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

[Innuendo]

Here are a few:

Kingswood Door Trims.
Carpet.
Radiator Grille should be all black.
Wheel Arch Moulds.
Door Moulds.
Seats should have hard board backs (Sedan).
Full Length Roof Lining (Din't happen in HQ).
Chrome Step Moulds/Scuff Plates (Premier/Statesman).
Door Handle Scratch Plates (option).
Chrome Tail Light Surrounds (option).
WB Windscreen.
Radiator Cowling (Air Conditioned Only).
Rear Venetian (aftermarket).

Sure it can be debated that some (or most) of these are improvements and I'm not bagging the changes, just pointing out they are not factory spec.

Nobody knows the numbers on HQ Sandman's produced (not even Holden) so everything is speculation or a plain guess.
Logic would suggest the number was quite a bit higher than 100 units for sure. I'm with Absinth on that one. But '74 wasn't the hight of Vanning it was around the enthusiastic start.
The peak of the Van craze would have been '76-'78 with the highest standards happening in the '80's.

The numbers on the HQ SS were what? 1600 and than 1200 or similar. It will be under that count for sure. They made around 250 VF Sandman's in Ute's and Wagon's so I think that would be closer to the mark and quite possibly more!

[Absinth]

But '74 wasn't the hight of Vanning it was around the enthusiastic start.
The peak of the Van craze would have been '76-'78 with the highest standards happening in the '80's.

The peak of the van craze for customizing... yes 76 to 78...... young people started buying vans for cheap transport in the early 70's and by 74 panelvans were big sellers, hence Holden, Ford and Chrysler cashing in on the demand with optioned up vans like the Sandman. I don't know about other States but in Qld in the 70's panelvans being a commercial vehicle were cheaper to buy and much cheaper to register and insure even in V8 guise and there were heaps in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

In Jan 1974 a new HQ 308 4sp Sandman panelvan was $4195 MRRP. In Nov 1978 a new HZ 308 4sp Sandman panelvan was $8768 MRRP. The Sandman panelvan had more than doubled in price in less than 4 years, wages certainly hadn't doubled in that period, falling sales ended the reign of the Sandman.

If Holden could pump out 2800 HQ SS in a couple of months (and how many of these do we see in circulation today) I'd put money on HQ Sandmans numbering in the 1000's. I'd also wager that HJ would rate the highest number of Sandmans produced.