The dashboard and interior were carried over largely unaltered from the Opel Rekord, except for some details such as the indicator stalk being moved to the right hand side of the steering column in line with Australian convention.

A station wagon variant – not available in SL/E form – was released on 24 July 1979, hitting showrooms on 6 August 1979.

[citation needed] As the wagon-specific sheet metal had to be imported from Germany (from the Rekord), the wagon suffered from inevitable component differences from the sedan, confirmed by the separate keys for the ignition system and rear door.

In 1979, the factory backed Holden Dealer Team entered a three-car VB Commodore team in the 20,000-kilometre (12,000 mi) Repco Round Australia Trial which started and finished at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds and travelled clockwise around the country over some of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable.

Lead HDT driver Peter Brock won the event along with co-drivers Matt Phillip and Noel Richards.

With new regulations for Group C Touring car racing introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1980 which forced teams to use low emission engines, the HDT (by now owned by Brock and with actual support from Holden dealers after Holden had pulled out of racing at the end of 1979) had been secretly testing a VB Commodore as its replacement for the A9X Torana.

1979 ATCC winner Bob Morris also won a round of the championship driving his Craven Mild Racing VB Commodore.

Brock then won the 1980 CRC 300 at Sydney's Amaroo Park circuit before upgrading to the VC Commodore by the Hang Ten 400 at Sandown Raceway.