RE: SOTW: Holden Kingswood Station Wagon

RE: SOTW: Holden Kingswood Station Wagon

Author
Discussion

excel monkey

4,545 posts

228 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Big E 118 said:
I grew up in NZ and my aunt had one of these... It was a vast car especially parked next to my parents mini cooper and BMW 2002.
The estate is quoted as 4826mm long, which is about the same as a new Mondeo estate.

http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/holden_HQ_tec...

No doubt it seemed vast back in the 70s, but these days I don't think it would look particularly huge on our roads.

Strawman

6,463 posts

208 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Faust66 said:
Rusty,
Undoubtedly, possibly terminally

Faust66 said:
unreliable (probably), impossible to find parts for, overpriced, more trouble than it's worth and pig ugly.

The perfect car!

I want it.
70's American V8 are very reliable, designed to run forever with minimal maintenance beyond oil changes and an occasional carb refurb. Easy to get parts for on the web, although not body panels. £1k seems cheap to me, ignoring the rust issues.

pistonchris

828 posts

182 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Love it just for the odd ball looks.
Top shed

zakelwe

4,449 posts

199 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
I'd rather walk even though I am a raspberry ripple from an old biking accident.

Andy

MarJay

2,173 posts

176 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Looks awful

Parts availability worse than poor

Rust in every panel

Poor handling

low power

Gas guzzling (see above)

Tut tut Shed, you can do better than this.

anything fast

983 posts

165 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Great car. I have real soft spot for the big Aussie V8 cars. Funny thing in OZ there is real battle of opinions on the Holdens VS Fords and owners of each take it more seriously than football! personaly i like most of the Ford and GM products they sell over there.. not ideal for the UK but big open roads in Oz they are perfect.

This particular Shed has great potential, get a nice slick black paint job, some wide Mag racing wheels and straight through exhuast, would make it a very cool (but very thirsty!) run about..

Turbobanana

6,292 posts

202 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Great shed.
Nice to see something non-German (in fact, non-European) fir a change. Seems to fit the profile well: V8, slush box, rust and covers about an acre of pavement. Also rare - I was in Oz about 4 years ago and saw no more than 1 or 2 older cars.
Great name too.

Dr G

15,195 posts

243 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Faust66 said:
Rusty, unreliable (probably), impossible to find parts for, overpriced, more trouble than it's worth and pig ugly.

The perfect car!

I want it.
I agree with you entirely and I want it.

Needs airbrushed flames and an LS7 mind wink

Twincam16

27,646 posts

259 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Interesting SOTW. Always tempted by Aussie cars as I do like US muscle but the dimensions plus LHD will always be drawbacks. Aussie cars, however, are RHD.

Pity it's not one of Chrysler Australia's Chargers though - Bullitt fantasy, UK-friendly dimensions, RHD, and the handling's reputedly much better than it's US counterpart too:


excel monkey

4,545 posts

228 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
MarJay said:
Looks awful

Parts availability worse than poor

Rust in every panel

Poor handling

low power

Gas guzzling (see above)

Tut tut Shed, you can do better than this.
I like it.

SOTW gets criticised for being boring if it wheels out a 5-series or E class.

This is cool. Big lazy V8, relatively lightweight body, practical, not as huge as everybody makes out, LPG converted. I can see the appeal for someone who has the tools and skills to fix the rusty bits.

Doesn't do anything that an old Omega/Volvo estate can't do, but that's not the point.

Zumbruk

7,848 posts

261 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Hideous piece of scrap. Weigh it in and spend the money on beer.

Rumblestripe

2,956 posts

163 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Good shed (I wouldn't want to own one - but someone should)

Yeah, look we all know that you can get cheap 7 series Beemers and ageing Merc S classes for thtoopid money. No doubt you could fill shed every week with one and some on here would still go all misty eyed over another (probably silver) uber-barge.

More power to your shed-ery chaps!

seefarr

1,470 posts

187 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all


That is all. idea

ewenm

28,506 posts

246 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
excel monkey said:
MarJay said:
Looks awful

Parts availability worse than poor

Rust in every panel

Poor handling

low power

Gas guzzling (see above)

Tut tut Shed, you can do better than this.
I like it.

SOTW gets criticised for being boring if it wheels out a 5-series or E class.

This is cool. Big lazy V8, relatively lightweight body, practical, not as huge as everybody makes out, LPG converted. I can see the appeal for someone who has the tools and skills to fix the rusty bits.

Doesn't do anything that an old Omega/Volvo estate can't do, but that's not the point.
And getting lighter by the day hehe

Good shedding.

soad

32,907 posts

177 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Not too sure what to make of this one - old, ugly, huge (imagine trying to park it in town/city).

EDLT

15,421 posts

207 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Good shed this week, its a much more interesting read than claiming some old German barge is still classy once you take it off the council estate or that a tatty Italian rep-mobile is allowed to break down because its got souls haunting it.

Also, an LPG converted GM V8 must be worth £2-300?

Edited by EDLT on Friday 17th December 11:54

Mark-C

5,138 posts

206 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Absolutely top shedding! Whoever buys this is absolutely barking mad ans should therefore have the respect of us all.

I think it's bigger than my actual shed but having seen the numbers quoted aboved it's a tad shorter than my XJS.

Edited because I spelt "shed" wrong ... FFS

Edited by Mark-C on Friday 17th December 12:11

SleeperCell

5,591 posts

243 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
Twincam16 said:
Pity it's not one of Chrysler Australia's Chargers though - Bullitt fantasy, UK-friendly dimensions, RHD, and the handling's reputedly much better than it's US counterpart too:
Even if you could find one of those in the same crappy condition as the kingswood it would probably still be worth £9000, a good condition one would probably be worth something more like £19,000

anything fast

983 posts

165 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
dont know why so many people are slagging this off, its made in the 70's, its big, RWD and has a V8 lump, whats not to like? cars like this are what motoring fun is all about!! Just as much as a nippy hatchback with a big engine!!

excel monkey

4,545 posts

228 months

Friday 17th December 2010
quotequote all
soad said:
Not too sure what to make of this one - old, ugly, huge (imagine trying to park it in town/city).
I don't know why everyone thinks it's such a monster. It doesn't look massive in the pictures. If the stats page I quoted earlier is correct, it's almost exactly the same length and width as a new Mondeo estate.