IN EARLY APRIL, Holden Special Vehicles advised that enthusiasts and collectors eager to get their hands on a future classic would need to pull out the cheque book by April 28 to make the cut.
That day now long gone, HSV has announced that the last order to be filled, W427 number 137, has rolled off the line at Clayton.
On its way to a new life in Perth, the Heron White W427 pictured above was ordered by a HSV dealer on the west coast, although HSV spokesman Simon Frost remained tight-lipped on the dealer’s identity.
HSV’s self-proclaimed ‘Aussie Supercar’, the W427 came with a $155,000 price tag and a 375kW V8 heart.
Phil Harding, Managing Director at HSV, said:
“Who knows what the market for exotic muscle cars will look like in the future?”
“The purchase of a W427 might represent a savvy investment opportunity – as well as delivering a driving experience that is pure exhilaration and excitement,”
Soon to be sitting on the last example of HSV’s most ambitious project to date, who can blame that lucky Perth collector for requesting anonymity?
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The logic associated with the concept of this machine has ensured that those that a loyal to the badge will be buying a Commodore equivalent manufactured in China in the not to distant future. Sad…
The problem is this, when HSV release (and make no doubt about it they will) an LS9 400kW+ version of the Commodore what happens to the value of these W427? I feel sorry for those buying these cars thinking they’re an investment. ?HSV will always build faster and faster more powerful cars, if they don’t they may as well close their doors and go out of business. 1967 - 1972 is well and truly over, nothing can substitute that golden period of Australian Muscle Cars. The more people can understand that the less Monkeys will pay $155K for a Commodore that you can build yourself brand new for much less money. $60K for a brand new Clubby and $30 - $40K depending on who you know for a brand new LS7 and better bits like diffs, CV’s, clutch etc than what come with the W427 all built for well under $100K and you get to keep the original LS3 motor and the bits you replace to sell and recover some of the money spent. So in real terms you’re looking at around $80-$90K for the same car only better. How HSV found Monkeys to buy these things at $155K a pop is beyond me. No wonder their prediction of building 427 fell well short and made 137, not because it’s exclusive but because nobody bloody wanted one at that price. Tinny market and the prices for these cars will only go down in value. Sorry but HSV on this one you deserve a big FAIL!
Thank god we have one car maker who is still willing to take a punt and push the boundaries. The economic climate hurt the W427 for sure but they still sold well over 100, and that is no fail.
It is a limited edition remember, HSV only ever intended to sell what sold, it was never intended to be a volume seller.
They will definitely be collectors items.
jess summed a lot of it up in a very counter-V8-freak housewifer style
very logical and very true indeed.
hehe
you did forget though, that you could buy those metallic numbers (intended for letterboxes n stuff) to stick W427 on it, just for the fun ot it to make it stand out more
As a 2003 HSV GTO owner, I sorry to have to agree with Jess on this one. The car was great when I first purchased it, but the re-sale faded off real quick, and now it’s not worth a cracker. Fully optioned [ at the time ] I paid $86,000, 6 years later, it’s worth $30,000 if I’m lucky. Now the basic Commodore has nearly all the stuff I included as options, and it’s less than $30,000. Feeling ripped off ??? .. Yeah, just a little, but you learn from you’re mistakes, even the expensive ones. Still, it’s a great car to drive and I still love giving it a serve for old times sake.
Something tells me this W427 will mostly be remembered for its outrageous price tag. At launch it was $8,000 MORE than the vastly, vastly superior Nissan GT-R!. Different cars I know but I think comparable. The other thing is, a GTS, even an R8 does 90% of the job a W427 does at less than half the price. Then there is the visual differentiation (or lack of) between the cars. I would go as far as saying a GTS even looks better!
As for collectability, hard to speculate, but 20-25 years later HDT Brock Commodore values are strong but have not headed into the stratosphere, something I expected after the passing of the late and great Peter Brock. It seems the outrageous values are restricted to a handful of Phase 3 GTHO’s and Monaro GTS’s.
Going on past history, HSV resale value is not glorious and if I was a betting man I’d say the W427 will only do marginally better than its stable mates…lets see what happens when the HSV E-Series II brings and how it affects resale of it E-Series 1..
This will be another one for the collectors. No doubts there as in recent times there have been some very collectable cars from the stable of HSV.
It’s almost as though everyone has forgotten the Coupe 4 that HSV released.
lol $150,000, what a waste
The rarest and most collectable HSVs would have to be the 2 Black VN SS Group As which were a prize during a Promotion for the Tooheys 1000 - both of which are owned by the one family here in Perth..
The one is in 100% factory condition whilst the the other has had done some modifications etc done to it
I own a HSV Coupe 4, (ex-HSV PR Car and very low build number) which I picked up 2 years ago at a considerably reduced price compared to sticker price, I’ll be looking for a W427 in 3 years time hopefully at a much reduced price as well, yes the W427 was over priced IMO, yes the GT-R is more superior blah blah blah. The collectable cars are the rare, odd ball and limited production number cars. Couple that with the fact that it is home grown and even though it may be a flop in some peoples eyes there are alot of people that only dream of having one.
Yeah sure I can do what Jess said and do a mock up from a base clubby, heck look at all the Phase III replica’s out there, there worth just as much as the real thing aren’t they?
In the end, I’ll get a second hand one when the price comes down, which it will, then I’ll enjoy the hell out of driving it and if it’s worth 6 figures plus in 20 years, well thats just a bonus for my retirement fund isn’t it.
Give it time when all the 18-25 year olds who lust of the W427 which an age of about 45-50 and than you will see the prices go up.
The GTHO, Monaro GTS and GTR XU1 are classic examples of it.