Holden Camira


The Holden Camira is a mid-size car which was produced by Holden between 1982 and 1989. It was Holden's version of GM's J-body family of cars—GM's third "global" car platform. The name "Camira" comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "wind."
After an initial good sales run, Camira sales dropped significantly and the model was discontinued in 1989. The Holden Apollo, a rebadged Toyota Camry was introduced as the Australian market replacement, with New Zealand instead offering the European-sourced Opel Vectra. In all 151,807 Camiras were built.

JB (1982–1984)

The original Camira, the JB series, was introduced in 1982 with a major trans-Tasman marketing campaign. The Camira replaced the Sunbird and Torana, although an interim four-cylinder version of the Commodore bridged the two-year production gap..
A station wagon version was introduced the following year, and its bodywork was exported to Vauxhall in the United Kingdom for the Cavalier wagon. Some Camiras were also exported to right-hand drive markets in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Singapore. The wagon variant was specifically a Holden design, which Holden insisted should be part of the overall "J-car" program. A five-door hatchback, based on the Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier "J-car" was proposed for the Camira, but never made it to the production stage due to Holden's financial losses at that time.
There was only one engine, the carburettored, naturally aspirated, transversely mounted 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine delivering. The transaxle offering was a four-speed manual on the SL and SL/X, with a five-speed unit specified to SJ and SL/E variants. A three-speed automatic was optional on all models. Power steering was optional from early 1984
The Camira was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1982. While superior to most other cars of the day in terms of ride and handling, the 1.6-litre Family II engine, marketed as Camtech, was regarded as "underpowered" by much of the motoring media. While partly true, the powerplant produced similar power levels to many of its rivals, although the actual power delivery differed. Unlike traditional Australian engines that had reserves of low down torque, the Camira required a very different driving style that involved revving the engine.
Early models of the Camira suffered from a litany of quality control problems, which included smoking engines, insufficient drainage holes in the doors, poor paint quality and lack of adequate fan cooling, resulting in overheating in JB Camiras fitted with air conditioning. This tarnished the Camira's reputation and led to its withdrawal from the New Zealand market, where a rebadged version of the Isuzu Aska, known as the JJ Camira, was sold instead.
There are several models within the JB range that are seen as "more desirable" and were produced in very limited numbers.These are the Formular & SJ in sedans only.
There were also some modified by the Country Dealer Team Performance Vehicle company based in Victoria. These JB's were available in 3 versions. All had full fibreglass body kits and mag wheels. The S2 had a full range of options. The 1.6 engines were modified with extractors, Weber carbie and the S3 was fitted with a turbo charger. They also have very distinctive decals. There was very limited Camira produced. CDT versions are seen as the rarest and most desirable.
Gemini & Commodore were also available

Specification levels

The second series JD Camira, released in 1984 received a facelift, with a more aerodynamic front-end and the absence of a conventional front grille. The differences were not only cosmetic, the engine was upgraded from 1.6 to a multi-point fuel injected 1.8-litre on the SL/X and SL/E models. These changes combined allowed the engine to deliver. The new 1.8-litre engine was mated with a close ratio five-speed manual transmission, as opposed to the four-speed fitted to the 1.6.
In mid-1986 new emissions regulations required that all cars manufactured in Australia run on unleaded petrol. Firstly, Holden dropped the base 1.6-litre engine. For the 1.8-litre, Holden was forced to engineer another reworking of the engine, during which time Holden was operating at a loss. The result was that Holden dropped the multi-point injection for the 1.8-litre and reverted to single-point, akin to a carburettor, and altered the tuning of the engine to suit. A power-robbing catalytic converter was fitted, and power output was reduced by to.
This engine was also used in Holden's locally manufactured compact car, the LD Astra, a badge engineered Nissan Pulsar, as well as the Pulsar itself. This was the result of a model sharing alliance between Holden and Nissan at the time, where the Nissan body was used in conjunction with GM powertrains. Running on unleaded petrol, this engine had an output of. The Pulsar's 1.8-litre engine contained the same basic internals as the JD Camira's 1.8-litre engine, with the main exception being the block casting and smaller ports/valves on the head, and smaller intake manifold. Both the Camira and Astra/Pulsar engines were powered by a Delco Electronics engine control unit. This caused problems of its own, as with age, the fine tolerance of the circuitry and componentry have a tendency to fail unexpectedly, and on failing, the engine will cease to operate, or operate with a crippling loss of power due to incorrect tuning and fuel delivery. The external engine mounts are better placed on the Pulsar, and hence result in longer engine mount life.

Specification levels

In New Zealand the second generation Camira was marketed as the Camira JJ. This consisted of two entirely different J-cars: the sedan version was a rebadged version of the Isuzu Aska from Japan. This decision was made by General Motors New Zealand as sales figures of the Camira JB were poor for this market, however the wagon version which was built and sold in Australia was retained and assembled locally.

JE (1987–1989)

Released in April 1987, the JE was the final series of Camira. By this time, many of the Camira's early quality problems had been overcome, and Holden now fitted the multi-point fuel-injected 2.0-litre engine to replace the 1.8-litre unit. The 2.0-litre unit delivered at 5200 rpm and of torque at 3200 rpm. The automatic transaxle in the JE, the Turbo-Hydramatic 125 C, sported a lockup torque converter. Styling changes were minor from the JD with the addition of a thin grille up front, revised bonnet, larger 14-inch wheels and new wheel trims.
After Camira production wound up during 1989, Holden replaced the Camira with the Apollo, a rebadged Toyota Camry, a result of the Button car plan introduced by the Australian Government, which encouraged a reduction in the number of Australian car-makers and models. General Motors New Zealand was not affected by this scheme and instead replaced the Camira with the European-sourced Opel Vectra, which after 1994 was rebadged as the Holden Vectra. Holden continued to produce the Family II engine for export well after the Camira was discontinued. Over three million variants were produced, in 1.6-, 1.8- and 2.0-litre configurations, with the 1.8- and 2.0-litre variants being fuel injected.

Specification levels

The Vacationer, SLi 2000 and the Formula were sold in limited numbers and are subsequently rare today, as were cars built with power windows, central locking and automatic boot lid releases.

Common problems

All Camira models suffered from some common problems, which is one of the reasons why the car did not garner significant sales figures.
The Used Car Safety Ratings, published in 2008 by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, found that 1982–1989 Holden Camiras provide a "significantly worse than average" level of safety in the event of an accident, in a comparison to other "medium cars". The safety rating was not calculated solely on the basis of the protection of the vehicle's occupants, but also included protection for "cyclists, pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles" to give a "better guide to the total community impact of vehicle safety."