HSV W427 Now on Sale

Holden Special Vehicles has today officially unveiled its 375Kw 7.0-litre W427 and at the same time announced that this year’s manufacturing run of 90 W427’s has already been pre-sold. Production of the W427 is now underway along with sales in Australia and New Zealand.

The W427 nameplate is a tribute to the first Holden Special Vehicle – the Group A SS VL Commodore, produced just over 20 years ago. This car became known as the ‘Walkinshaw’ in deference to the owner of the HSV business, Tom Walkinshaw, while ‘427’ is the cubic inch capacity of the engine.

Each W427 is powered the same LS7 7.0-litre V8 that powers the Z06 Corvette and is hand-built by General Motors Performance Build Centre in North America.

The W427 produces 375kW/500hp and 640Nm of torque, which required an extensive engineering program for the car, including all new clutch, gearbox, differential and exhaust, which will be fitted at HSV’s Clayton production facility.

HSV’s Managing Director Scott Grant said the car demonstrated engineering and design ingenuity was alive and well in the Australian car industry.

“The story around the development of this car is quite remarkable,” Scott Grant said.

“We are proud to have produced a vehicle of these proportions and are confident the public response to the W427 proves there is a strong future for luxury and performance vehicles in this country.”

The W427 is also equipped with a new six piston front braking system, six airbags, ABS and Electronic Stability Control and like all HSV’s the W427 will carry a full three year,100,000km warranty.

HSV’s design team, led by Julian Quincey, have also left a distinctive mark on the final product. The design brief for the W427 was to create a unique face for HSV, one that would signal the cars immense capability, authority and power.

“We believe we have achieved this with a range of design features including the imposing front face – which emphasises the need for cooling air for the seven litre engine, to the effective and functional three piece design rear lip spoiler, made of carbon fibre to keep weight to a minimum,” said Quincey.

The W427 wheels and graphic are the work of Adam Dean Smith, a former Wheels Young Designer of the Year. They feature a ‘castellated’ design graphic, also picked up on the exhaust tips.

HSV have confirmed that no more than 427 W427s will ever be built, with 90 vehicles to be built in 2008. The price we hear you ask - a hefty $155,500 inclusive of the new Luxury Car Tax increase – but even that six-figure sum doesn’t appear to have deterred buyers.

Each purchase of a HSV W427 will be accompanied by a special customer program designed to offer an insight into the craftsmanship that goes into the building of each and every vehicle.

“Every customer will have the opportunity to book into an exclusive VIP tour of Holden Special Vehicles Clayton based production facility, to observe the W427 build process.We’ve established and themed a dedicated viewing station for the W427 build bays on the factory floor.”

W427 buyers will also receive a personally signed letter from Tom Walkinshaw along with a unique vehicle build certificate. A Customer Access Portal, containing build information, servicing details and other information on the history of their car will also form part of the ownership experience.

HSV W427 owners will receive extra protection on their purchase with the inclusion of a new upgraded version of the world famous DataDots DNA anti-theft technology.

Known as DataDots DNA ‘Platinum’, it incorporates the latest encrypting ‘nano’ technology to authenticate genuine HSV components as well as the core vehicle.

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