Z Series clubsport

[byronw70]

Hi all,
I currently live in Melbourne OZ, and am planning on moving to the UK later in the year. I have a 2006 Z Series clubsport which I plan to bring with me. I found your site and figured that you guys might have be able to help with a couple of questions. Also, once I am there, it will be great to already be a part of a community of people with a common enthusiasm for the HSV.

I have spoken to a guy at Walkinshaw performance who tells me I should be able to get the car looked after but was wondering.

Do any of you guys have a Clubsport also?

Do you find it easy to service etc?

Are the parts generally available? My car mechanically probably shares most parts with the HSV GTO which I think was the VXR coupe there.

Have any of you had to get any body damage repaired? If so, was this a trauma cos of lack of parts etc? This is not the end of the world if so, but its handy to know what to expect.

Once again, its great to see that there are some HSV enthusiasts in the UK, and any help that you can provide is most appreciated.

Cheers

Byron

[gareth h]

I dinged the front spoiler on mine and was lookind at £1000 to replace (+ paint) from Vauxhall. I managed to get it sorted with a repaired/resprayed bumper from Des who runs a bodyshop in Worcester (and runs an R8 HSV). Monkfish in Brackley are the favourite indie for maintenance.

[ringram]

You will be in good hands dude. You are right the VXR was the GTO so engine and drivetrain parts are fine. I have a VT2 Clubby and there are a good couple of hundred about. I dont think anyone has a VZ Clusport though. You will be the first. If you are insured that will take care of body parts. But if you are doing your own repairs shipping from Oz will be your cheapest option. Other parts and bits should be plentiful based on all the monaro's and Vauxhall parts for them. (Though again shipping from oz is usually cheaper if you are carrying the cost)
There are a good number of shops around that have years of experience with Holdens, 2 of them pretty much specialise on them. Check out "monkfish performance" website to see what I mean.
Definately import it. You shouldnt have too much issue and should be able to resell if you wanted to move on.
The E series is also due for release here in June from memory. Around 300 should be brought in if the demand is right.

[wortec2]

Welcome nice to see another HSV enthusiast on the way over. I run a VXII HSV GTS(UK), the Clubsport R8 in Aus. There a small number of VTII and VX's in the UK around 50 in total and a handful of VZ series some utes and a few cars. I know there is at least one on the forum. It would be worth getting in touch with him as he had some specific difficulties getting his car in. Oil filter and belts etc can be bought from Vauxhall or Monkfish, body panels will need to be shipped. Apart from that good luck and keep in touch on the forum.

[madazrx7]

Byron, might be worth doing the sums on selling the car here and buying a VXR in England? Saving on freight and taxes, plus they are buying cheaper (in real terms, after factoring in earnings) in England than we buy HSVs here
Is yours a manual? I have been looking for a Z R8 for a while, most in Perth are auto!

[hsvgtscoupe]

welcome mate - I moved here in early 2005 and shipped my beloved GTS Coupe over. I have to say that the HSV/Monaro community in UK is fantastic and all are genuine enthusiasts, top blokes and more than willing to help (even after the 5-0 ashes drubbing!). It's been that way over here since around 2000 when VT and later clubbies & GTS' were imported as official HSV UK cars (the clubby was named the UK GTS and the GTS was named the UK GTS-R). Since Vauxhall started with the CV8 & GTO Coupe the interest & "user group" has got much bigger. The down side of this is that the resale value of imort or original UK HSV's has dropped dramatically so dont expect to get anything extra when you resell - it's a bit similar to grey imports from Japan in Oz compared to the locally supported variants.

Several Aussies amongst the community and even the odd sheep shagger too, so plenty of guys have done the same and can advise on the good & bad points of bringing yr beloved over here. Feel free to email or call me with any q's you have but the key points I see are as folows:
keep at least six months left on yr Vic rego if you plan to drive it here while going through the local approval process. If it's unregistered it will literally need to be taken everywhere on a tow truck before you can drive it. (Take Aussie tow prices & multiply by 3 to get my drift)
Get the foglight mod (and any others you plan to do) done in Oz as it WILL be cheaper.
Try & sort an insurance policy before you come (can be a challenge when dealing with call centres about a car they never heard of in most instances)
Bring all yr rego & insurance docs AND proof of purchase date - you want to make sure you meet the "personal import" requirements if you want to avoid a costly and difficult local approval process & stick with the simple SVA test. The DVLA site has more info. (that's the soap dodgers version of Vicroads)

cheers & I look forward to seeing another Aussie V8 over here with a dinky di Vic behind the wheel! (too many phuckin queenslanders over here mate )

[monkfish1]

I think the guys have covered most of the issues. Occasionaly parts will have to come from OZ which can delay things, but most parts are available over here. We would be more than happy to look after your car for you. Look forward to seeing a genuine clubsport here in the UK.

[byronw70]

Wow!!

A lot of great responses, and alot to think about! It looks like I will need to do a bit of research with regard to the local approval process etc. Thanks "hsvgtscoupe" for all your info. It sounds as if it pays to get all the ducks lined up as it were before I move. You may see an email from me at some point if I have a question.

Thanks again. you guys are legends!

[byronw70]

Oh,

And with regard to "madazrx7"'s query. Mine is a Phantom (black) coloured manual yes. My wife wanted an auto, but I told her that I couldn't bring myself to by one.

Cheers again

Byron