Holden leverages Bathurst – for now

Bathurst champ Craig Lowndes says he doesn't care what he races beyond 2017 – as long as it has a V8 under the bonnet.

Speaking on the eve of this year's Bathurst 1000 yesterday, the five-times Bathurst winner said he didn't know what he'd be racing in four years, after Holden stops building Commodores in 2017, but he knows what sort of engines fans of V8 Supercars want to hear.

Holden will replace its homegrown Commodore with an imported model likely to be based on Opel's next-generation Insignia in 2018, marking the end of an Australian-made model that has formed the basis of its touring car racing campaign since 1980.

As we reported this week, Holden has signalled that V8 Supercars will play an important role in promoting its Commodore replacement – whatever badge it wears – if new regulations allow sedans to race.

V8 Supercars organisers are currently reviewing the post-2017 rules for the category, by which time Ford will also have ceased producing the Falcon, and could decide to allow coupes, sedans or both – with or without V8s.

"The big question is what happens after 2017," Lowndes told motoring.com.au. "The fans want V8s no matter how many doors because they love the sound.

"We've got brands like Volvo which doesn't have a V8 yet they race one.

"I hope they stay with V8s, whether it's Camaro, Mustang or whatever."

Lowndes says he'd like to be involved in more limited-edition models like the MY15 Redline special that bears his name, but doesn't know what form they would take and admits a Lowndes-edition Colorado was dismissed by Holden early on.

Launched in Bathurst week to celebrate Lowndes' stellar 20-year career in V8 Supercars (six of which were with Ford between 2001 and 2006), the Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Commodore is based on the MY15 Commodore released this week.

Originally 161 examples were planned to mark the number of laps in The Great Race but, with more than 120 pre-sold, Holden will now produce 233 – as many as it can build this year – from next week, priced $5500 higher than the SS V Redline at $57,990.

As part of the deal, Lowndes will own Build No 001 -- a red auto with standard black stripes, paddleshifters and 20-inch black alloys -- in which he's already seen 216km/h at Sandown.

"I was quite impressed with how quick and responsive it is," he said.

"We were taking kerbs as fast as the race car. A bigger wheel completely changes the ride, feel and geometry of the cars – the fans will love it.

"It's mostly cosmetic but the 20s and Brembos were things Holden was really keen on. Normally with a road car the brakes fade in two to three laps but I did eight and they were fine.

"It's nice to have your name on a car and the 6.0-litre Redline package is a really neat car."