RE: Thunder from Down Under
Wednesday 22nd October 2003
Thunder from Down Under
Pricing and Spec confirmed for V8 Monaro
The new Vauxhall Monaro will be available from spring 2004. Power will come from a 5.7 litre V8 engine developing 328hp and 347lbs/ft of torque. Just 300 will be brought to the UK.
The car will be sold in the UK with a comprehensive specification including leather eight-way electric seats, 18 inch alloy wheels, full size driver, passenger and side airbags, electronic climate control and six-disc autochanger.
Prices start at a very attractive £28,500 although Vauxhall will have to work hard at beefing up their image to maintain decent residuals.
Kevin Wale, Vauxhall's Managing Director, blurted: "The Vauxhall Monaro is a great car for the real enthusiast. The Monaro is an icon in Australia and I am sure the UK car enthusiast will thoroughly enjoy it ."
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Discussion
Ahhhhhh Vauxhall.
No seriously, I drive an Omega with a HSV badge. Its not the badge, its the whole car.
Enthusiast will know what it is.
What does worry me is the Vauxhall garage network selling them. After owning a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and trying to talk to Vauxhall dealers!!! That was impossible. They knew nothing. Limited knowledge and experience, lack of enthusiasm and generally damn well not interested.
300 may seem a small amount, but if Vauxhall don't get their act together in marketing they'll probably have troubles shifting them.
No seriously, I drive an Omega with a HSV badge. Its not the badge, its the whole car.
Enthusiast will know what it is.
What does worry me is the Vauxhall garage network selling them. After owning a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and trying to talk to Vauxhall dealers!!! That was impossible. They knew nothing. Limited knowledge and experience, lack of enthusiasm and generally damn well not interested.
300 may seem a small amount, but if Vauxhall don't get their act together in marketing they'll probably have troubles shifting them.
fwiw - the suspension on the current non-HSV models is at least as good if not better than the suspension fitted to the VT-II HSV models that were sold in the UK.
I'd wait to see the final spec for the UK spec cars, I'd be surprised if they didn't end up with a decent brake package thrown in....but then again I'm prepared to be surprised.
I'd wait to see the final spec for the UK spec cars, I'd be surprised if they didn't end up with a decent brake package thrown in....but then again I'm prepared to be surprised.
I have just read the new edition of car magazine which has a 5 page spread on the new holden/vauxhall coupe.
They say that we will get two versions of the monaro one as per the stock Holden Monaro (320bhp) at about £28,000 and another version which in the pictures shows a HSV GTO kitted Coupe (370bhp) which is said to be the first UK spec car and will NOT be badged HSV at about £35,000 (this is not a pic of the test cars seen about 6 months back)
So from this it seams we will get the HSV GTO but not with the prestige of the HSV badge (a mistake?)
I have spoken to Vauxhall but they still will not give a straight answer and HSV don't respond to their email!!!
If this is the future of customer relations at Vauxhall they dont deserve a good car like the Monaro.
uk hsv
They say that we will get two versions of the monaro one as per the stock Holden Monaro (320bhp) at about £28,000 and another version which in the pictures shows a HSV GTO kitted Coupe (370bhp) which is said to be the first UK spec car and will NOT be badged HSV at about £35,000 (this is not a pic of the test cars seen about 6 months back)
So from this it seams we will get the HSV GTO but not with the prestige of the HSV badge (a mistake?)
I have spoken to Vauxhall but they still will not give a straight answer and HSV don't respond to their email!!!
If this is the future of customer relations at Vauxhall they dont deserve a good car like the Monaro.
uk hsv
As I have mentioned, my experience of Vauxhall and Chevy was not good.
Based on that - the Monaro is doomed?????
Its only going to be real petrol heads that know they are getting a good car.
Please to hear about the 370HP. Looks like I've got some modding to do - talking of which new exhaust headers look like a good bet.
Based on that - the Monaro is doomed?????
Its only going to be real petrol heads that know they are getting a good car.
Please to hear about the 370HP. Looks like I've got some modding to do - talking of which new exhaust headers look like a good bet.
I don't think the badge is a problem!
That may be because i was brought up in the 70's when the vauxhall Firenza Droop Snoot was not only the most drop-dead gorgeous mainstream coupe on the roads but quickly became a legend in it's own lunchtime DESPITE being preceded by a range of cars personified by the legendarily slow 1256cc Vauxhall Viva which at one point was actually the UK's best-selling car.
Equally, the VX220's problem was never the badge, it was just that the Elise was a better buy for the money and looked better. Along came the Turbo and in one blow (excuse the pun) blows the Lotus away and makes Performance Car Of the Year. My mate just bought one and it's an amazing car. Try finding something faster for that money.
And money is what is likely to be the Monaro's downfall, not the badge. As Jagsy said, Vauxhall dealers are rubbish. They charge the Earth because you have a top of the range V8 and then treat you like a faceless rep with an Astra. Neither the Camaro Z28 or the Corvette succeeded in the UK. That might be down to lhd but it's more to do with your average British driver not knowing what either car is, was or ever will be. Sure, they've heard of a Corvette but think "a Corvette" is a 1970's C3. They've certainly never heard of a Camaro.
Those were specialist sports cars appealing to a specific enthusiast audience. The Monaro is what I would term a "BMW-style" coupe ie it's hard to spot it's a coupe and will be pitched at a more general audience, the man who used to buy a Scorpio Cosworth or a Peugeot 406 Coupe. I don't think 95% of the people who might buy it have ever heard of Holden. I don't particularly find £28000 that appealing when the 350Z costs less, looks sportier and goes harder, the TT is more trendy and a nearly new BMW M3 is a viable alternative and probably cheaper than the higher spec model they've been talking about.
I can see these cars being sold off as ex-demonstrators for £24k at which price I'm sure they'll sell but I can't help thinking the UK, which long ago abandoned the Ford Scorpio sector, isn't the right market for this car.
Perhaps they ought to fit a 350bhp engine, velour seats and sell it for 20k and call it the VX4/90. I actually believe that aligning this car with the VX220 would work best. They should call it the VX320 and then fit a turbo.
That may be because i was brought up in the 70's when the vauxhall Firenza Droop Snoot was not only the most drop-dead gorgeous mainstream coupe on the roads but quickly became a legend in it's own lunchtime DESPITE being preceded by a range of cars personified by the legendarily slow 1256cc Vauxhall Viva which at one point was actually the UK's best-selling car.
Equally, the VX220's problem was never the badge, it was just that the Elise was a better buy for the money and looked better. Along came the Turbo and in one blow (excuse the pun) blows the Lotus away and makes Performance Car Of the Year. My mate just bought one and it's an amazing car. Try finding something faster for that money.
And money is what is likely to be the Monaro's downfall, not the badge. As Jagsy said, Vauxhall dealers are rubbish. They charge the Earth because you have a top of the range V8 and then treat you like a faceless rep with an Astra. Neither the Camaro Z28 or the Corvette succeeded in the UK. That might be down to lhd but it's more to do with your average British driver not knowing what either car is, was or ever will be. Sure, they've heard of a Corvette but think "a Corvette" is a 1970's C3. They've certainly never heard of a Camaro.
Those were specialist sports cars appealing to a specific enthusiast audience. The Monaro is what I would term a "BMW-style" coupe ie it's hard to spot it's a coupe and will be pitched at a more general audience, the man who used to buy a Scorpio Cosworth or a Peugeot 406 Coupe. I don't think 95% of the people who might buy it have ever heard of Holden. I don't particularly find £28000 that appealing when the 350Z costs less, looks sportier and goes harder, the TT is more trendy and a nearly new BMW M3 is a viable alternative and probably cheaper than the higher spec model they've been talking about.
I can see these cars being sold off as ex-demonstrators for £24k at which price I'm sure they'll sell but I can't help thinking the UK, which long ago abandoned the Ford Scorpio sector, isn't the right market for this car.
Perhaps they ought to fit a 350bhp engine, velour seats and sell it for 20k and call it the VX4/90. I actually believe that aligning this car with the VX220 would work best. They should call it the VX320 and then fit a turbo.
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