The real 'last Monaro' is finally sold

[Trevor 57]

The last of the 'proper' Monaros' IMHO (thanks Prof Farnsworth for the pic)
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpos...85&postcount=6

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Big Trev

The last of the 'proper' Monaros' IMHO (thanks Prof Farnsworth for the pic)
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpos...85&postcount=6



image

but what makes them more proper than the modern version? or even the hq style models?

[2011G6E]

Interesting thing about the "Pontiac GTO" that was sold in the USA WITH THE "droopy" big nostrilled nose on it.
We had a 2001 Series II VX Lumina, which we bought around 2005. It was a nice dark burgandy colour, and I bought a pair of those clear chrome backed taillights to put in it. The original taillights were perfect, so I put them on Ebay with a starting price of $60. Two guys immediately started a bidding war, and they ended up getting sold for about $160 or more. The funny thing was, the two guys were in New York and another American city...I think Chicago. The winner was the guy in New York, and in email correspondence with him (as I was curious what he wanted Commodore taillights for), he said he had a Pontiac GTO, and was putting new nose panels, lights, and badges on it to turn it "back into a Holden Monaro". Apparently a lot of guys in the USA were doing the same to one extent or another, from simple rebadging to full body changes.
He said a lot of owners loved the car, but didn't like the corporate look Pontiac nose on it, and to be different, were turning them back into Monaros.

I told him that was ironic that Yanks were rebadging Pontiacs as Holdens, as half the Monaros you see over here have Chev badges on them...

I also always thought it was a big mistake not to do the later Monaros the same as the earlier ones...available in every trim range from bog basic V6 "two door Commodore" to full house GTS standard. I remember seeing a HK Monaro for sale on the side of the road, and it was truly a "two door Kingswood"...it had a 161 six, three speed manual on the column, the long rectangular Kingswood/Belmont speedo with no other instruments to speak of, bench seats, rubber floor coverings, plain vinyl seats and trim, and drum brakes all round...it was about as basic and surpringly original as you could ever hope to find...I was shocked no one had gone mental on it at some time over the decades and modified it. Ford did this with their coupes as well, which came in every flavour from vanilla to red hot chilli.
Holden could have sold thousands of Monaros more if they had a basic spec one with normal Commodore trim, V6, and plain alloys. If you could have got one for maybe a grand or less more than a standard four door Commodore, people would have surely grabbed them.

[350125GO]

Nice cars any way you look at it. If only Ford had the market share and balls (stupidity? did they ever make a profit with these?) to have a go at it. I prefer the old ones but for a daily driver they are awesome. The V6 version though is very,very lame. Why go spending all that money and buy some asthmatic wheezer?

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

but what makes them more proper than the modern version? or even the hq style models?

Coz they were first and they were new when I was 16-18 years old

[neptune blue]

I owned a CV8R, the first lot they released in the Turbine grey metallic and it was a great car and in my opinion was worthy of the Monaro Badge

I had every intension of keeping it as a stable mate to my XB coupe but we built another house and I couldn't afford the rent, mortgage and lease payments on the car so much to my dismay I had to sell it

I solid it with 55000 km on the clock after owning it for three and a half years and it was spotless .

I would buy another one if the opportunity came up and garage it as I have no doubt thar he CV8R will become a collectors item

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Great looking car.....considering "large coupes" have always failed to be profitable in OZ it's amazing this car actually happened....

Holden was riding on a high back then, seemingly invincible and could do nothing wrong.

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Holden was riding on a high back then, seemingly invincible and could do nothing wrong.

I dont think they expected the reception from the public and motoring writers after the unveiling at the show.
Everyone seemed to be talking about it.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Agreed even the first CV8 Monaro in my eyes looks stunning to this day.

Yeah, they are all very handsome. Earlier last year I was very tempted to trade my FG XR6T for a low km grey CV8-R Monaro that was sitting at a Holden dealership nearby. Reason being, my neighbour bought one brand new many moons ago, it was metallic grey with the shale (cream) leather interior, I was so in love with that car. I still plan to get one some day, work on the motor a little bit but keep it completely factory on the outside.

[Shonky.]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Interesting thing about the "Pontiac GTO" that was sold in the USA WITH THE "droopy" big nostrilled nose on it.
We had a 2001 Series II VX Lumina, which we bought around 2005. It was a nice dark burgandy colour, and I bought a pair of those clear chrome backed taillights to put in it. The original taillights were perfect, so I put them on Ebay with a starting price of $60. Two guys immediately started a bidding war, and they ended up getting sold for about $160 or more. The funny thing was, the two guys were in New York and another American city...I think Chicago. The winner was the guy in New York, and in email correspondence with him (as I was curious what he wanted Commodore taillights for), he said he had a Pontiac GTO, and was putting new nose panels, lights, and badges on it to turn it "back into a Holden Monaro". Apparently a lot of guys in the USA were doing the same to one extent or another, from simple rebadging to full body changes.
He said a lot of owners loved the car, but didn't like the corporate look Pontiac nose on it, and to be different, were turning them back into Monaros.

I told him that was ironic that Yanks were rebadging Pontiacs as Holdens, as half the Monaros you see over here have Chev badges on them...

I also always thought it was a big mistake not to do the later Monaros the same as the earlier ones...available in every trim range from bog basic V6 "two door Commodore" to full house GTS standard. I remember seeing a HK Monaro for sale on the side of the road, and it was truly a "two door Kingswood"...it had a 161 six, three speed manual on the column, the long rectangular Kingswood/Belmont speedo with no other instruments to speak of, bench seats, rubber floor coverings, plain vinyl seats and trim, and drum brakes all round...it was about as basic and surpringly original as you could ever hope to find...I was shocked no one had gone mental on it at some time over the decades and modified it. Ford did this with their coupes as well, which came in every flavour from vanilla to red hot chilli.
Holden could have sold thousands of Monaros more if they had a basic spec one with normal Commodore trim, V6, and plain alloys. If you could have got one for maybe a grand or less more than a standard four door Commodore, people would have surely grabbed them.

Always thought the same. I think people would have paid a small premium over the 4 door even

[MITCHAY]

I love the 'modern' Monaro and GTO/GTS coupes and would very much want one some day. Just wish the HRT 427 got off the ground because it is very awesome.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/11677/au...r-the-hrt-427/

[Nikked]

What about the GTS/R? While in the end, it was a sly hint at the VE HSV styling, it still looked like the ultimate track weapon.

[Riksta]

I want a VN coupe.

VNs are Horn.





I rest my case.

[Nikked]

haha, VN hatch looks like a laser.

[ZH For Me]

Originally Posted by Nikked

haha, VN hatch looks like a laser.

At a quick glance, I thought it WAS a laser

I'll admit, I do like the look of the CV8Z's and the CV8R's. The standard CV8's do look a little tame for my liking though. Would I say no if someone offered me one?... Nah, I'd take it

[ZDHLANE]

I think they finally got it right with the last Manaro.

To me It actually looked like the pedigree of the classic ones. (Where the manaro looked significantly different to the base models).

Meaning, the previous 01-02 or when ever they were released allways looked pretty ordinary, just like a normal commodore from the front. (I thought the vx front end may have loked more menacing)

When they released the ad with the CVBZ i finally went Wow! They have finally taken a late model monaro and made it stand out from a normal commy!. And then they cut production.

[brett7777]

& the V6's are supercharged !!!

We built a boat for a guy who bought a Monaro new, can't remember whether it was a 6 or 8.
After a while of owning it, he heard that some of them crapped out at 50,000km, & he sold it a while after that.
Anyone else heard of that?

[neptune blue]

Originally Posted by Adrenaline

Yeah, they are all very handsome. Earlier last year I was very tempted to trade my FG XR6T for a low km grey CV8-R Monaro that was sitting at a Holden dealership nearby. Reason being, my neighbour bought one brand new many moons ago, it was metallic grey with the shale (cream) leather interior, I was so in love with that car. I still plan to get one some day, work on the motor a little bit but keep it completely factory on the outside.

image

I would trade it for the CV8R in a heart beat
It's a real drivers car and apart from the unique paint, trim and wheels it had its own unique instument cluster which is the statesman instrument cluster with back lit white dials

I purchased the second last one that was available in the country at that time and paid $1000 extra for them to hold it or 3 months till my other lease was finished

All in all the package is so much nicer than the normal CV8 and leaves you wanting for nothing

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by 350125GO

Nice cars any way you look at it. If only Ford had the market share and balls (stupidity? did they ever make a profit with these?) to have a go at it. I prefer the old ones but for a daily driver they are awesome. The V6 version though is very,very lame. Why go spending all that money and buy some asthmatic wheezer?

...and "asthmatic wheezer" that would have put out more power than the legendary 350 Bathurst Monaro of old...we've become very complacent about power outputs these days, and have forgotten that things like the V6 in the Commodore and the 4.0 straight six in the Falcon put out more power than common V8s of even between one and two decades ago. It's more pathetic when you go back further...my WB 253 V8 ute sounds magnificent, but I know it only puts out about 100kw at best.
The thing with the supercharged V6 Ecotec was that the Alloytec that followed it made way more power in NA form...

Hell, even grannies Corolla puts out more power than the last of the mighty 351 Clevos, which only managed about 140kw. Of course, the last of the Cleveland V8 XE Falcons probably weighed less than a new Corolla.
Yes yes, I know people will say power was measured "differently" by that time...but i'd rather say it was measured "realistically", with al engine ancillaries fitted...water pump, exhaust system, air cleaner, alternator...and was more reflective of what your street car would be putting out in real life, not as an engine bolted to a engine dyno with nothing fitted to it.

Something that looked like the Monaro, in relatively basic V6 form and priced sharply, would have sold very well indeed. Ford could have done the same but seem to have given up on the idea of a Falcon coupe long ago.

[XR6Naranja]

There's a nice black one in town, definitely something I want..

Nice deep dish black rims to go with it too.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by 350125GO

(stupidity? did they ever make a profit with these?)

i would think they did not make a profit - they probably only made them to get the holden brand out there to impressionable young kids

to me the exports are they key. they either committed to building too many, so had to offload them to america for a loss on each car
or if that wasn't the case
then sending them over to america would have killed any profit they made in the first place

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by chrisfpv

The standard Monaros are pretty meh, but the HSV GTOs are pure porn.

See I reckon the standard ones look beautiful, never liked the GTO and GTS, the bodykit never suited the lines of the car IMO

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Adrenaline

Yeah, they are all very handsome. Earlier last year I was very tempted to trade my FG XR6T for a low km grey CV8-R Monaro that was sitting at a Holden dealership nearby. Reason being, my neighbour bought one brand new many moons ago, it was metallic grey with the shale (cream) leather interior, I was so in love with that car. I still plan to get one some day, work on the motor a little bit but keep it completely factory on the outside.

image

[OzJavelin]

Love a Monaro .. And think that maybe I should start looking for one sooner rather than later. Best thing about a Monaro is that bogans can't really clone one like HSV/FPVs that are aesthetically just a bodykit and some wheels.

[brett7777]

Would like one, but my wife didnt want one as they only have 4 seats & 2 doors...
So Falcon it is...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

...and "asthmatic wheezer" that would have put out more power than the legendary 350 Bathurst Monaro of old...

Not even close, the Bathurst Monaros were quoted at 300hp? I think, a lot more than any wheezing supercharged V6 Monaro made. Even a base model BA XT from the same era made more power than the Monaro V6, thats how gutless it was. Pre-emissions V8's can't really be compared to the later emissions compliant V8 that had the life squeezed out of them.

The Bathurst Monaros with the 350 Chev and 4 speed were pretty good in terms of power, the autos were de-tuned though.

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Not even close, the Bathurst Monaros were quoted at 300hp? I think, a lot more than any wheezing supercharged V6 Monaro made. Even a base model BA XT from the same era made more power than the Monaro V6, thats how gutless it was. Pre-emissions V8's can't really be compared to the later emissions compliant V8 that had the life squeezed out of them.

The Bathurst Monaros with the 350 Chev and 4 speed were pretty good in terms of power, the autos were de-tuned though.

That series of commodore and monaro were lighter though than the current models, which helped.
There was that late run of HG 350 Monaros that were supposedly almost as quick as a phase 3 and E49.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by MethodX

That series of commodore and monaro were lighter though than the current models, which helped.
There was that late run of HG 350 Monaros that were supposedly almost as quick as a phase 3 and E49.

I do remember reading about that in AMC.

[BobbyXCOUPE]

I'd have to agree with Big Trev. Its a two door commodore. Monaros were kingswoods, not commodores. Same when they released the XU6. That also was a commodore, not a torana. Also, If I had that much money to invest in a car that wont get driven, I'd prefer put the money into a real monaro that you could possibly get for the same price which will certainly increase in value as these cars had history and heritage. They were raced as they were sold from the factory and made racers famous. Not to mention made out of metal. Be interesting to see if some of these later model collectors pieces will last long enough to become a collectors item.

In all honesty I also like the look of them and would happily own one if it was given to me, but we all seem to be putting this car on a pedistal that I don't believe it deserves.

Anyway thats my thought.

[Trevor 57]

A bloke I work with owns one of these 2 door Commodores, he goes on about it increasing in value, it is an investment, blah, blah, it is not a special model, it just a 2 door Commodore.

I said to him that I own a XP Coupe, it ihas increased in value over its 46 year life by over 1000%, let's see if the 2 door Commodore is going to do the same.