Holdens Everywhere but Not Too Many Sales

Holdens have been prolific at recent auction sales and remained flavour of the month at Lloyd’s Classic and Barn Finds Auction in late August. However, on the hottest Queensland winter’s day in 20 years, many bidders had seemingly headed for the beach.

Gold Coast-based Lloyds always puts together a diverse catalogue with plenty of Australian-made offerings, but this time almost a quarter of the listings carried Holden logos.

Highlight of the sale was to be a famous race-spec Holden, driven to seventh place outright at the 1991 Bathurst 1000 by Peter Brock.

Of equal interest was a road-spec VN Group A SS, supplemented by a very rare HSV Coupe 4 and equally scarce VH Commodore SS. 

Following 30 wasted minutes during which a frustrated auctioneer offered and passed a list of drab vehicles located in the USA, the auction proper began and someone almost immediately snared a bargain when a tidy 1964 Pontiac Bonneville sold for just $15,000**.

Others to find new owners early in the sale included a sequence of F Series Ford pickups ranging in price from $13,000 to $30,000 which bought a mildly modified F100 from the mid-1950s.

Japanese models contributed little to the final result; their high point being an original looking RX7 Series 2 that reached $23,500. European lots were looking dire as well when to the rescue came via a lovely Porsche 356 Coupe which made a deserved $119,000. 

Among the Euro and UK classics failing to make reserve included a Mercedes-Benz 230SL ($84,000), a Mark 2 Mini Cooper S at $41,000 and Fixed Head E Type Jaguar at $73,000. 

The Ford segment of the sale moved swiftly through a sequence of no-sales until the appearance of a Wild Violet XA Falcon GT. Described as a Barn Find it was jacked up like an off-road racer and suffering some serious  paint blisters but still sold for $67,000.

Immediately after the GT came another scarce 1970s Ford; a 1975 Landau in the very unusual colour of Brambles Red – more usually found on Falcon GTs – and recently restored. Despite being estimated at $100-110,000, the very distinctive two-door brought $75,000.

Another rare and interesting Ford that found a new home via Lloyds’ was an NL Fairlane Tickford in Navy Blue and one of just 106 similar cars made in 1998. It was guided at $12-15,000 and sold at the top of its range. 

Significant no-sales from the Ford contingent included an XW GT at $120,000 that should have reached $160K and a customised 1960 model Falcon panel van with a V8 and the faces of famous music legends across its tailgate. $42,000 was never going to be enough for a car estimated at over $70,000.

After offering and failing to sell a two-digit Queensland numberplate at $227,000, the auction’s main focus of interest arrived.

More than 40 Holdens were catalogued, with a clutch of early Commodores, unreserved and best described as Parts Only selling from less than $500 and helping boost the day’s Clearance Rate. 

Early in the list of Holdens and Associated Brands came a scarce and great looking HSV Coupe 4 that ran out of interest at just $73,000. It was followed by an equally uncommon VQII Statesman, also in great condition, which sold at $16,180, and a rarely seen VH SS Commodore for $32,500.

Most observers were keen to see how the Larry Perkins-built, Peter Brock driven VN Commodore would go and, sadly, it didn’t. Most might have expected its price to climb rapidly and to beyond $250,000, but the bidding was slow and a top call of $235,000 not nearly enough. We wait for news of a negotiated sale.

A car bid quickly and well beyond its estimated range was the HSV VN Group A SS. It looked very similar to one successfully sold a week earlier in Melbourne for $160,000, but not even a $180,000 bid was enough.

Late in the day, following the $58,000 realised by a beautifully modified HT Holden utility, came two Holden panel vans; both windowless and excellent but achieving very different results.

Despite generating a bid of $73,000 – some $5000 above its top estimate - the near perfect FJ which was the final lot of the day didn’t sell and the auction ended in an anti-climax. 

Not so the HT Belmont van with its a neat three-speed floor shift conversion at an estimate of $28-32,000. It a few minutes earlier had found a new owner with a bid of just $17,000. 

Lloyds’ next auction of Classic and Collector cars will be held on Saturday 28 September 2024.

** Prices are fall of hammer and do not include any Buyer Premium payable. 

Images: Supplied by Lloyds Auctions