HSV to sell last of GTSR W1s

THOSE who missed out on a Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) GTSR W1 will have a final opportunity to snap up the most powerful Australian-built car ever as the limited-run super sedan goes under the hammer on March 17.

Also being auctioned next to the GTSR W1, which is the press test pilot car featured in car magazines and other media, will be two of the last locally-built HSVs – a GTSR sedan and Maloo ute – although what price the trio will fetch is still unclear.

Speaking to GoAuto, Manheim director of marketing and communications Mathew McAuley said the special status of the HSVs made it hard to predict how much the vehicles would fetch at auction.

“We know that they are going to be highly-sought-after vehicles, we know that whenever we auctioned HSV models before there has always been huge interest,” he said.

“But these are pretty unique, so it’s very hard to say what might be achievable.”

As the most-expensive Australian-built car ever, the GTSR W1 commanded a $169,900 before on-roads cost, with all 300 examples selling out nearly instantly when the VF Series II Commodore-based supercar slayer was revealed in February last year.

Under the bulging bonnet sits a supercharged 6.2-litre LS9 V8 tuned to 474kW of power and 815Nm of torque thanks, in part, to forged internals, titanium inlet valves, hollow-stem exhaust valves and a carbon-fibre airbox.

Sending power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, the GTSR W1 will blitz the zero to 100km/h sprint in just 4.2 seconds on its way to an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h.

The GTSR, however, started at $96,990 and $109,490 for the manual Maloo and sedan versions respectively, with automatic versions rising $2500 – all powered by a 435kW/740Nm supercharged 6.2-litre LSA V8.

Both the sedan and ute GTSRs going under the hammer are finished in a black exterior colour, with the Maloo being a three-pedal version and the sedan fitted with an automatic transmission.

In August last year, a brand-new GTSR W1 was passed in at $257,500 at a Prestige Auction, while Manheim has also put final-build Fords and Holdens under the hammer.

Manheim CEO Charles Cumming said he hopes the auction will draw the attention of Australian performance car enthusiasts.

“We are very excited and very proud to be working with HSV to conduct such a special auction which will see these iconic vehicles offered to the public,” he said.

“Clearly, HSV has a proud and long history in the Australian automotive industry, so we want to make sure the public sale of these special vehicles generates the interest HSV truly deserves.”