First published in Street Machine’s Slickest Commodores #23, 2007

To the true enthusiast, there’s no such thing as the common or garden variety of Peter Brock car. Sure, everyone can pick their favourite for whatever reason, but at the end of the day, any vehicle produced by the great man is a collectible item, and more so now than ever before.

The production runs on different models often varied according to the climate at the time, the number of model variants also depending on prevailing factors such as homologation requirements for racing, even changes to racing rules – as was the case with the VK Group A.

But the car you see pictured here is one of a very limited number produced, in fact, in our search we’ve only found one other example. This is a VL Bathurst Aero, not a VL Bathurst V8, mind you (of which there were a few), but a Bathurst Aero, born of a time when Brock and The General had parted professional company and were each doing their own thing. Indeed, the split allowed Brock to pretty much do as he pleased with the HDT cars he was still producing, being no longer bound to meet Holden requirements or quotas.

It was a pretty difficult time for HDT as it was essentially the beginning of the end. The terrible day had arrived when Peter Brock and Holden had decided well and truly that their association had run its course.

Despite the fruitful relationship that had spawned so many memorable cars (even then they were something special) the partnership was beyond help, and besides, Holden had already made a new best friend in the form of Tom Walkinshaw and the HSV operation, who were all set to continue building factory hotties to keep the performance enthusiasts happy.

But, of course, the initial response to HSV’s efforts didn’t set the local motoring scene alight. Even now there are plenty of people who reckon the Walkinshaw looks like a smacked arse (not the view of this magazine, but there are people who believe it, and lots of others who also thought the HDT Director was a shocker in the looks department as well).

Although some thought Brock had lost his way somewhat with the Energy Polarizer debacle, there was still a huge demand for HDT cars and Brocky’s popularity remained as strong as ever, so he kept producing cars, dropped any mention of Holden in their names and the motoring faithful kept lining up to buy them.

But without Holden’s support, the going was tough for Brock and HDT. There were no special favours and no special deals on the raw materials, so the actual base cars had to be transformed into HDT specials. This meant HDT had to buy the cars like everyone else and then set about stripping them down before rebuilding them with the new panels and go fast bits. Obviously, this resulted in production costs going through the roof, and these, of course, were passed on to the consumer in the finished product.

Although the cars kept coming, the numbers of finished cars delivered to customers were considerably less than before, and in some cases are tricky to confirm. Around this time HDT also produced a number of aftermarket kits that would allow punters to upgrade their cars, including both cosmetic and mechanical packages. These kits, leading to a number of HDT ‘modified’ Commodores also add to the confusion regarding just how many fair dinkum Brocks there are running around – but that’s another story.

Come 1988 and Brock’s latest model was unveiled, the VL Bathurst V8 to commemorate his win at Mt. Panorama the previous year (the famous win where he finished third, but the first and second-placed Sierras were later disqualified for rule violations).

The Bathurst was a way of making the most of existing components (particularly in the body department) without having to go out and produce a new bodykit from scratch. The look then was something of an amalgamation of existing HDT kits to produce something a little different, while the suspension, trans and engine were pretty much what everyone had come to know and love – the exception being that you could option this one with a 5.6-litre V8 in place of the standard 5.0-litre job.

Response to the VL Bathurst was by all accounts pretty strong, but for some reason, Brocky very quickly went one further and produced the VL Bathurst Aero, which as we mentioned was limited to only a couple of cars. Although Len Pennisi, present owner of HDT, says that there could be other, very similar cars that were special customer orders, to the best of their knowledge there are just the two – this one and a red one.

And this car is absolutely mint in every respect, the owner having had it since it was new and lovingly maintained it to an extraordinary level. There is not so much as a stone chip or mark on this car; it is in perfect nick.

Like the Bathurst before it, the Bathurst Aero was/is made up of a combination of existing HDT bodykit components, basically the Bathurst assortment with a dash of Director thrown in for good measure and to differentiate the cars. Even at a glance there’s no mistaking the Director flavour in the roof spoiler, while the front and rear bar, and indeed the skirts, are pure Aero. The Calais front too was confined to the Bathurst Aero, and the cars had items such as windscreen wipers and door handles colour coded to match the body’s duco.

Under the bonnet was the mighty 5.0-litre V8 (but again, the 5.6-litre could be ordered as an option – as far as we know, that option was never taken up in this limited-run model). The engine in this car is mated to a three-speed Trimatic auto ’box and the interior trim is standard executive, although buyers could order a full Recaro interior. This car does have the Momo wheel though and the foot rest is ex-factory. The suspension came by way of the System II kit, which comprised a worked version of the tried and true MacPherson strut/Bilstein gas damper combination, while the wheels are 16x7in Mk II Aeros.

Although the two VL Bathurst Aeros were effectively cobbled together from existing bits and pieces, it in no way diminishes their appeal or importance in the world order of things. Aside from the rarity of the model, it is important to remember that the Bathurst Aero was pretty much the end of the line and the last new release by HDT before Brock started looking toward other manufacturers with whom, maybe, to start again. Although the less said about some of them the better.

At time of writing, the car featured here has been offered for sale, and for around $50 large.

HDT VL Bathurst Aero