Last Holden Commodore V8 highway patrol sedan in NSW hands in its stripes

The last operational V8 Holden Commodore SS highway-patrol car in New South Wales to hand in its stripes has been retired from regular duty more than six years after production ended.

NSW Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post the Holden sedan has been decorated in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-inspired livery for "Aboriginal engagement and public displays."

It has not been specified how long the vehicle will be used in its new role, or where it will reside once it has finished these duties.

But it is not the last Australian-made V8 outright on the NSW police fleet.

There is at least one more Holden Commodore SS V8 in operation – a wagon, according to a NSW Police spokesperson.

A number of German-built Holden Commodore sedans remain in use in NSW as general duties vehicles.

The last Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo handed in its NSW highway-patrol stripes in 2021. NSW Police has retained a high-performance FPV Falcon GT-F – with a 600kW tuned V8 engine – but it is for display purposes only.

It follows the retirement of Victoria’s last Highway Patrol Holden Commodore in November 2022, before joining the Trafalgar Holden Museum – which is dedicated to the now-defunct Australian brand – late last year.

Police in the Australian Capital Territory retired their last V8 Holden Commodore in 2022, adding it the Australian Police Force Museum in Canberra.

Tasmania Police withdrew its last Australian-built Commodore from its fleet in 2018 – previously loaning it to the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania “to preserve an important piece of history.”