As an Aussie it does my heart good to see my American compatriots appreciate the Holden Commodore. Keep up the good work sir

Strange, those knuckles are still sold in Australia. Insurance very easily could’ve gotten one shipped over. We get parts out of the US often for GM vehicles can’t see why they can’t do the same.

I love that expression: "I've never seen an armored car following a hearse." Great story from Mr. Bell, as always!

The problem that State Farm came up against is they lost a massive lawsuit about not using new OEM parts. That’s why they refused to do a used part. Their policy now requires they only use new parts.

I love to hear stories of these awesome cars!

We have been competing in car rallies for decades, many times it is a $20 part that lets you down

Great story Travis.

As a G8 owner, I always enjoy Travis’ stories. I’m currently in the middle of manual swapping my 09 GT. Hoping to get it done in time to be at his event in September!

"we don't our used parts on a car" thats hilarious. When I hit a deer in 2017, state farm put EXCLUSIVELY used parts on mine, and they put about 7k into a 16k car.

All you need is the CTS-V with the blown LSA to complete the collection! Try to find a wagon too!

I appreciate the shared love for this vehicle and keeping in touch with the original owner.

Someone needs to hook Travis up with a VE-VF Commodore Sportwagon so he can have the complete set

"We don't put used parts on a car" That's the biggest load of horse shit I've heard in awhile. They have repair shops install used parts as much as possible to lower the cost.

Insurance companies will also total a vehicle if they think they can make a profit at auction over what the suggested trade-in value is that they give you when they total the vehicle. Then they give you a check for the trade-in value but sell it for a few thousand dollars more thus making a profit. We had a 3-month-old camper that they tried to do that too but luckily we were able to pay it off and get the title before we settle the light hail damage claim. They wanted to give us about $4,000 or $5,000 less than it would be at auction in the shape it was in. It's just another way for them to make money.

as a g8 owner I cant get enough of these stories!

My daughter and I are going through almost the exact type of accident/save/ repair/restore issue. I bought a 2006 Dodge Magnum RT brand new, and knew then it was a keeper for life, so when my original warranty was about to expire, Chrysler offered a drivetrain or bumper to bumper lifetime warranty, so naturally I bought the bumper to bumper one. My daughter always loved my car and I taught her how to drive in that and our 2006 Suburban, even making her learn how to parallel park in the Burban. She’s a very good driver, head on a swivel, the works. Fast forward to 2021, my ex-in-laws wanted her to have a new car, so they bought her a Sentra. Good god. I talked shit about its safety but an SUV pulled right out in front of her and she hit him, but she told me later that the brake pedal went to the floor before her foot could. Incredible. The airbags are the only thing that hurt her but it was superficial. I was wrong about that car, but to me, tonnage wins. After that, she never wanted a small car ever again, and it had to have balls. Her replacement from the in-laws ended up being a Colorado, 2009, cherry, low miles, but 4cyl. Whatever. She wanted more. So we looked and looked and lo and behold one of her customers at the Oreillys where she worked had a 2005 Magnum RT, Inferno Red. He was older, the car sat and he loved it but his wife wanted him to sell it. My daughter asked about it, and they made a deal, and when it came time to pay for it, the old guy told her to give him much less than agreed, but not let his wife know. She paid $1800 for a very nice, strength, clean, Hemi Magnum and hers had Flowmasters and a CAI, and honestly is a hair faster than mine. Dammit. This car was/is her pride and joy. She got hit pulling into a turning lane, almost identical to that G8. It bent the knuckle and pinched the tire, broke the upper A arm, tie-rod, end link, but left the hood and door untouched. Easy repair I thought. Proudly, she fought her insurance, State Farm, to prevent losing her baby. I kept her informed of the laws, and she fought her own battle, and they plated hard, at one point it looked like they were gonna fix the car, then a magical new hood was “granted”, for the washer nozzles, no less, which put it just over the threshold for being totaled out. She kept fighting. They gave in. Paid her for the car AND parts, MOST of which she had already been compiling beforehand, the whole front end she had in hand before the accident. So we got the wagon to my house and I stripped the front end and put all new parts on, with a few upgrades, Eibach springs, higher level Bilsteins, all that she picked out. But alas. The front end was pushed over about one inch. I had the car driving straight, hand off the wheel, all good, firm a garage alignment no less! But the hood overlapped the fender on the drivers side and left a gpa in the passenger side. I was taking a break from pushing the frame back when I saw this video. Neat coincidence, but not just for the almost identical damage, but for the love of the car versus the insurance and the not-made-anymore-and-soon-to-be-a-modern-classic status. Indeed, after she night it, she almost had to fight off offers to buy it’s for three and four times what she paid for it. Wish me good decision making skills, cause I don’t believe in luck, even though I just asked for a wish, but, a hydraulic Ram I got for $200 is doing the work that a couple of $1000 and a few months of waiting time couldn’t do. The frame moved about 3/4”, I unbolted the bumper and it dramatically popped over that much. Now gotta push other parts of the apron and such and get it all lined up with the grid I made on the floor, plumb bobs being my friend, and a shop manual my guide, and this car WILL destroy back tires, again! Big ups to you!

I remember them giving these things away when they were new. I think my 2008 GT was $24,000 out the door brand new. I’m actually sick now since my new Camry was $32k.

Travis is such a great story teller. Always enjoy his episodes and the stories he has to tell.

As an Australian im glad to see the good old Holden on the road they don't make them any more sadly but glad you kept her alive

Love Mr Bell’s stories. More often please.