{"id":500133,"date":"2026-02-24T03:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500133\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T03:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:26:12","slug":"donated-vl-holden-commodore-serviced-by-700-apprentices-to-be-auctioned-for-charity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500133\/","title":{"rendered":"Donated VL Holden Commodore serviced by 700 apprentices to be auctioned for charity"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been 15 years since a 1986 VL Holden Commodore was donated to Wollongbar TAFE on the NSW north coast as a training tool for automotive students.<\/p>\n

The family that donated the old car wanted it to have a purpose bigger than itself, and the wish has certainly been fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Over the years the car has helped around 700 apprentices practice their skills in automotive body work, re-finishing and mechanics.<\/p>\n

With the classic car’s restoration finally complete it is being auctioned to raise money for the region’s rescue helicopter.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Jason Bourke from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, former TAFE student Brodie Anderson and Kirk Trease from TAFE NSW with the classic car. (ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)<\/p>\n

TAFE NSW head teacher of automotive trades Kirk Trease said the car had become more than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

“To be able to contribute back to that full circle between industry, education and the community is really meaningful,” Mr Trease said.<\/p>\n

Classic car with cult status<\/p>\n

Mr Trease said the VL Commodore had become something of a cult classic with Holden enthusiasts and its auction would likely fetch as much as $50,000.<\/p>\n

He said the students had worked to return the car to its original state.<\/p>\n

\"guy<\/p>\n

Cameron Killen, who cut his teeth working on the car, is now an international expert in the body repair trade. (Supplied: TAFE NSW)<\/p>\n

“It’s a really honest car,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Back in its time this was the thing to have, and given that it’s of the Holden stable they are becoming a bit more rare.”<\/p>\n

The VL Commodore is known for being the only Holden to install an RB30 straight-six Nissan engine.<\/p>\n

Mr Trease said if the TAFE car’s engine was a turbo, it would push its value up by about $100,000.<\/p>\n

“The VL turbo was a factory for power, a real monster for speed and power,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said he could understand why, over the past decade, the investment value of classic cars had skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

“The reliability, the nostalgia, that piece of history where people’s memories are stored from a younger time in their life, that sense of quality and also that appreciation of how the motor industry has evolved over time,” Mr Trease said.<\/p>\n

\"shell<\/p>\n

The car was off the road and in need of some love when it was donated to TAFE. (Supplied: TAFE NSW)<\/p>\n

He said when the car was donated to the TAFE it was sporting a paint job done by brush and had no value other than the education it could provide to young apprentices.<\/p>\n

The car and its engine were stripped back, resprayed and completely rebuilt.<\/p>\n

Former student and now qualified auto re-finisher Brodie Andersen did preparation and body work on the car when he was at TAFE.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

The VL Commodore engine was completely rebuilt, without modifications. (Supplied: TAFE NSW)<\/p>\n

Mr Andersen said getting hands-on experience was vital for people entering a trade, and working on a classic car was icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

“It’s better than your normal smash work,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I feel like you can go more out there with your older cars, brighter colours, a bit of sparkle.”Life-saving donation<\/p>\n

Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service fundraising manager Jason Bourke said every mission carried out by the service cost about $7,500, so the money raised by the car’s sale had the potential to save five to 10 lives.<\/p>\n

“We don’t get too many cars donated to us so this is rare and unique,” Mr Bourke said.<\/p>\n

He said there was a good crossover between supporters of the helicopter service and Holden enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

“They are working-class people and I think there’s going to be lots of Holden people interested in this car,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been 15 years since a 1986 VL Holden Commodore was donated to Wollongbar TAFE on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,10881,104437,251572,33479,177993,251576,251575,251573,251574],"class_list":{"0":"post-500133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-charity","12":"tag-classic-cars","13":"tag-commodore","14":"tag-goodnews","15":"tag-holden","16":"tag-nissan-rb30","17":"tag-rb30","18":"tag-vl-holden-commodore","19":"tag-wollongbar-tafe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}