This Holden Commodore sold for $340,000
Image source: ABC News
A 30-year-old Holden has sold for Italian sports car money, adding to the owners' $1.8 million auction earnings.
A 1988 Holden Commodore sold on Sunday for a flabbergasting $340,000. This is no ordinary Commodore though, it’s a rare VL SS Group A SV model, number 333 of only 750 made.
In February 2020, GM announced Holden would close in 2021. Rear the announcement here.
VL Commodores were the first cars made under a fledgeling partnership between Holden and Tom Walkinshaw Racing and came with Holden's first fuel injected V8. Holden produced these rare models at its Victoria assembly plant in Dandenong, before shipping them to HSV in Clayton for modification.
HSV made these cars to meet Group A international racing rules, where a number of road-going models must exist. 500 models were made and sold very well, so the group built an extra 250. The body underwent considerable wind tunnel testing in Britain. SS Group A SVs initially sold for $47,000.
Why the upsurge in Holden interest?
Auctioneers weren’t surprised with the unsurpassed interest. Ashley Burns, principal of auctioneers Burns & Co said demand was “out of this world”. Burns also said it was perhaps the best example of a VL Commodore in the world.
Burns pointed to the end of Holden production as the reason for frenzied interest in rare roaring lion models. "Holden as we know it is finished in Australia, so there's a real sort of frenzy in relation to certain models."
The reason for such a high price?
This car is in flawless condition and was never registered for road use. Four NSW and Victoria car dealership owning brothers bought the car. In 30 years, it has travelled just 1,308 kilometres or about 43 km per year. The odometer is so low as the owners trailered the car around.
Auctioneers likened the car to “new old stock” when a product has sat in its original packaging, unopened for many years. Understandably, there are very few of these cars around with such low kilometres.
The Commodore auction attracted 66 bids and auctioneer Burns said it has likely to have sold to an investor, rather than an enthusiast.
The family also sold off other vehicles from its private collection including a 2,375km 1985 VK HDT Brock Commodore Group A SS that netted $305,000. Looking through the auction results, the D’Alberto brothers made over $1.8 million in car sales alone with several six-digit examples.
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