GM's Australian holding Holden is launching the fastest, most powerful, most expensive road car ever made in Australia at today's Melbourne International Motor Show. The HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) Commodore is based on the company's rear-wheel-drive Commodore platform (headed to the states in Pontiac G8 form). Hand-assembled at the Holden Team Racing headquarters, the new HSV Commodore boasts the Corvette Z06's 7.0-liter, dry-sump V8. With over 500 horses on tap, the Aussie supersedan has more horsepower than any of GM's stateside four-door offerings… at least until the '09 CTS-V arrives with 550 supercharged ponies. But is a $150k, premium-slurping V8 monster going to sell in the land of Mad Max with oil likely over $100/barrel for good? Unsurprisingly, HSV boss Scott Grant reckons so. More surprising is the rationale he gave the Sydney Morning Herald: "Holden and HSV have had record sales of V8s over the past 12 months and we believe there is definitely a market for this car." Whether there's a non-fleet market for V8's in Australia now, or after a few more years of rising gas prices, remains to be seen.
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Awesome car, Metamucil name. “VIC-20” sounds more exciting…
dear GM, please stop putting crappy Pontiac front ends on your nice Holden cars.
if it weren’t obviously insane to be adding yet more brands I’d say just start a new Holden brand here without all the baggage of names like Pontiac and Cadillac.
Why would the price of gas matter to someone dropping 150K on a car?
If someone drives this rig 10,000 miles a year at let’s say 10mpg, that is 1,000 gallons of gas. Say it’s $5/gal which would give $5000.
Big deal, $5k for a guy willing to buy a car for 150K. And the real number is likely much less as the mpg is probably better and the price of gas is likely lower.
Jbyrne, you’re absolutely right that the cost of fuel to the original owner isn’t going to matter at all. In the USA (and I assume AU too) though, many middle-class and wealthy people buy expensive cars (and trucks) as toys, run them a few years, and then trade them in on another toy. If we see gas prices go up significantly, the guzzlers are going to have a low resale and trade-in value because the 2nd owners won’t be able to afford the gas. That is how high fuel prices will hurt the original buyer.
While $150k cars that get 10 MPG probably won’t be hit too hard by expensive fuel affecting resale, the $40k SUVs and pickups that get 12 MPG are going to be devastated. The type of person that buys a 4-year-old Ford Expedition for $12k isn’t going to like paying $4k/year for fuel.
Here in Australia, we have one BIG motor racing series. It’s called the V8 Supercar series and it’s all Holden vs Ford. Commodore vs Falcon. I’m 38 years old and I can barely remember a time when it wasn’t just these two duking it out for the hearts and minds of our sunburnt country’s petrolheads. Think of it as NASCAR with corners.
Everyone here grows up exposed to Holden vs Ford and whilst many grow out of it, there’s a multitude of people for whom this is still the basis for their automotive passion. Go check out the prices of an original Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III – the 1970 equivalent from Ford of the car you’re discussing here. They go at auction now for figures upward of $250,000.
Every October these V8 fans take off the suits they wear in their now-successful job of choice and head to Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 1000 race. The biggest race in the series. For that weekend, it’s redneck central and everyone’s invited. It’s Red vs Blue.
These HSV vehicles, and their FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) counterparts sell like hotcakes. Well, the appear to as long as Holden and Ford limit their production.
Believe me, fuel prices will have very little to do with sales numbers of these cars. They’ll only be limited by the number of now-successful rednecks with a clip large enough to buy them.
Your GM-harbinger-of-doom phrases are out of place here, trust me.
Well, the* appear to as long as Holden and Ford limit their production.
Should be “they”. My edit button’s gone missing…
Lord! that car is ugly. Ugly wheels. Bland as bland window area from the three quarter veiw in the photo and the nose looks like black snot coming out of a trendy garden waterfall….. yep – they’ll sell all they make and the poor resale will make your eyes water.
quite an unusual wheel design, not a fan myself but i do like the fact it appears NOT to have a huge rear wing.
i believe they will easily sell every one they make. i live in New Zealand where both HSV and FPV products are sold, and i see new E-Series HSVs every single day, and our petrol is a lot more expensive than in Oz