs (albeit stillborn, potential unrealised) with proportions and visual impact that equaled or bettered anything in production at the time at the intended price point and arguably superior to the globally successful 240Z, Capri MK1 or Opel GT.
Great series - thanks for capturing this important almost forgotten history.
As a 16 yo kid with an interest in car design I was fortunate enough to meet Phil Zmood, who took the time to chat in his Fishermens Bend office. So generous and kind of him to make the time. Brilliant series by Shannons, now where are the Ford designers? Hope to see Brian Rossi (who I also gave his time to meet) or Wayne Draper coming up soon.
Sadly both have passed away. Brilliant designers though, responsible for some real icons. Wayne also did some tutoring in Automotive Design at RMIT just before I did the course there (Industrial Design), a real character.
@08:42 that bumper is the same as the one on a HJ Manaro I had. I've never seen it anywhere else WOW.
Very interesting bloke indeed. 👍🏻
I would have liked to have heard about his influence on the VU and WH.
I remember the VN winning awards but I also remember it as a shocker of a model, kept me in work back then but I felt sorry for those who bought them
These are fantastic. Thank you Shannon’s for this series. I have been checking out the ‘84 Cadillac Deville (Aa famous in the movie Training Day) I wondered if it was the basis on the HJ Kingswood. Some similar styling cues there!
Love this series
More please
Thanks for Zmood's History 😁
The HQ;s A pillear must have been one of the best A pillar designs ever. I clearly remember the gigantic blind spots, on everything available, when I was forced to upgrade my HZ one tonner for a VS Commodore ute. Man I did some miles in that thing.
Still miss it. A few mechanical upgrades, but a well designed platform.
I’m neither a Holden, nor particularly a Australian car fan 🤭- (& never owned one) but my hat goes of to him for the HQ series- such a clean lines especially compared to all the weird ugly extraneous crap the US parent company were throwing on their cars. Deserved much wider international recognition at the time. ( ...whereas the LH & later torana’s can’t get around them as the most hideous eyesore ever made in Australia )...
My dad got a Torana in the 70s from Malaysia. Can't remember much about it.
These are fantastic videos and way too short ❤❤
The front of that Green Lizard is pure Chevy Monza! and the louvred B pillars on the Torana Hatch came right from the Chevy Nova. He' deserves ccredit, but he's giving himself a little TOO much there ;)
If the Green Lizard's styling was more-or-less done in early- or mid-1973 it's possible that Monza and/or third-gen Nova styling could have been influenced by it, as both of those arrived for model year 1975. Hard to say without an exact timeline.
I wonder if that $700,000,000 bailout from GM was what lead to the insane price rises from the 80s we saw on Australian vehicles. Eg HZ Kingswood SL $7,900 while 10 years later a VN Berlina was about $34,000.
the XU1-X, geez, now that was a concept car, that should have been, so dissappointed at the that it didn't make production. No wonder GM-H nearly went under at the time, with bean counters like that!
Something sad happened between the sketch of the VN and the execution of the real thing
Not really given it was based on the Opel omega
With hindsight I think GMH was lucky to get away with the VN. I owned a VN Calais V6, the engine was rough (although powerful and economical), and the rear end handling poor. Something went wrong with the suspension set-up, so that the body was too wide for the underpinnings.
GM in the US refused the budget to widen the front track. That's why it handled weird. In most sporty cars the front is wider than the rear, not in the VN
Yeah, how it was made 🤣
@@nhilltiger
From memory, the engine was a Buick 3.8 V6
Not a particular great engine.
To think Holden was almost gone in 86 , after the 70’s and early 80,s cars how would this be even possible , I suppose family cars were more important than Bathurst winning cars overall
Faster than some Corvettes, I’d doubt it’d beat an L71 or an L81 big block with fuel injection.
It was 53 years ago...
@@marktaylor4929 true that, just saying some of those 1970 big block Corvettes were wickedly fast. The GTR-X was, like the Pontiac Banshee and the Opel GT a great looking car, possibly the best out of the three.
No big block Corvettes ever had fuel injection. L81 was an asthmatic 180 horsepower 350 small block with a 4 barrel Q-jet - I owned one!
Apologies I’m referring to the L88 at 430hp and the ZL1 at 560hp, I’m sure a Torana would be way quicker than either.
14.39
Not very good editing at the start of the gtr-x, once again, where's the full interview?
Arguably the most elegant designed car in this country, the HQ... that is so wrong on so many levels.
I've worked at Ford in PD and have a lifelong passion for the Blue Oval brand but looking at the HQ series without brand bias, it was the most proportionally and surface sophisticated of the then big 3 (XA, VH, HQ) and the most cleanly styled and modern looking. It's easy to forget they were all basically the same size cars with an approx. 111" wheelbase (with varying overhangs) and yet the styling of the HQ with the softer shaped form, slim pillars, lower hood & cowl looks significantly smaller than the others. Shame the car purity was later compromised by the squared up styling theme of the HJ.
@@stephanmartini4514 truly thanks for the response. I've got an industrial design background so can appreciate what you've said and gave me something to think about. But beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and I'll always think that era of Holden including the HQ gen and Toranas was void of style, elegance and appeal (no doubt I'm wrong given sales numbers!). But I've never been a fan of 70s design in general. In terms of elegance, can think of different Aussie cars from the 60s, 90s onwards which would be more fitting as the most elegant.
Never understood the look of the HQ, all the lines seemed boring , especially how the side of front guards and side of boot roll off , the side crease line looked weird from some angles and the tail lights in the bumper seemed cheap and the front was very simple looking.
I don't mean to be disrespectful but thats my opinion.
But that GTRX would have been a world beater on many levels.
And the VN was a good looking car in its day.
Interesting that Holden nearly went bankrupt n GM bailout Holden, I believe engines were weak part n not size of car. GM should build better efficient engines but Holden had its hands tied. I had VH Commodore with 202 six then upgrade to VR this has been most efficient car I own with V6, cold air n improve exhaust I was getting 8lts per 100kms. Imagine if V6 or V8 was hook up to 6speed automatic how more efficient VR would have been? By 2007 Holden was making more money on their cars then any other GM brands.
I think GM/GMH had poor engines across many brands in that 70s/90's period. The company had difficulty with the challenges of fuel economy and pollution controls.
it was a matter of cost, project v cost 110m to develop & execute. No funds left for engine development. However, the WA concept included converting the red motor to overhead cam & crossflow design
🥝✔️
Still wondering if anybody is going to own up to designing the ugly UC Torana/Sunbird tail lights. The worst in Holden's history.
Pity he couldn't design a roof lining that stayed in place and didn't sag. Three times I had a roof lining fixed in a VR Commodore wagon. That was my last Holden. 😠
lolo rebadging at its finest
The VN Commodore was a horrid thing, rushed into production to save Holden's bacon from the slaughter it was copping on the sales chart. Rough noisy engine, front track carried over from the VL, badly finished and looks that only a Mother could love. The HQ was the complete opposite, gorgeous to look at from any angle and smooth and quiet to drive.
Zmoods voice is awful. It is tortuous to listen to him for more than 3 minutes. But he did a fantastic job with the HQ holden.