RE: Vauxhall Monaro: Spotted

[djgritt]

Nickyboy said:

Who does everyone use for Insurance? Getting ridiculous quotes from the mainstream companies.

I've gone through Adrian Flux myself, I got a good deal.

Others mentioned on the owners groups are Greenlight & Sky Insurance.

[siovey]

I use Sky insurance for my car. Decent price. No mainstream insurers would touch it due to all of the modifications

[marksx]

Also with Adrian Flux. Forgot about sky though. They gave me a very good price with my last one.

[willisit]

I use Admiral multicar - with the Monaro, a Mustang GT and my daily Viva (yes, I know) it's £770. I'm knocking on the door of 40, so that may help.

I've had my Monaro VXR for... 11.5 years. That's the longest I've owned anything! She was my wedding car, and the most expesnive thing I'd ever bought. I was over the moon when I got it. Years of 30k-a-year driving put me off using it at the weekends (the job!) so she's spent more time locked up than on the road, and despite a busy couple of years early on, the past 5 or 6 have seen event and MOT use only. She has 11,500 miles on her. She still gets used; albeit for 20 mile trips, so that really doesn't add up.

I have no intention of selling just yet, despite the obvious "pointless" nature of her existing in my garage. But, there is something about that old tank that, each time I see her, or start her up, just removes any thought of selling.

In context, the Mustang is a FAR better car, though I think the 6.0 is more soulful and clearly more torquey. It goes and stops, and handles WAY better; but the Monaro is the one that'll stay when the Mustang is sold. Odd!

[unsprung]

wormus said:

unsprung said:

Sales figures and notes have been updated to provide more detail.

REGION	BRAND	DRIVE	UNITS	%
UK	Vauxhall Monaro	RHD	800	1.4
ME	Chevrolet Lumina Coupé	LHD	1055	1.8
AUS+NZ	Holden Monaro	RHD	15110	26.2
USA	Pontiac GTO	LHD	40758	70.6
Total			57723	100.0

NOTES

Sources: USA and Rest-of-World

No separate figures for New Zealand were found; these are presumed to be included in the figures for Australia.

Some right-hand drive units were sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Lumina; no separate figures for South Africa were found; perhaps these are included in the AUS+NZ or the ME figures.

No units were offered for sale new in Canada, although secondhand USA units have been imported by individual Canadians.



.

Just goes to show GM’s motivation to sell the Monaro outside Australia was driven by North America in an attempt to revive the GTO.

.
If you woke suddenly one morning and realised that, without much fuss, you could earn three or four years of income in a single year -- and repeat this every year -- your life could change profoundly.

Now, about the Monaro / Pontiac GTO...

Each model year of sales in the US was almost equivalent to the entire production run Down Under.

During its five years of existence, the antipodean Monaro sold 15,110 units. The Americans bought 90 percent of that figure every single year (US model year production: 2004 through 2006).

The Pontiac GTO and the US consumer were not the motivation, here. The motivation was to increase revenue from Holden assets and, more importantly, to increase the rate of return of Holden assets.

[300bhp/ton]

unsprung said:

wormus said:

unsprung said:

Sales figures and notes have been updated to provide more detail.

REGION	BRAND	DRIVE	UNITS	%
UK	Vauxhall Monaro	RHD	800	1.4
ME	Chevrolet Lumina Coupé	LHD	1055	1.8
AUS+NZ	Holden Monaro	RHD	15110	26.2
USA	Pontiac GTO	LHD	40758	70.6
Total			57723	100.0

NOTES

Sources: USA and Rest-of-World

No separate figures for New Zealand were found; these are presumed to be included in the figures for Australia.

Some right-hand drive units were sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Lumina; no separate figures for South Africa were found; perhaps these are included in the AUS+NZ or the ME figures.

No units were offered for sale new in Canada, although secondhand USA units have been imported by individual Canadians.



.

Just goes to show GM’s motivation to sell the Monaro outside Australia was driven by North America in an attempt to revive the GTO.

.
If you woke suddenly one morning and realised that, without much fuss, you could earn three or four years of income in a single year -- and repeat this every year -- your life could change profoundly.

Now, about the Monaro / Pontiac GTO...

Each model year of sales in the US was almost equivalent to the entire production run Down Under.

During its five years of existence, the antipodean Monaro sold 15,110 units. The Americans bought 90 percent of that figure every single year (US model year production: 2004 through 2006).

The Pontiac GTO and the US consumer were not the motivation, here. The motivation was to increase revenue from Holden assets and, more importantly, to increase the rate of return of Holden assets.

Related to this. I think GM could also see a gap in the market. As they had discontinued the Fbody line (Firebird/Camaro) in 2002. But could see Ford where making good progress still with the Mustang and the forthcoming S197 in this market sector. And GM had no offering at all. The 350z and arguably RX-8 sit in a similar market segment and price structure in the US too. At least in the early 2000’s.

Selling the GTO was a quick, low R&D and low lead time alternative until the Gen 5 Camaro was released.

Remember the Monaro uses the same engine/transmissions as the Fbody’s did. Just in a slightly larger heavier package. So they should have appealed to a similar audience. Plus the cachet of the GTO name to draw in a different demographic.

[unsprung]

300bhp/ton said:

Selling the GTO was a quick, low R&D and low lead time alternative until the Gen 5 Camaro was released.

Hey Man. Yes, the Monaro-sourced GTO allowed GM to have some US sales in that segment -- instead of zero US sales in that segment.

300bhp/ton said:

Remember the Monaro uses the same engine/transmissions as the Fbody’s did. Just in a slightly larger heavier package. So they should have appealed to a similar audience.

Unfortunately it could not have appealed to the same segment because the Monaro tends to resemble the two-door sibling of a four-door sedan.

It does not fully embrace what I will call "the calculus of the canopy" -- the principle that the greenhouse should be perceived as disproportionately small compared to the fuselage upon which it sits -- not unlike a fighter plane or a performance car of the first half of the 20th century.

The earnest nose and box-like boot of the Monaro also seem, again, not too far from the design language of a sedan.

[dinkel]

unsprung said:

Quite the pushrod party, there

PS: I loved the Autobahn shot and speed figure.

Quickest of our group was a Supra touching 298 kmh. The Ultima Can Am had a track day gearing so was stuck at 265.

[unsprung]

dinkel said:

Quickest of our group was a Supra touching 298 kmh. The Ultima Can Am had a track day gearing so was stuck at 265.

Very cool. And hooray for the Y-rated tyre!

Thanks also for your writing and gorgeous photography on things automotive.

[Nickyboy]

Good news is i have the funds, i now have to find the right car.

What's peoples opinions on high milers?

[siovey]

^^
You might find that the right car may be up for sale in the next couple of weeks....

[anonymous-user]

Nickyboy said:

Good news is i have the funds, i now have to find the right car.

What's peoples opinions on high milers?

So long as it's been serviced I wouldn't have a problem with high mileage. Buy on condition as rust is likely to be a bigger problem than mechanical longevity. Tough as old boots these things but they do need care to stay nice.

[Nickyboy]

wormus said:

So long as it's been serviced I wouldn't have a problem with high mileage. Buy on condition as rust is likely to be a bigger problem than mechanical longevity. Tough as old boots these things but they do need care to stay nice.

That's what i was thinking, found one within my budget with 130k. I'm only likely to do 6-8k a year so it doesn't bother me too much

[Codswallop]

As said, high miles is nothing to worry about from a mechanical standpoint. Plenty of these in the states with over 200k, and PHer 99t has a lovely high miler that's closing in on 250k miles (thread in reader's rides).