Nice HQ Sandman - Car Sales 15 March 2018 - Monterey Green White Stripes

[Big Rob]

I'll weigh in on the number of HQ Sandman van debate.
I was 14 when they were being built and as many of you know, My Dads best mate was Fleet Manager for Suttons Motors at Chullora so I got a lot of brochures and manuals and all sorts of promo stuff from him when he dropped in for a beer on the way home from work.
I was absolutely infatuated with panel vans and so I took a lot of interest in this new fangled "Sandman" that was released. My dad had a company HQ ute and I was hell bent on getting him to swap it for a Sandman van but he wasn't going to be seen in one of those fancy things. He did however take me over to Suttons a lot and during my many visits I was usually around the Sandman vans.
I remember on one occasion there would have been 10 - 12 on the front line, all different colours and all Sandmans. They sold like hotcakes and each time I went there, a new batch took their place..... So where I'm going with this is that at that one dealership over about twelve months I must have seen 50 - 60 different HQ Sandman vans. Suttons was a big dealer and probably sold more than average, but there would have been many other dealers that sold as many throughout the country.

Couple this with the fact that Holden would not have gone to the trouble to print various advertisements for a 100 vehicle run and it's easy to assume that the numbers were considerably higher, easily in the thousands.

As mentioned, the SS was over 2 thousand and it was a marketing exercise,.... the Sandman was a serious product aimed at a hungry customer base so Holden were going to build as many as they could sell.

Anyway, this one is a beauty and it certainly makes me feel happy that I bought my vans when I did if that price is realised.

[maxsandman]

I was 14 when they were being built and as many of you know, My Dads best mate was Fleet Manager for Suttons Motors at Chullora so I got a lot of brochures and manuals and all sorts of promo stuff from him when he dropped in for a beer on the way home from work.
I was absolutely infatuated with panel vans and so I took a lot of interest in this new fangled "Sandman" that was released. My dad had a company HQ ute and I was hell bent on getting him to swap it for a Sandman van but he wasn't going to be seen in one of those fancy things. He did however take me over to Suttons a lot and during my many visits I was usually around the Sandman vans.
I remember on one occasion there would have been 10 - 12 on the front line, all different colours and all Sandmans. They sold like hotcakes and each time I went there, a new batch took their place..... So where I'm going with this is that at that one dealership over about twelve months I must have seen 50 - 60 different HQ Sandman vans. Suttons was a big dealer and probably sold more than average, but there would have been many other dealers that sold as many throughout the country.

I am the same but different!

I was 14 when the HQ Sandman came out, and "car mad", my old man had a XW and a XY falcon, both were V8s, his mates drove XU1s, SLR5000, heaps of Holden utes and a heap of GT Falcons and hardtops, that used to drop round all the time just to name a few. I was around cars all the time. Growing up in Tamworth NSW, I never saw a HQ or HJ ute or van with the "Judge" stripes, until way later, maybe early 80s. During the time I started driving, the striped vans, HX - HZ and to lesser extent utes, were everywhere, like in their dozens at the drive-in or hanging out in the main street after work.

When I bought my first van in 81, the car yards were full of HX-Z vans with stripes, and when one was sold & seen cruising the next day there would be another van out front of the same car yard (up on stands) or in the showroom. These mostly seemed out of my price range, from memory 7 or 8 grand for average ones up to 9 and a half for really clean ones or decked out. I really wanted one, but they disappeared off the lot before I could get a loan each time. Then at a small yard I spotted a really clean Atlantis blue HZ van that I had drooled every time I had seen driving past for a year or so. It had twin headlights, GTS dash and a 308 4speed and black trim and interior. It had about 60k's on the speedo and was only 6 grand, but it was a plain panelvan (no stripes). So I grabbed it, thinking I had given up on buying a Sandman. It wasn't for a year or 2, that one day I went and asked the Holden spare parts guys why it had XU3 stamped on the tag? It wasn't a Torana!, I said.

Anyway, around here, there were hundreds of HX or HZ sandmans for 1 HQ or HJ. Maybe all the marketing in the big city yards got the early ones sold before the country folk heard of them.

End of bed time story

cheers
Max

[Big Rob]

With respect, Tamworth wasn't beachside Sydney where I grew up. Tamworth had one Holden dealer and Sydney had dozens so you can understand why I saw a lot more than you would have.
Tamworth, also being rural and inland would have been a lot more ute oriented than van. A lot of my mates from inland towns shunned panel vans and especially Sandmans because of the "Surfie" image they portrayed, whereas a ute (without Sandman stripes) would carry a lot of cool points.

I am the same but different!

I was 14 when the HQ Sandman came out, and "car mad", my old man had a XW and a XY falcon, both were V8s, his mates drove XU1s, SLR5000, heaps of Holden utes and a heap of GT Falcons and hardtops, that used to drop round all the time just to name a few. I was around cars all the time. Growing up in Tamworth NSW, I never saw a HQ or HJ ute or van with the "Judge" stripes, until way later, maybe early 80s. During the time I started driving, the striped vans, HX - HZ and to lesser extent utes, were everywhere, like in their dozens at the drive-in or hanging out in the main street after work.

When I bought my first van in 81, the car yards were full of HX-Z vans with stripes, and when one was sold & seen cruising the next day there would be another van out front of the same car yard (up on stands) or in the showroom. These mostly seemed out of my price range, from memory 7 or 8 grand for average ones up to 9 and a half for really clean ones or decked out. I really wanted one, but they disappeared off the lot before I could get a loan each time. Then at a small yard I spotted a really clean Atlantis blue HZ van that I had drooled every time I had seen driving past for a year or so. It had twin headlights, GTS dash and a 308 4speed and black trim and interior. It had about 60k's on the speedo and was only 6 grand, but it was a plain panelvan (no stripes). So I grabbed it, thinking I had given up on buying a Sandman. It wasn't for a year or 2, that one day I went and asked the Holden spare parts guys why it had XU3 stamped on the tag? It wasn't a Torana!, I said.

Anyway, around here, there were hundreds of HX or HZ sandmans for 1 HQ or HJ. Maybe all the marketing in the big city yards got the early ones sold before the country folk heard of them.

End of bed time story

cheers
Max

[hainzy]

I am the same but different!
I was around cars all the time. Growing up in Tamworth NSW, I never saw a HQ or HJ ute or van with the "Judge" stripes, until way later, maybe early 80s.
cheers
Max

Heya maxsanadman do you remember seeing my van around back in the day? I bought it from Tamworth and apparently it spent its entire life there. Windowless Caribbean Turquoise M21 308. Apparently owned by a local boozer who everyone knew.

Would love to know more about it... Cheers mate.

[maxsandman]

Heya maxsanadman do you remember seeing my van around back in the day? I bought it from Tamworth and apparently it spent its entire life there. Windowless Caribbean Turquoise M21 308. Apparently owned by a local boozer who everyone knew.

Would love to know more about it... Cheers mate.

G'day Hainzy,

Your van's build thread was one of the first I read from start to finish when I joined up. Cool Van, one of my favs on here. I have a Caribbean Turquoise HZ sedan 253/4speed real low. that was my cruiser through the 90s & last rego sticker is 03, its parked up, waiting for me to strip my VN 5L 5 speed & throw in. as too many cars, jobs, homes & not enough time.

Anyway, back to yes I remember 2 Turquoise HZ vans getting around here, probably 1980 - 85. One was owned by a bloke Stewie and the other one Kym. When I read your build, I couldn't work out if it was one of these or another. Did you have any names or old rego number?

I will keep thinking
cheers
Max

[hainzy]

G'day Hainzy,

Your van's build thread was one of the first I read from start to finish when I joined up. Cool Van, one of my favs on here. I have a Caribbean Turquoise HZ sedan 253/4speed real low. that was my cruiser through the 90s & last rego sticker is 03, its parked up, waiting for me to strip my VN 5L 5 speed & throw in. as too many cars, jobs, homes & not enough time.

Anyway, back to yes I remember 2 Turquoise HZ vans getting around here, probably 1980 - 85. One was owned by a bloke Stewie and the other one Kym. When I read your build, I couldn't work out if it was one of these or another. Did you have any names or old rego number?

I will keep thinking
cheers
Max

Cheers Max. No I don't know any more about it mate sorry. I bought it from Craig who you might know. He lives outside Tamworth in a small town (the name escapes me..) and he is a collector/wrecker/restorer of HT/K/G monaros. he had about 15 there when I got the van plus a basketball court sized shed of spare parts and cuts from wrecked out cars. Amazing collection!