There’s nothing quite as collectable and revered as homologation special cars, and here in Australia
we’ve churned out our fair share of belters.

Two of those from the iron lion pride is the Holden Commodore VL Group A SV more commonly
known as the ‘Walky’ and the Holden Commodore VN SS Group A that followed. There’s two primo
examples of both up for bidding with Slattery Auctions right now, so lets dive in and have a look at
each.

Of the two, the VN is the most special, starting with its unique two-tone paint job. After all, aside from the two Tooheys giveaway cars that were repainted black and the white prototypes, all normal VN Group As were dipped from top to tail in their signature Durif Red colour, weren’t they?

According to the vendor, this car was part of a Castrol giveaway competition for 1990 Bathurst 1000, complete with a one-off colour scheme. That makes it something truly special in a car that had a production run of just over 300.

We spoke to Graham McCulloch, the owner of both the VN and VL. The story behind the VN is a
fascinating one, as he explains how he got his hands on it in 1991: “It was part of a giveaway for
Castrol GTX in 1990, and apparently it toured all over Australia for each race that year,” he says. “An old guy won it when it was drawn at Bathurst in 1990, but he didn’t want it,” he continued. “He never took delivery, so it sat at the Caloundra Holden dealer. Eventually they got sick of looking at it and I was the
highest bidder, so I took it. If I didn’t, they were going to shove it out on the street at 5pm that day
and leave it!”

The car is build number 466 of 302. If that math sounds odd, it’s simply because the build numbers
were assigned to VN Group As randomly, and didn’t accurately reflect the grand sum of 302 road
cars produced. Holden intended on building 500, but never followed through due to economic
pressures.

Having been with Graham since 1991 when it had just 561 kilometres on it, the VN still presents in really
good nick all these years later with just 30,000 kilometres of work. Bidding on the SS is starting at
$100,000, and you can view the listing here.

The second homologation special up for grabs is arguably the pinnacle of early Commodores for
most, a 1988 VL Group A SV Walkinshaw.

This one is build number 242 with 55,000 kilometres showing. Graham has kept
possession of the VL since 1990, and the car has been in storage since 2010 in an effort to preserve
the iconic piece of Australian motorsport history.

“I didn’t originally want a VL, but before I got the VN I couldn’t get my hands on a Group A VN, so I
settled for the VL,” says Graham. “I’m the second owner, but after a long ownership it’s time to
move both of them on to a new home.”

Like the VN, the VL has a starting bid of $100,000, with the auctions on both cars up and running
until 17 October, closing at 7.30pm AEDT. You can view the listing for the VL here.