RE: Vauxhall Monaro VXR500: Spotted

[anonymous-user]

300bhp/ton said:

Yes very cool. But £45k. They have got to be mental. You can buy a C5 Corvette for £15k with the same LS motor. And a blower kit for around £6-8k. Less than half the price.

£10k more and you’d be doing the same with a C6.

Or if you want to go cheaper. £6-8k for a 4th Gen Camaro. Same engine and trans as the Monaro. And lighter too.

A nice supercharged S197 Mustang will be half the cost of this VXR.

Now don’t get me wrong. The Lotus Carlton shows there is a market for a fast big Vauxhall. And maybe in time the VXR will have a similar allure. But today in 2019 I think you’d have to be rather insane to consider spending £45k on a 15 year old Holden.

Missing the poor completely though, the cars you mention like the Camaro are older and have the LS1, not the supercharged LS2 we have here. All of the cars you mention were made in far greater numbers in LHD for a different continent. Yes I agree the price is a bit steep for some but somebody might buy it simply because they’ve always wanted one.

[s m]

wormus said:

300bhp/ton said:

Yes very cool. But £45k. They have got to be mental. You can buy a C5 Corvette for £15k with the same LS motor. And a blower kit for around £6-8k. Less than half the price.

£10k more and you’d be doing the same with a C6.

Or if you want to go cheaper. £6-8k for a 4th Gen Camaro. Same engine and trans as the Monaro. And lighter too.

A nice supercharged S197 Mustang will be half the cost of this VXR.

Now don’t get me wrong. The Lotus Carlton shows there is a market for a fast big Vauxhall. And maybe in time the VXR will have a similar allure. But today in 2019 I think you’d have to be rather insane to consider spending £45k on a 15 year old Holden.

Missing the poor completely though, the cars you mention like the Camaro are older and have the LS1, not the supercharged LS2 we have here. All of the cars you mention were made in far greater numbers in LHD for a different continent. Yes I agree the price is a bit steep for some but somebody might buy it simply because they’ve always wanted one.

Not in the market for a big V8 Coupe but if I were this appeals more than the, admittedly new, Merc V8 coupe on this page for twice the cash. At the same prIce I’d still take the VXR500 - a bit emotive but prefer the transmission arrangement and the looks.

[George Smiley]

The VXR500 is nothing more than a defunct dealer special. There is nothing official or desirable about the badge. A Southampton based dealer slapped a really poor supercharger onto the VXR and then slapped the 500 badge on it. So you are paying for a badge with zero prestige, with no links to HSV or Holden (other than the base car), an old charger that even when new never produced anywhere near the claimed 500bhp as the belts would slip.

If you are after a Monaro (which are fantastic cars) with a supercharger, you can buy a VXR500 but don't pay a premium for it over one of the many other cars that have been correctly supercharged.

[pSyCoSiS]

For something so rare, price is relatively acceptable, given values of other cars currently on the market.

However, my money would definitely go on a Lotus Carlton.

[Glyn84]

wormus said:

The main reason to buy one

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=htvTzFx2zuU

Why thank you, that one is mine

[George Smiley]

pSyCoSiS said:

For something so rare, price is relatively acceptable, given values of other cars currently on the market.

However, my money would definitely go on a Lotus Carlton.

If it had pedigree as a badge/model but it doesn't - Picador added a badge to the back of the car, slapped on a really poor supercharger which never made claimed power as the belts would slip. So its a boggo car with a charger with no manufacturer input as an exercise between said bankrupt dealer and a tuning company.

[300bhp/ton]

wormus said:

Missing the poor completely though, the cars you mention like the Camaro are older and have the LS1, not the supercharged LS2 we have here. All of the cars you mention were made in far greater numbers in LHD for a different continent. Yes I agree the price is a bit steep for some but somebody might buy it simply because they’ve always wanted one.

As I said, it's very cool car. I personally really like the Monaro.

The C6 Vette uses the LS2. And as you know full well there really isn't much difference between an LS1 and LS2 anyway.

This is 505hp stock, also very very rare. Only 20,000 miles on it and £10,000 cheaper!!!!


And you can supercharge them.

In the PH classifieds there are C5's for £15k and even a manual one for £18k.

All in all they make the VXR look very expensive for what it is.

[Alex_225]

I like the car, always have and as the article says, for some of us 2006 doesn't feel that long ago!

The price is, like many low mileage interesting cars, pretty damn high so it wouldn't be something I'd personally aim for. Like many cars though, this will appeal to someone I'm sure.

[big_rob_sydney]

Like watching a sumo wrestler trying to play the violin with greased up KFC fingers...

[Smitters]

I'm pretty sure a mate of mine paid circa £20k less for an RS4 with less than 30k miles. So this is laughable.

[s m]

Smitters said:

I'm pretty sure a mate of mine paid circa £20k less for an RS4 with less than 30k miles. So this is laughable.

Only if you prefer an RS4 to a VXR500 though?

[George Smiley]

300bhp/ton said:

As I said, it's very cool car. I personally really like the Monaro.

The C6 Vette uses the LS2. And as you know full well there really isn't much difference between an LS1 and LS2 anyway.

This is 505hp stock, also very very rare. Only 20,000 miles on it and £10,000 cheaper!!!!


And you can supercharge them.

In the PH classifieds there are C5's for £15k and even a manual one for £18k.

All in all they make the VXR look very expensive for what it is.

Having had one, it was in no way in need of a supercharger, the only issue is the ticking timebomb with the valves

[anonymous-user]

Glyn84 said:

Why thank you, that one is mine

Excellent work. I’ve been using that clip for years! Must do one for mine..

[anonymous-user]

George Smiley said:

If it had pedigree as a badge/model but it doesn't - Picador added a badge to the back of the car, slapped on a really poor supercharger which never made claimed power as the belts would slip. So its a boggo car with a charger with no manufacturer input as an exercise between said bankrupt dealer and a tuning company.

You could say the same about the VXR vs CV8. HSV took the base car and added a body kit and different brakes/suspension. Still a Holden CV8 underneath as they all are. There were also two 600hp VXR600s built.

[selym]

wormus said:

George Smiley said:

If it had pedigree as a badge/model but it doesn't - Picador added a badge to the back of the car, slapped on a really poor supercharger which never made claimed power as the belts would slip. So its a boggo car with a charger with no manufacturer input as an exercise between said bankrupt dealer and a tuning company.

You could say the same about the VXR vs CV8. HSV took the base car and added a body kit and different brakes/suspension. Still a Holden CV8 underneath as they all are. There were also two 600hp VXR600s built.

You are wasting your breath with this one.

[stemac76]

Bloody awful, bland. And far too 90s for me...

[TheAngryDog]

F10 M5 can be had much cheaper and is a much faster car. OK no manual gearbox, but it depends what you want from a car.
E9x M3 and £8k supercharger for ~625bhp and the option of manual or DTC, and still have plenty of change in your pocket.

[George Smiley]

wormus said:

George Smiley said:

If it had pedigree as a badge/model but it doesn't - Picador added a badge to the back of the car, slapped on a really poor supercharger which never made claimed power as the belts would slip. So its a boggo car with a charger with no manufacturer input as an exercise between said bankrupt dealer and a tuning company.

You could say the same about the VXR vs CV8. HSV took the base car and added a body kit and different brakes/suspension. Still a Holden CV8 underneath as they all are. There were also two 600hp VXR600s built.

The 600s were compromised too and never made the figures, I recall one of the two detonated itself as a result of the poor way it was conceived.

The VXR is different to the CV8 as it has uprated suspension, brakes, overall handling was better this was fully built by HSV not Holden - this is not the same as the VXR500 which wasn't a manufacture build it was a local UK tuning firm and a Dealership special. Think of it as the Trigger's Broom as far as official value goes.

[George Smiley]

TheAngryDog said:

F10 M5 can be had much cheaper and is a much faster car. OK no manual gearbox, but it depends what you want from a car.
E9x M3 and £8k supercharger for ~625bhp and the option of manual or DTC, and still have plenty of change in your pocket.

That's as good as the argument that instead of spending 25k on a classic 525, you could get an e46 M3 which is newer and better. The Monaro's compete in a very different way to the F10 - these are cars that are simple to maintain and offer great value for money. You wont see many f10's on the road in 10 years time.

[TheAngryDog]

George Smiley said:

TheAngryDog said:

F10 M5 can be had much cheaper and is a much faster car. OK no manual gearbox, but it depends what you want from a car.
E9x M3 and £8k supercharger for ~625bhp and the option of manual or DTC, and still have plenty of change in your pocket.

That's as good as the argument that instead of spending 25k on a classic 525, you could get an e46 M3 which is newer and better. The Monaro's compete in a very different way to the F10 - these are cars that are simple to maintain and offer great value for money. You wont see many f10's on the road in 10 years time.

So basically what you're saying is this: Supercharged Monaro's are crap, everything else is crap? You're hard to please.