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 There were stories of fraudulent bids, relisting, withdrawn adverts and all sorts.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.....

[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.

[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.