Sometimes you don’t want a little city car. You definitely don’t need one. What you need and want is something tough. Something practical and reliable. Something that is rugged enough to take whatever you can throw at it or onto it – and whatever you can throw it over. And because size really does count, you need to carry people, not just loads. Enter the Holden Crewman, a vehicle so quintessentially Australian that it should come painted with gold and green paint as standard.

Tough as a Tasmanian devil and brutal as a brumby, the Holden Crewman is a twincab ute that’s build to go places and carry all the work crew – or the whole family. Over five metres long with a 1.4 metre long payload space, there’s plenty of space out back for work dogs and haybales – or chainsaws, lumber, power tools (or even the weekly groceries – let’s face it, country girls need to drive country cars and even the toughest bloke needs to eat). Driver, passenger and load are sitting over 133 mm of ground clearance (minimum) with well-built suspension to make smooth sailing of any rough patches. From wheel arch to wheel arch, the payload space is 1.226 m wide, giving the Holden Crewman a total payload area of 1.794 square metres. Complete this high-riding capacity with one of seven paint colours – all vivid and uncompromising – and you’ve got one great looking ute (especially if you’ve got a Holden Crewman S or SS – they’ve got a sports body kit as standard features). And for that extra bit of toughness, all models of the Holden Crewman come with corrosion protection for the full body and a long-life stainless steel exhaust – chrome trimmed for the Holden Crewman SS (ever heard a city driver complaining about cow dung on the road corroding their car’s paint work? It’s obvious they weren’t in a Holden Crewman).

Take a gander under the hood and it’ll depend on what model of Holden Crewman you’ve got to say what kind of engine you’ll be looking at. No matter what you choose, you’ll be playing with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic, the manual being the more standard option. The Holden Crewman and Crewman S both sport a 3.6 litre Alloytec V6 engine, while the top-notch Holden Crewman SS boasts a 6.0 litre Generation 4 V8 engine that thumps out a maximum output of 260 kW at 5600 rpm (and a screamingly good top torque of 510 Nm at 4400 rpm). The V6 engine ain’t bad in the power stakes, either, punching out a maximum power of 172 kW at 6000 rpm and a grunty top torque of 320 Nm at a low 2400 rpm. Which is a long-winded and technical way of saying that the Holden Crewman is more than capable of towing the boat, the horse float or a trailer full of work gear.

And we all know that beneath the toughest of exteriors, there usually lies a heart of gold with a lot of room and more than just one soft spot. It’s certainly true of the tough, outdoors hairy-chested blokes I know. And it’s true of the Holden Crewman. Sitting inside the Holden Crewman, you’ll be at ease and ready to eat the miles up on your way to work or into town for the day. Even your bog-standard Holden Crewman comes with buckets seats, adjustable lumbar support for the driver (which is different from lumber support – that’s what you’ve got in the payload area), a six-speaker 40W CD sound system from Blaupunkt with speed sensitive volume, and a mobile phone socket. Upgrade to the Holden Crewman SS and you’ll be looking at air conditioning, sports seats covered with Holden’s special sports fabric, leather wrapped steering wheel, gearknob and handbrake – and the back will have a flush-fitting soft tonneau cover. You’ll notice a few other differences on the outside of the the Holden Crewman, too, such as the black bezel projector headlights and the fender vents.

When it comes to safety, however, all models of the Holden Crewman will keep you snug and secure. For a start off, the Holden Crewman will stay firmly on the road (and be a pleasure to drive around some nice tight corners) with the ESP package that includes ABS, EBD and brake assist. The S and SS models of the Holden Crewman come with limited slip differential as standard, and the SS model has performance brakes at the front, too. Full-size driver and passenger airbags and child restraint anchor points are there in all of them, but the SS has side airbags as standard, too.

The Holden Crewman looks like a back-country farm vehicle and will probably be used as one. However, it will also appeal to anyone who likes the practicality and power on offer.

Current model series include:

• Holden Crewman VZ 3.6
• Holden Crewman S 3.6 VZ
• Holden Crewman SS 6.0 VZ
• Holden Crewman Thunder SS 6.0 VZ

For anymore information on the Holden Crewman, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Holden dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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