Our picks from the Grays September classic auction

There’s plenty of heavy hitters and bargains to be had in the latest crop at Grays

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From cult icons to quirky bargains, the latest crop of metal crossing the block at Grays auction has something for everyone – but you’ll need to get in quick, as the auction ends tomorrow night.

We’ve already seen a few VK HDT blue meanies for auction in the past 12 months – most notably Peter Brock’s personal Group 3 VK, which also went through Grays for a whopping $1 million only a few months ago.

While this wasn’t Brock’s personal grocery getter, this 1985 Group A #264/500 is in very good condition (despite the somewhat high 187,000km odo reading) and comes with all the books and documents collectors drool over. At the time of writing the bidding sits at $210,000 with the reserve still yet to be met.

Another special Iron Lion crossing the block is this 1988 VL Walkinshaw. The listing states this specimen was delivered to New Zealand before making it back across the ditch a few years ago, and has travelled 157,000km.

We’re thankful it isn’t adorned with gaudy 20-inch wheels, and the listing states originality right down to the paint work and windscreen – with a refreshed donk. As we write it sits at $160,500 with a reserve still to be broken, so expect big dollars for this collector’s item.

It isn’t just Aussie metal making up the numbers for the big hitters, with this 1999 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R also up for grabs.

While we haven’t seen much local auction action for these yet, they’ve been going gangbusters overseas – with prices well over AU$400,000 being seen at auctions in Japan and the USA for rare models.

While it doesn’t wear a special NUR, V-Spec or similar badge, the real draw card of this GT-R is it appears to largely be unmodified – a true rarity for any Skyline. It’s also only got 107,000km on the clock and, critically, no reserve. With private sale ads starting at $200,000, the $146,100 this GT-R commands at the time of writing seems pretty reasonable.

Chrome bumper classics look set to have a good night at Grays as well. Our favourites include this Holden HT Monaro and a super clean Falcon XB GT sedan.

The 1969 HT is a factory 307 V8 car, with 96,000-odd kms on the clock and a claim to a full restoration 15 years ago.

Prices for HK-HG Monaros have been on a high of late, with a ’68 HK GTS 327 fetching $301,000 (before buyer’s premium) earlier this month.

We expect this HT to draw a fair bit more than the $150,000 against it at the time of auction, given it’s yet to break reserve.

Unlike the HT, the XB GT has already broken its reserve – the matching numbers car presenting a stunning for those priced out of a coupe version. At $108,000 it’s already ahead of another XB GT sedan which sold at auction at the start of the month for $97,000 (before BP), so with a day left on the cards it’ll be interesting to see how much further that figure climbs.

A classic in the making is this HSV VX GTS 300, which is famous for having the 300kW Callaway-built version of the ground breaking LS1. HSVs from any era have seen a significant jump in the last 12-18 months, so it’s no surprise the $40,000 currently bid on the GTS has yet to break the reserve price.

Current-gen Mustangs are a common sight these days, so if you want a modern-ish Muzzy but still want to stand out from the crowd – this 2008 Shelby GT500KR could just tickle your fancy.

The ‘KR’ stands for King of the Road, and around 1000 were built to celebrate Shelby’s 40th anniversary. The biggest difference was a boost in power of 29kW on the 5.4-litre supercharged V8 over the normal GT500 to a quoted 540hp/402kW. This one is build number 437, and was imported and converted to right-hook in 2012.

With a six-speed manual and live rear axle, we imagine it’d be a pretty wild thing to drive, and as we write this the auction sits at $60,400 with a reserve still to be met.

Not everything in the auction is out to rival Melbourne house prices, with some true bargains to be found in the mix.

The cost of anything Holden with an SS badge has been growing almost day by day, but we found two 2001 VX SS Commodores in the crop hovering around the $6000 mark. Granted, both are automatic and yet to break their reserve, but they could prove to be a cheaper buy given the current climate for V8 Holdens.

Much like Aussie stuff, Japanese metal has tripled in value in recent times, but bargains can still be found with a bit of hunting and left-of-field thinking. This JZX90 Toyota Cresta Tourer is a seriously tasty proposition, packing a 1JZ turbo, big dirty front mount intercooler and critically a five-speed manual ‘box.

At $8000 (as we write) it’s a nice alternative to those who missed out on a JZX100 Toyota Chaser, as clean manual versions of those are now fetching an eye-watering $40,000.

First-gen WRXs have also jumped up in value in recent years, so we were surprised to find this 1994 WRX Type RA Limited Edition was only sitting at $12,500 (with reserve not met).

Subaru made an abundance of special and limited edition version of the first-gen GC8 WRX, and that included a number of RA variants.

In a nutshell, the RA was a lightened WRX with STi-fettled bits, which can be seen from STi touches in the engine bay and wind up windows to save weight in the interior. Eagle-eyed buyers will also spot the roll cage, so don’t rule out this car as having had some track or rally time during its 143,000km.

As we mentioned, most of these listings are wrapping up tomorrow night, and you can view and bid on the whole range of cars online here.

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