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HSV GTSR W1 Maloo sells for $1.05 million: new auction record for an Australian-made car

A new auction record has been set for an Australian-made road car after a Holden Special Vehicles GTSR W1 Maloo ute sold today for $1.05 million.


Bidding for the supercharged V8 ute had already passed the $1 million mark a fortnight before the hammer fell in the Lloyds Auction this afternoon (30 January 2021), eclipsing the $1.03 million paid for a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III in June 2018. 

Bidding started at $1,050,000 and closed at the same price after not receiving any further offers after a 10-minute call.

The HSV Maloo GTSR W1 was not available for the public to buy but was instead a special order among HSV’s inner circle of board members and long-standing customers in the lead-up to the shutdown of local manufacturing in late 2017.

The buyers signed non-disclosure agreements however these arrangements were short-lived as word leaked.

No-one has revealed the price paid for the one-of-four specials, however CarAdvice understands it was in the order of $330,000 per vehicle.

The vehicles have W1 sedan equipment including the supercharged V8 from the ZL1 Corvette, P Zero semi-slick tyres, and W1 badging inside and out.

The W1 utes are complied as Maloo GTSR models because the W1 version was never intended for public sale.

Two other HSV GTSR W1 Maloo utes were mocked up by private collectors after HSV assembly ended; one was completed by a third party in Melbourne, the other by a third party in Queensland.

Although those two aftermarket Maloo utes (one in green and one in white) are mechanically identical, only the first four cars – serial number 000 (matte metallic grey), 001 (pale yellow), 002 (gold) and 003 (red) are considered the real deal and went through the HSV assembly process.

Photos showed the HSV Maloo GTSR sold at auction had just 681km on the odometer.

The identity of the seller has not been revealed, however he is understood to be an avid collector of Holden cars.

The vehicle was reportedly bought by LMCT, an outfit that specialises in selling raffle tickets to exotic supercars. 

The hammer price of $1,050,000 – not including an additional 7.5 per cent auction fee – is a record for an Australian-made road car.

In June 2018 an anonymous buyer paid $1.03 million – not including the 7.5 per cent auction fee – for an unrestored 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III road car once owned by Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson. That car cost $5250 when new and was the world’s fastest sedan at the time.

In October 2018 a record $2.1 million was paid for the Holden Commodore driven to victory by Peter Brock in two back-to-back Bathurst 1000 races — in 1982 and 1983.

This result smashed the previous record price paid for an Australian car by more than $1 million.

Today’s sale price of $1,050,000 for the HSV Maloo GTSR W1 also comfortably surpassed the most expensive HSV ever sold.

In 2008 one of two HRT 427 Monaros sold for $920,000 – the highest price ever paid for an Australian car at the time.

The example sold was the running prototype for the stillborn project; HRT 427 show car has been retained by Holden.

As for more attainable HSV cars, in 2018, a 1988 HSV VL Commodore Walkinshaw Group A SS sold at auction for $340,000, while a 1996 HSV VS GTS-R sold for $335,000 in late 2020.

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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