Unusual Wagon's

[Robbo]

I have plenty of spare time now,and was thinking of car's that I have come across over the year's. I recall a couple of holden wagons that friend's had. The first was in 1977, a guy I went to tafe with bought a late HQ Premier Wagon, don't know where from. It was fully loaded....308..Full Instrumentation..Air Con..Power Steer..Power Window's..LSD..4 Speed Manual..it also had mag's. It was a special order vehicle with all the documentation to prove it's pedigree.

The second was a HZ Wagon that a guy I worked with in the 90's bought off the original owner. It was also fully loaded..Air..Steer..Pwr Window's..LSD..308..It was an auto though and also had a Stateman Front fitted. It was also a special order with documentation.

I have not come across factory vehicles like these examples before or since, and I probably won't again as I attend very few car meeting's now. Were the original owner's of these vehicle's in the know, to be able to order such unusual combination's?

[thatotherguy]

i hope you have plenty of spare time in a good way ... my son has a HQ prem with factory V8 tbar,bucket seats,aircond,power steer ,gts dash and wheels ,308 ratio diff,silver with black trim would have been a very nice car in its day but makes me wonder why they didnt just buy a monaro .my dad bought a ht kingswood new in 1969 and i still have it and there were lots of options he had the choice of 161,186,253,308, two tone paint, bucket seats ,carpet ,radio ,heater ,disc brakes just to name a few .in 1996 we bought a brand new vs commy and even then air cond was an option

[wbute]

My neighbour had a HZ wagon with 308, GTS dash, factory air, 4 speed,bucket seats. Its totally stuffed now, and has been wrecked out. I am trying to get the tags for Byron.

[Vombil]

My best mates moved from Perth to Sydney when we were kids. I was headed over to visit after just getting my P plates and they asked me what car they should buy for me to drive when i was there (and their first car to share - they are slightly younger)... obvious response was a Kinga wagon! I told them V8 would be good.

When i arrived i was greeted with a bog stock lime green HZ Kinga SL wagon with 308 and 4 speed, GTS wheels, dash and steer, electric tailgate, LSD, unmarked buckskin trim, power steer and maybe A/C (cant remember exactly) Cost em $5G's in 1999. They sold it for $5000 3 years later (petrol bowser captured every cent they earned)

This thing was an absolute plum! Being a first car they thrashed the shit out of it though. I remember stokin it up at curl curl and avoca a few times. They are a mental surf mobile!

[HK1837]

I have plenty of spare time now,and was thinking of car's that I have come across over the year's. I recall a couple of holden wagons that friend's had. The first was in 1977, a guy I went to tafe with bought a late HQ Premier Wagon, don't know where from. It was fully loaded....308..Full Instrumentation..Air Con..Power Steer..Power Window's..LSD..4 Speed Manual..it also had mag's. It was a special order vehicle with all the documentation to prove it's pedigree.

The second was a HZ Wagon that a guy I worked with in the 90's bought off the original owner. It was also fully loaded..Air..Steer..Pwr Window's..LSD..308..It was an auto though and also had a Stateman Front fitted. It was also a special order with documentation.

I have not come across factory vehicles like these examples before or since, and I probably won't again as I attend very few car meeting's now. Were the original owner's of these vehicle's in the know, to be able to order such unusual combination's?

They are around still, not just wagons, but special builds. Such cars seem to survive at a higher rate than others as people must have looked after them. You could get a lot of stuff on a special build, but there was some stuff you couldn't unless you were really in the know (like worked at GMH and you got the car built in say the Pagewood service garage). Really special bits like GTS guards, Statesman noses etc would all have been done by dealers unless the car was a GMH test vehicle used for internal purposes (there is a Papaya HX van around like this). That second car Robbo may have been a Premier wagon, if it was a Kingswood the dealer would have done the nose.

[buck]

My First car was a Hz kingswood sl wagon, 308, 3 speed on the column and a 3:55 lsd with aircon, pwr str, elec tailgate. bought in 94 with 180klm on the clock, sold in 2001 with 570klm and its still going up in beechworth towing horse floats with close to 800klm on the clock. its the one on the avatar.

[HK1837]

Was it changed to a 308? Reason i ask is a 3spd manual behind 308 was one of those "impossible" things in HZ. If it was an auto (ie TH400) getting a 3.55 behind one of those was just about unheard of too, even 308 TH400 tonners were 3.36. Same as 3.55 with A/C. All makes it a pretty unusual beastie! Would be a great car to get ID plate detail off if you ever see it again.

[buck]

Was it changed to a 308? Reason i ask is a 3spd manual behind 308 was one of those "impossible" things in HZ. If it was an auto (ie TH400) getting a 3.55 behind one of those was just about unheard of too, even 308 TH400 tonners were 3.36. Same as 3.55 with A/C. All makes it a pretty unusual beastie! Would be a great car to get ID plate detail off if you ever see it again.

all my mates couldnt work it out either, I rang the original owner in temora and he said he factory ordered the 308, 3 speed manual(saidthe gears are bigger than the 4 speed) and 3:55 diff for towing his caravan. it came from the dealership in wagga with tinted windows, ming protection and fully fish oiled panels from new, i think it was 10 month 77 had tags with L31, M15 & gv7 it used to rev its head off at 100klm so swapped it for a 3.08

--- Updated ---

Just thinking back now the aircon was dealer fitted aftermarket one not factory, but still came through the standard dash vents, with a seperate fan control not far from the ash tray.

[HK1837]

Hmm. We've solved one, ie factory air with 3.55, they shouldn't allow that. Explains the dealer fitment. Now the L31 M15, that is a real doozy. This was a definite "not available". L32, M15 and GV7 definitely, that was standard in 10/77 for a HZ Kingswood. If you can get me the VIN we'll check it out.

[buck]

Hmm. We've solved one, ie factory air with 3.55, they shouldn't allow that. Explains the dealer fitment. Now the L31 M15, that is a real doozy. This was a definite "not available". L32, M15 and GV7 definitely, that was standard in 10/77 for a HZ Kingswood. If you can get me the VIN we'll check it out.

not sure i can get it have not seen it for 6 months but may still have the books that i kept from it somewhere.
Also it had the 5.0 litre badge on the tail gate, looked original as a mate had a 4 speed 308 hz kingswoold sl in firethawn i think the color was. badges and internally looked identical except my had a 3/4 console not full, and the nasty lever on the col.