The ultimate Holden? One-off HSV Coupe concept heads to auction
September is set to be a magic month for Holden collectors, with one of the most incredible collections of Lion products all going under the hammer in Australia.
As reported last week, a trio of incredible matching HSV GTS-Rs (all painted in XU3 Yellah) have been listed on Lloyds Online with no reserve. The 1996 VS GTS-R, GTS-R W1 sedan, and Maloo GTS-R W1 ute all have less than 100km on their odometers, and are tipped to sell for over AU$2,000,000.
They’re not the only GTS-Rs on offer, though. While all three are rare, none can claim to be as rare as the one-off 2004 HSV GTS-R Concept Coupe that’s also been offered up to the public. Bidding at the time of writing sits at AU$235,000 ($245,175).
In the early 2000s Holden released a mountain of different concept vehicles. On top of the four concept Holden utes we detailed in this article over the weekend, Holden’s HSV division also produced the Coupe 4 Concept, the HRT 427, and the very pretty ‘Marilyn’ convertible concept.
The Concept Coupe (which traded the XU3 Yellah for Fusion Orange) was among the most serious of the concepts, produced as a specialist track-only weapon and briefly being a cover-car darling in this part of the world when it was revealed at the 2004 Sydney Motor Show.
The GTS-R Concept Coupe was HSV’s follow-up to the 427. Where the 427 was an attempt at a ‘race car for the road’, the GTS-R Concept was designed to only be used on race tracks and subsequently couldn’t be registered. HSV at the time said it would cost between AU$150,000-$180,000.
Under the bonnet was a 6.0-litre V8 producing 335kW of power and 605Nm of torque, paired to a six-speed manual. The stripped-out cabin features a bespoke carbon-fibre dashboard, a racing seat and steering wheel pairing with harnesses, zero carpet, zero airbags, and a full roll-cage.
Chassis-tweaks include a new Macpherson strut and coil-sprung set-up, paired to Ohlins adjustables and an anti-roll bar. Stopping comes in the form of a beefed-up set of 374mm carbon-ceramic cross-drilled ventilated discs.
According to Lloyds, former Supercars champion and Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife took the one-off concept around Mount Panorama for five laps. The auctioneer says that these are the only serious laps the car has done.
The virtual hammer drops on the GTS-R Concept Coupe’s auction on Friday, September 24.
