A quarter-century ago, when Holden were ripping covers off their shiny new Monaro, there was a stoush brewing behind closed doors and it all centred on trademarks and branding. It’s easy to look at the sweet Phantom Black two-door from The Motor Gallery and call it a Monaro, but this uncovers an uncomfortable squabble between family divisions many probably forgot about.
In 2001 Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) were about to release their range of Monaro-based cars, and everyone was so hyped by the base Holden CV8 they were dead-keen to see what HSV would do. The problem was HSV, Holden’s own satellite hot-up shop, were being excluded from using the Monaro name on the go-fast versions of Holden’s reborn two-door muscle car that was taking the world by storm at that point.
The off-the-record reasons pointed to things like “branding confusion in the marketplace” and other corporate talk, but what it meant was HSV were left to name their range-topping muscle cars the HSV Coupe. Sold as the base GTO or top-spec GTS the hype around the return of a Holden V8 two-door performance car meant the HSVs didn’t suffer despite the naming SNAFU.
The 400hp (300kW) Callaway 5.7-litre GTS model was discontinued in 2004 to make way for the all-wheel-drive Coupe4. Performance fans need not have fretted, though, as the Z-series was released in 2005, based around the new VZ Commodore.
The 5.7-litre LS1 made way for a 398hp (297kW) 6.0-litre LS2, available with a Tremec six-speed manual or four-speed 4L60E auto. Reviews of the HSV GTO were always favourable, with journalists preferring the more understated bodykit over the in-your-face GTS, and HSV’s handling and braking upgrades made them bombastic grand tourers that could eat miles, even though not many HSV Coupes ended up being used in this way.
While plenty of CV8 Monaros still see daily driver duty around Australia, plenty of the HSV Coupes were treated as special creatures from new and it seems this sweet black GTO was one of those lucky ones. A little over 21 years since it left the Clayton plant this Z-Series GTO has only gone 13,042km, which averages out at 621km per-year, so it stands as a proper time capsule as everything appears as-new.
Around 983 HSV Coupe GTOs were built, not counting special editions like the LE, Signature, or Dealer Team, and as some were exported to the UK as Vauxhall Monaros it’s hard to know precisely how many remain in Australia. But, examples in excellent condition like this GTO are sure to rise in price in coming years, as a decent slice of Aussies look back to a very different time.
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