Tuesday 5th May 2015

Holden Monaro HRT 427: You Know You Want To

Ever wondered what a Monaro would be like with less weight and more power? Wonder no longer!

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Holden Racing Team, 427 cubic inches. As special editions go, there can't be many more enticing nameplates. The Monaro HRT 427 was built by Holden for the 2002 Sydney motor show, previewing a lighter, faster and more focused Monaro. Sounds like a winner even now, but the project was terminated due to excessive production costs. What a pity.

Now we're talking

Therefore only two Monaro HRTs exist, one owned by Holden and the other for sale here. It is Experimental Development car 0001. It has become rather infamous in its home country thanks to an eBay listing a few years ago with a Buy It Now price of one million Australian dollars. Yes, a million. Today that's £520K. There was a video too promoting its rarity which, if we were being a little cynical, suggested a bit of desperation too. There were stories of fraudulent bids, relisting, withdrawn adverts and all sorts. It's now for sale at Dutton Garage in Richmond (Australia) along with many other fine automobiles including a 964 RS, Diablo SV and Jaguar XK120.

So why would you want a Monaro HSV 427? Hopefully it doesn't take too much convincing but it's essentially a Monaro GT3. Weight is reduced through removing the rear seats, the radio and air-con then adding in magnesium wheels, race front seats and carbon panels. Which is cool enough, then there's that engine... 427 cubic inches is 7.0-litres which one assumes must make a lot of power. There aren't any official numbers but it has to be comfortably above 400hp, surely?

Which way to Bathurst?

Which as a combination sounds fairly fantastic. All the Holdens experienced in Britain have been well received and here we have one that should be even more exciting still. And it has bonnet clips, which are just cool.

'Find out how easy it is to buy Dutton Garage cars internationally' proclaims the website, but this 427 will surely find a buyer in Australia. It would be fantastic over here - can you imagine arriving at a track day in it? - but this is never going to be a cheap way to Holden V8 thrills in Britain. It will be fascinating to see how much the HRT does sell for, and how far its unique status will push up the price. Surely a car of this rarity will be destined for a collection but it would be great to see (and hear) it being used. Phillip Island isn't far from the dealer after all...

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HOLDEN MONARO HRT 427
Price: £POA
Why you should: It's like a Monaro but a lot more so
Why you shouldn't: Probably quite expensive, on the other side of the planet

See the original ad here.

[Wayoftheflower]

Ignoble, underhanded (but successful) homologation "special" that took two undeserved Bathurst 24hour victories before effectively killing off a great race when no-one else wanted to play against a stacked deck.

A million dollars.....

[rtz62]

Hmmmn, magnesium alloy wheels.
First thing I'd want is to have the dealer get them crack tested.

Magnesium wheels are a different care and maintenance proposition from alloy wheels, magnesium is so reactive. Magnesium sits at the very top of the galvanic table, just above zinc. When it reacts (corrodes) with another metal it is unfortunately always the donor material

Cast magnesium wheels are sometimes X-rayed by the manufacturer before shipping to check for any voids or anomalies in the castings. And some people would suggest that they should also be crack tested periodically during their life as well. Corrosion can track and worm-hole through magnesium and can go unnoticed under paint (particularly powder coat).

Plus, despite the quasi-GT3 spec, is it any fater than the supercharged GTS we have here; indeed, remove the rear seats, radio etc etc and apart from the fact it is 'unique' I can't see shy you would want to pay that sort of money, bragging rights aside.

[Happyjap]

I enjoyed this article greatly, Thank you Matt Bird.

[daytona365]

A modern day 'Hotrod' ?..........They're always quite fast aren't they ?

[EmmaJ]

Not in a million years and that's speaking as a Monaro owner!

[soad]

"The HRT 427 Monaro has a hand-built 7.0-litre V8 engine with 427kW of power, although there are no rear seats, a radio or airconditioning."
http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/million-dolla...

427kW = ~580bhp?

[big_rob_sydney]

Even as a jaded, one-eyed, parochial Aussie, I couldn't possibly get excited about this.

I've said this on numerous occasions about the cooking models of aussie cars, and this is no exception. Best suggestion for these is to drive to a pier and nail it.

History was commented on, and I can only reaffirm what a poor, political story it was, that diminished all concerned. Agree also that you can get supercharged versions here for peanuts. And you will still only have a monkey of a car, for a knuckle-dragging gorilla of a driver.

Only big in the lardarse air-craft carrier sense, and about as clever as my left shoe.

[Ali_T]

Historically important....or infamous.... but how much?! You could easily recreate this for a fraction of the price...or just buy a Corvette Z06 and sod history!

[simonrockman]

I've a VXR8 this week, it's a rocketship. I can't imagine what the HRT 427 is like.

The VXR8 does however have the predictable problem:

[mnx42]

big_rob_sydney said:

Even as a jaded, one-eyed, parochial Aussie, I couldn't possibly get excited about this.

I've said this on numerous occasions about the cooking models of aussie cars, and this is no exception. Best suggestion for these is to drive to a pier and nail it.

History was commented on, and I can only reaffirm what a poor, political story it was, that diminished all concerned. Agree also that you can get supercharged versions here for peanuts. And you will still only have a monkey of a car, for a knuckle-dragging gorilla of a driver.

Only big in the lardarse air-craft carrier sense, and about as clever as my left shoe.

Haha, great post. Thanks for brightening up my day

[unsprung]

Wayoftheflower said:

A million dollars.....

It's a bit sad, the dogmatic thinking this implies. Like those pensioners in Russia who march about, holding aloft the Soviet flag and images of Brezhnev.

The Australians do great things with V8s and with suspensions. And don't get me started on that gem, the turbocharged inline six from Ford of Australia. If there could be a way to engineer this for cleaner emissions, it should be exported the world over.

But I always struggle with the design: Australian cars often resemble an anonymous egg-shaped mass.

[Wayoftheflower]

unsprung said:

It's a bit sad, the dogmatic thinking this implies. Like those pensioners in Russia who march about, holding aloft the Soviet flag and images of Brezhnev.

The Australians do great things with V8s and with suspensions. And don't get me started on that gem, the turbocharged inline six from Ford of Australia. If there could be a way to engineer this for cleaner emissions, it should be exported the world over.

But I always struggle with the design: Australian cars often resemble an anonymous egg-shaped mass.

Not quite sure you've got my point. The HRT427 might have been an iconic and revered homologation special up there with GTHO, BUT, Holden chose political chicanery over an honest process and effectively killed the Bathurst 24hour race.

Don't talk to me about the Falcon, I love that car, especially the I6T, I worked for many years at Blue Oval, the politics of preserving jobs in Detroit at the expense of the better Aussie product was the end of it. Still makes me angry.

[unsprung]

Wayoftheflower said:

unsprung said:

It's a bit sad, the dogmatic thinking this implies. Like those pensioners in Russia who march about, holding aloft the Soviet flag and images of Brezhnev.

The Australians do great things with V8s and with suspensions. And don't get me started on that gem, the turbocharged inline six from Ford of Australia. If there could be a way to engineer this for cleaner emissions, it should be exported the world over.

But I always struggle with the design: Australian cars often resemble an anonymous egg-shaped mass.

Wayoftheflower said:

Not quite sure you've got my point. The HRT427 might have been an iconic and revered homologation special up there with GTHO, BUT, Holden chose political chicanery over an honest process and effectively killed the Bathurst 24hour race.

You might be right: I could be missing the point. I was focused simply upon the $1-million price tag -- which, considering the price of other rare cars from mass-market manufacturers, seems a bit silly.

Wayoftheflower said:

Don't talk to me about the Falcon, I love that car, especially the I6T, I worked for many years at Blue Oval, the politics of preserving jobs in Detroit at the expense of the better Aussie product was the end of it. Still makes me angry.

The fading of Ford Australia and GMH is a disappointment for me, too. However I would not have thought that their combined revenue would make a dent in the future of their US parents -- such that the Americans would believe it's a zero-sum game (either us or them).

Given the long-term presence of government subsidy, it was never clear to me that mass-market manufacturing of cars was sustainable in Australia.

Also, the V6 EcoBoost from the US had fewer issues with fitment (taking up space) and emissions relative to the inline six from Down Under.

What's most interesting today: it appears that Ford Australia and GMH are doing ever more global design and engineering work. And leading these things.

But my view could be wrong. I defer to your opinion, as I have not worked for any of these companies and I'm not often in Australia (regrettably).

[Dagnut]

You can take the shine of any Holden by adding cost...500k dumps a trailer load of seagull sh!t on this particular gem

[Wayoftheflower]

unsprung said:

The fading of Ford Australia and GMH is a disappointment for me, too. However I would not have thought that their combined revenue would make a dent in the future of their US parents -- such that the Americans would believe it's a zero-sum game (either us or them).

Given the long-term presence of government subsidy, it was never clear to me that mass-market manufacturing of cars was sustainable in Australia.

Also, the V6 EcoBoost from the US had fewer issues with fitment (taking up space) and emissions relative to the inline six from Down Under.

What's most interesting today: it appears that Ford Australia and GMH are doing ever more global design and engineering work. And leading these things.

But my view could be wrong. I defer to your opinion, as I have not worked for any of these companies and I'm not often in Australia (regrettably).

Seems like I missed yours $1M is a very very sily price.

It's not a question exclusively about revenue, the Crown Vic and Taurus were protected from competition because politically it was important to keep those manufacturing and engineering jobs in USA, for similar reasons work was taken from Ford UK facilities and send back to Detroit.

I imagine a lot of people consider industry subsidies how you do, however the dirty little secret of the whole global automotive industry is if you want to play you have to pay, and the rate Australians were subsidising their auto industry was far less than Germany or America do, and far less than Thailand or India are prepared to to get that industry moved in. And of course ceasation of all industry support was key to the Chinesse FTA signing...

Ford Australia Engineering is still doing quite well, touch wood, Holden sadly less so with many mates made redundant already. But how long any engineering lasts once manufacturing has gone in 2016 nobody knows, I fear not long.

[Coatesy351]

Wayoftheflower said:

Not quite sure you've got my point. The HRT427 might have been an iconic and revered homologation special up there with GTHO, BUT, Holden chose political chicanery over an honest process and effectively killed the Bathurst 24hour race.

Don't talk to me about the Falcon, I love that car, especially the I6T, I worked for many years at Blue Oval, the politics of preserving jobs in Detroit at the expense of the better Aussie product was the end of it. Still makes me angry.

I agree with all of the above, I'd take one of the group a holden homologation specials before this. A million dollars, tell him he's dreaming.

[DCLXIV]

I wonder how much for the race variant in the background...

Incidentally, wasn't the Bathurst 24 killed off by PROCAR going under halfway through the 2004 season, rather than due to Holden's homologation special? The Lamborghini Diablo & Ferrari 550 were giving the Monaro quite a run for its money in 2004 once it had been reigned in a bit.

Edited by DCLXIV on Tuesday 5th May 18:55

[cheddar]

A rare, informed and enjoyable page of posts.

[Codswallop]

Lovely looking car but vastly over priced (as most collector's cars are IMO).

Shouldn't it be on throttle bodies though?



You can even see on the underside of the bonnet the rubber seal for the throttle body enclosure.

[M11 MFP]

pistonheads said:

Now we're talk'n

Hardly. This is the motor from the real HRT 427, a genuine 427 C5R. In two guises - with and without roadgoing air cleaners.





I'm not sure how many of the HRT's original bepoke parts are present on this one, which a Cairns based nutcase paid $920,000 for in 2007. Now someone clearly feels they are legitamately owed 8 years interest on that sum.

That motor now looks like a dirty near stock item. Pretty sure thats either an LS2 or 3 intake, definitely not LS7. There will be little power to be found there with that strangulation on 7 litres NA. If it is a 4.125 bore 427. It could easily be an LS2 with a 4.1" crank in it now.