By DAVID PIKE

Introduced in October 1974 the Holden HJ was a restyle of the HQ model which had introduced a radical new design said by some to make it a very handsome car. The restyle, however, seemed to spoil the features which gave the HQ its good looks. The use of a squared front and the simple horizontal grille with side lights set into the front guards gave the car a much tougher appearance. Bumper bars were bolder and more functional, being set out further from the bodywork supposedly to lessen body damage in low speed accidents, but they lacked the HQ's style. At the rear the tail-lights were moved from within the rear bumper to the upper corners of the tail.

Inside, the dashboard's position was changed to give the cabin a more spacious feel and its now metric-reading speedo was changed to a strip form. Full foam seating meant far more comfort and this, coupled with more ventilation outlets for the through-flow ventilation system, certainly made for improved creature comforts compared with the HQ, especially when it is realised that factory air conditioning was a rather rare option in the early 1970s.

A definite improvement was the fitting of ventilated disc brakes to the Kingswood models although the cheaper Belmont retained drum brakes as standard. Of course, the fitting of the more powerful 3.31-litre engine as standard in the Kingswood meant it had a need for a better braking system.

The HJ Holden model line-up was quite extensive. The entry level Belmont came in both sedan and station wagon form as did the Kingswood, which also had a utility and Sandman utility variant. The Sandman name was also carried through to a panel van in addition to the regular Holden panel van.

The Holden one-tonner proved an instant market success. It used panels from the front of the sedan with a simpler nose and front bumper design and behind this sat a full chassis capable of taking many different bodies. The range also included several variants of the popular Monaro coupe, Premier sedan and station wagon as well as the Statesman DeVille sedan and the new Statesman Caprice.

The Caprice was strongly American in appearance. It came with plenty of chrome plating, a stand out bonnet emblem, vinyl roof and whitewall tyres. Under the bonnet it got its power from a 5.0-litre V8 engine. Statesman had variable ratio power steering, air conditioning, a digital clock and seat facings in leather. It also had tinted power windows, an electrically-heated rear window, reading lights for front and rear passengers and various external styling differences, such as bumper over-riders, designed to give it a more stately look,

In total 176,202 units were produced up to the introduction of the HX Holden in July 1976.

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