Last HSV W427 rolls out of Clayton
July 28, 2009 by George Skentzos
Holden Special Vehicles has announced the end of an era with the very last W427 made to order at Holden Special Vehicles’ Clayton production facility late last week after the order books were closed on April 28.
While the final build number has not been announced, it is unlikely that HSV has met its revised cap of 200 vehicles – downgraded from the initial 427 vehicles which were to be produced at the vehicle’s launch.
However this does not mean the fabled build number 427 will never see the light of day, with one customer reportedly paying a premium over the $155,500 price tag for the privilege of labelling his W427 as the ‘last’ made.
In reality though, a Heron White example with an undisclosed build number will be the very last W427 to roll out of HSV’s Clayton production facility, perhaps making it the most highly sought after of the limited production run in a few decades.
The W427 still eclipses the final build number of HSV’s previous attempt at building a 7.0-litre,V8, Australian muscle car flagship with the HRT 427, of which only two were ever built in 2002.
Tags: HSV W427
quote ” perhaps making it the most highly sought after of the limited production run in a few decades.”
Move over Walky, the Ho is coming through to knock you off your perch in 2011 ;)
Commie will change its engines and survive and in terms of style in beats others still and is an older car. Writers in car mags comment on this and I have said all along that VE is classy and well proportioned.
It’s hard to ignore Nissan GTR for the same price. W427 can’t even beat Evo’s and STI’s at half it’s price yet GTR beats Germans more than twice it’s price. So does that mean the GTR represents 4 times better value?
They along with Ford will be nothing more than importers, it has become to expensive to manufacture in Aus. The bottom line is, we can`t compete with China and that is where I believe the Commodore will be built after 2015.
Lpg………..any idea how many GT-Rs have been made world wide ?
Come back in 10 years and tell us how much it would have devalued by then ?
People that buy these arent looking at what they can spend 155k on ,they want to buy a limited edition Muscle Car that will appreciate in years to come.
Now let’s see HSV put this 7.0 motor in the regular GTS.
BM you are correct.
No one is saying this thing is good value but is still the toughest V8 sedan australia has produced.
Bavarian Missile, “limited edition muscle car” just like the overpriced $500K XY GT HO Phase 3 that can’t even beat a normal Golf GTI around Bathurst these days. Aussie icons only keep their value because morons have more cents than sense. Let me think $500K for a new 911 GT2 or F430 Scuderia, no let’s buy a XY instead.
I agree with BM,
Even tho I am a GTR fan, for those people on a decent income who like the Holden brand, how could you go past a car that is the most powerful they’ve made, the exclusivity, and your can still take your family along for a ride in it. It wouldn’t be the car I’d spend my money on if I had that much to throw about, but I can understand why somebody would.
Lpg……….yeah and in 10 years your 911 will be worth half of what you paid for it and the Phase 3 will still be pulling crowds where it goes and adding to your wealth.
Nothing better than being able to drive around in some of your superannuation :)
What a waste of money. The bogan image of a Commonwhore with the shocking build quality of Holden. Put this alongside a BMW M3 and tell me that the HSV is better – I dare you!
A fool and his money are soon parted. Unfortunately this car is so rare that I’d never have the chance to go up to an owner and tell him what a loser he is.
I would be interested to know how many they actually made. I think quite a few people saw it as a cash spinner for HSV and nothing else, which is what it really is.
BM, only problem with owning an old muscle car is that the more you drive it, the less that it is worth and lets be perfectly honest, the old phase 3’s are not that quick by modern standards.
Bavarian Missile, WTF do you have $hit for brains? So you’d rather a W427 over a 911 purely because of depreciation??? If everyone thought like you Zonda, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, Bugatti, McLaren, etc……. wouldn’t exist.
John, I couldn’t agree more. $155K Dunnydore with a $32K Omega dash that rattles after 50,000kms makes it a fantastic buy. One for the collectors! Of junk that is.
” lets be perfectly honest, the old phase 3’s are not that quick by modern standards ”
Name me one car from that era that is ?
Where do you get that from SteveH Quote ” only problem with owning an old muscle car is that the more you drive it, the less that it is worth”
Not true at all.
Yeah the Phase 3 maybe slow by todays standards but its not about keeping up with modern day cars. Owning any old classic is about the pleasure they bring you from owning a piece of Automotive history,in the mate-ships you create from sharing experiences from them and the respect they demand when your out in them. Modern day cars very rarely give you that .
I love the comments from the numnuts who will never own a house let alone a W427, who are going to walk up to someone who has and call them a loser.
And the other types who think they know how to handle money accusing tose who can of having inadequate brainpower.
It’s pretty clear who the loser brainless posters are – but as always arguing with idiots just brings you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience.
i saw on where i live, i followed it. i want one, then crash it. w 42 what… w 426
Toxic Horse, I’ll name one. Porsche 917. 1970. 0 to 100km/h in 2.7 sec, 390km/h top speed. 1,180kws. I can name another if you like… :)
Toxic Horse…more to the point name any four door salon in the world that could pass it in 1971.
Lpg……….. Ive had a 911 and seen first hand how much they depreciate in the first two years from new. So Ive been on both sides of the fence of ownership at the same time and respect both cars for what they are capable of.The 911 was a great tax deduction :P
Is it necessary for you to get abusive,it just shows your lack of personal development skills in trying to get your point across.
Reckless1, as your post was full of spelling mistakes. One may think you were talking about yourself when using the word ‘brainless’.
The logic associated with the concept of this machine has ensured that those that a loyal to the badge will be buying a Commodore equivalent manufactured in China in the not to distant future. Sad…
Yeah Will ,how is that crystal ball you keep looking into.Seems your fortune telling of the Falcon becoming front wheel drive all went a little blurry after Ford confirmed the Falcon would stay RWD last week………mmmmmmmmmm More fortune telling mate ?
Got to stop confusing wishful thinking and facts mate.
The Falcon will be FWD and AWD shortly when their importing the Taurus as the Falcon. Ford also said they were building the Focus here and look how that turned out LOL
BV, you just don’t seem to appreciate what position GM. is in, and the contributing factors associated with that position.
I thought 427 of these things were going to manufactured…and the G8, where is it; under the carpet beneath my feet, or behind that chair over there?
A RWD. Falcon in 2011…well perhaps…Ford Australia are getting a huge amount care of the taxpayer to develop the two litre donk. I suspect economics will dictate it will be exported for either the Taurus or Mondeo that will be rebadged a Falcon.
LPG I looked up that porche, that is quick.
I didn’t know they made cars that quick in 1970
No need to get nasty BM I`m simply just stating the facts. The Australian Productivity Commission has recommended that all tax payers funding be turned off in 2015, so how will Holden and Ford be able to produce cars in this country with out it. Well they won`t, they will be importing all their cars and with Tariffs reduced to 5% next year, it will become a whole lot cheaper.
If I had the money I would not put down an order for this when the order books were open. I mean sure it is special and over time will make money, but that’s not why I buy cars in general. Also it is my understanding that HSV’s are there to be driven not to put in a garage and then afew decades later sell it. I would however put down money for a Walky Bathurst if I were in a market for a HSV. It’s also more powerful than this.
Also as many have commented who’ve driven this thing, it’s not that much more impressive than a GTS. Even the interior almost looks the same, or that it is? Hard to tell if you don’t own both cars. This is why it’s so disappointing for the premium paid over a GTS. I really don’t know why Holden didn’t go ahead with a Monaro version instead. It’s got the heritage and definitely will pull more emotional strings than a Commodore. Sure it hasn’t got 4 doors and as much space but who really buys these kinda cars to regularly transport their families in anyway?
Let’s hope Ford doesn’t make the same mistake with the GTHO coming up (or was that just a rumour?). Let’s hope that it’s much more than a F6 with ~15% more power and fairly similar interior…
Gee, that was quick. Knowing Holden’s usual reaction to the last model of a car, I was surprised that this W427 wasn’t sold for half a million.
I notice there is one of these for sale second hand on carsales for $140,000. Gee, they are already going gangbusters :)
Anyone who thinks these cars will appreciate in value needs to stop smoking their bong.
Bavarian Missile:
“Toxic Horse…more to the point name any four door salon in the world that could pass it in 1971.”
Bavarian Missile, you’re quite right there. Even 4-door salons from 2009 would have trouble getting ahead. They tend to be attached firmly to the ground, and with all the bricks, concrete, hairdryers and styling products, have a truly massive weight. A typical 1.5kW blowdryer really doesn’t do much to get these things up and running. At least the taunts of modern 4-door salons being a “hairdresser’s car” aren’t too far from the mark.
Wow, it takes an Ozi muscle car for people to loose their decorum. It is always like this when a news article hits about GM or Ford. Well done CA, as usual we can skip the article/press release and read the comments for a good laugh… Very entertaining but not at all gospel words of wisdom. Great car for collectors,? I agree.
I can only imagine that Holden and HSV going bankrupt would really be great for W427 resale in a few years…
If it helps me get a Merc or Audi $20k cheaper… I say pull the plug and keep our fingers crossed.
Im really surprised that this article hasnt reached 100 posts yet as with all other Falcadore articles.
I have a problem with people that have to put down aussie muscle cars and what they do for the spirit of competition between marques. I am a ford supporter and I perfer that make but I do see,once in a while see a nice holden.
So if you dont like the old HO’s or monro’s and what they mean to a car lover now, than you just dont get it do you!
LPG – your just one of these annoying twerps who spend their evening running around the internet trying to force your own opinions onto others. So you don’t like australian muscle cars, good for you, that doesn’t mean other people aren’t allowed to like them. It’s very simple mate, we are all individuals! That means we are allowed to like different things! Accept it and sod off!
The only muscle cars with any cred that will be worth anything in years to come are those with racing heritage. ie Bathurst. Non racing Special editions like this and others are worthless. Bring back production cars…
Robj – production car racing is still happening mate, theres a small race called the bathurst 12 hour every year specifically for production cars, and guess what! They don’t even get 10% of the crowd the V8 Supercars get, what does this tell you? The days of production car racing are long past, they only reason it ever happened frankly was because there was no alternative back in the 50’s and 60’s, from the 70’s onwards however their has been a slow and gradual shift away from production car racing, for good reason, safety not least of which!
but as i said, production car racing still exists right here in Australia, the fact you don’t even know about this says little of your desire to “bring it back”. Empty comments… sorry I get so worked up about this, its my pet hate however, all these people saying they hate V8 supercar and want to see production car racing but when there is production car racing they don’t watch it! DON’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT! So stupid…
Exactly Richo… Just because you don’t see it hear it or read about it doen’t mean that it doesn’t happen etc
The V8 Brutes are pretty close to production car races – they are still road registerable.. as are [I believe] the cars in the Mini Challenge
Richo, All hot under the collar are we? Crack open another VB mate. That should calm you down. Sure we are all individuals and we all have opinions. Everyone can choose whatever they want to drive. My opinion is that for $155K you can buy much better cars end of story. Accept it and sod off!
Coupe 4 was a limited run of HSV’s. What would they sell for now? Also SV99 and GTS-R?
Damn, I have run out of popcorn… ;-)
Ahh now I can write something without LPG acting like a total fool. Its 8.30am so my guess is he’s on the bus to school, probably year 9 or 10. Mums packed his lunch and his latest drifting magazine, full of nice pics of the latest rice burners in nice sideways action. I’ve owned a few nice Aussie muscle cars in my years. Most bought and sold for a good profit. The latest is a yank though. A 69 Camaro that I’ve had for 10 years. Yes the handling and ride is nothing like a modern, it drinks copius amounts of petrol, its noisy and you have to be very, very, very careful in the wet. But hell when you give it a bit of right boot, all is forgiven. If I had the dough I would have bought a W427. I’ve had the pleasure of driving one for a week and what a joy it was. If you want to see what value these will be in 20 or 30 years, look at the first Walkinshaw VL’s of the final Group A’s. They range up to $120′000 if you can find one. Any low production/one off Aussie muscle car will appreciate quickly particularly if it has a link to motor racing (I know, the W427 does not). You might not think they are worth it, but people there is a big demand for these cars. Like BM, I like driving around in my super and watching it appreciate as I do. The older the Camaro gets, the more its worth and I have a great deal of fun doing it.
It’s like stamps and coin collecting. 99% of us don’t want them. 99% of us want “things” we can use right now, that are new and shiney. We’re not into it for the profit, we’re into because we like technology, speed, and evolution.
But the 1% of punters whom have the motivation, will pay handsomely. The debate raging on this forum has very little to do with motorcars, people. It’s about passion and collecting – in general.
Naturally a T-Model Ford can’t compete against a new VW Ute. But if you’re not actually interested in 1-tonne haulage, then perhaps the brand new, cheaper, performance maxxed, current models are irrelevant to you. Perhaps you just want some history in your driveway with an engine in it. How fast it goes isn’t what it’s about.
Personally I don’t think these Holden’s will be worth more next year than they are new – but then again, I’m not a collector who wanted one, but couldn’t afford it, before production stopped. I don’t have posters of it on my wall.
If I can ever afford my childhood motoring dreams… I’m not the kind of guy who will follow through and buy a Lambo LP500! But there are those of us who will… so try not to compare apples with bannanas. Okay?
The W427,lexus I-SF and the BMW M3 are eligible for the 2010 Bathurst 12Hr,hopefully that will shake up the EVO’s abit.