Vauxhall Monaro: Spotted
What better way to bid farewell to the idiosyncratic Australian car industry...
£8K for all this? Yes please!
Sadly, by the end of the decade, the wind had gone from the Monaro's sails and following falling customer demand, the model was discontinued. It would be another 20 years before the firm persuaded itself to revive the idea, basing it this time on the slippery good looks of the VX generation of Holden Commodore.
The new car was sufficiently compelling for Vauxhall to take notice, and come 2004, Luton dipped its toe in hitherto uncharted waters: offering British buyers - denied a Griffin-badged coupe since the departure of the Calibra in '97 - the prospect of a V8-engined rear-drive import. Of course, this being Blighty (and Vauxhall having kept its initial quota sensibly modest), the car sold out almost immediately on the basis of its rather compelling power-to-pound-coin ratio.
A year later, the facelifted VZ version was made available; most notably in its 6.0-litre VXR format. But today's Spotted contender - in a solemn PH salute to the sad winding up of Australia's domestic car production - is the entry-level CV8 model which better mirrors the Holden sold Down Under. That means you get the Corvette-donated Gen III 354hp 5.7-litre pushrod motor, a distant derivative of the same small-block Chevy V8 found in its forebear.
Ain't no replacement and so on...
So we'd seize the chance to buy now before it's too late. Especially when a piffling £8,250 gets you one that was bought to be a keeper, looks to have been cared for with kid gloves and has covered a mere 72,000 miles - the equivalent of around the block in LS1 terms. It even comes in the best colour and the kindliest tax band.
VAUXHALL MONARO
Engine: 5,667cc, V8
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 354@5,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 353@4,800rpm
MPG: 18
CO2: 365g/km
First registered: 2005
Recorded mileage: 72,000
Yours for: £8,250
See the original advert here.
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https://youtu.be/fOR8Z8Dqtdc
Back in 1999 I ran an ordinary Holden Commodore VS. Although scoffed at by many, even the base model VS/VT etc Commodores were really quite fast cars by comparison with their European and American contemporaries. They have predictable and rather entertaining handling too.
https://youtu.be/fOR8Z8Dqtdc
And 40mph/1000rpm in top is not even close to 900mph.
And the LS series of engines are not a “derivative”of earlier SBC’s
Honestly, doesn’t anyone actually check the detail and facts in these articles. Is there no editor?
But hohum.
Very nice car and the best looking of the modern Monaros IMO. But I’ll stick with the vehicle most Vauxhall dealers who sold the Monaro were selling only a couple of years prior.
Oh, PH journo people, why do you leave yourselves wide open like this? So come one Mr Journo, identify yourself and, (please) explain yourself!
I remember the HSV GTS and GTS-R arriving on sale in the UK years ago and thinking how completely bonkers they seemed at the time. After selling my TVR Chimaera I decided a 6.0l VXR Monaro was the way forward and had it for just over a year. It's quite a bizarre combination: electric leather armchair, the steering wheel and ratio from a Routemaster bus, relatively subdued noise (mine was one of very few still with standard exhaust), but it was faster than my TVR, had enough torque to move the Saturn V crawler vehicle and the surprisingly decent chassis was fun to hustle around back roads. It doesn't fit in a standard UK parking space, and no-one knew what it was.
I now have a daily driver with less than half the torque and even worse fuel economy....
Last of the V8 Interceptors........
I was waiting for this! How long did we go in this thread, beforehand? Two dozen posts? It had to be said. Well done.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff