32 replies to this topic

[hanra]

Ive got a subscription to this magazine. Was a nice find at the end! Is this anyone here's car? Auto SLR 5000!!!








Baaaaa.... Pictures to small....

Here are the PDF's of the article..

http://freepdfhosting.com/36cb5052e6.pdf

http://freepdfhosting.com/38706df609.pdf

http://freepdfhosting.com/d736b97258.pdf

Edited by hanra, 15 November 2012 - 07:55 AM.

[hanra]

Yeah that gives a round number of 2580 LH SL/R 5000's Im sure Ive seen a figure of 2583 somewhere?

Not many really when you think about it... Nearly 40yrs later... disregarding hacked up fakes and replica's, there cant be a great deal of legit LH SL/R 5000's left???

[hanra]

Makes me feel proud to know Ive got one of those few remaining 100% intact and not molestered or bastardized.

[hanra]

Brad you read it on p171 of Torana Tough

Right you are!!

[yel327]

^^THis could be a car that I was told about. One of the foreman at Pagewood ordered a new green auto SLR5000, a very unusual car at the time. It arrived and he had trouble getting decent insurance, so he ended up not taking it. This may be the car.

[GML-31]

His brother in law is on here... HSVGTS

[REDA9X]

In the 80's I knew a guy who had just bought a white LH SLR5000 off the original owner. The first thing I noticed was it had green trim! The second thing I noticed was it was an auto. All the tags lined up but it didn't seem right to me. It turned out the owner had ordered two cars at the time, the SLR5000 and a Statesman. Here is where it got interesting, the Statesman he ordered in manual, the SLR5000 he ordered auto! Talk about getting your priorities around and back to front. I had to see the Statesman and sure enough there it was , a manual Statesman with M21 on the tag. I'm not sure how it came about but he must have had some contacts at Holden.
I'll have to see if I can find the pictures of the SLR5000.

[hanra]

I wonder if the trim was Covert? Its kind of green and "I think" when used on SLR 5000, some items like the crashpad are meant to be black instead of Covert. My parcel tray is Covert along with the golfball inserts of the door trims.

[mika03au]

In the 80's I knew a guy who had just bought a white LH SLR5000 off the original owner. The first thing I noticed was it had green trim! The second thing I noticed was it was an auto. All the tags lined up but it didn't seem right to me. It turned out the owner had ordered two cars at the time, the SLR5000 and a Statesman. Here is where it got interesting, the Statesman he ordered in manual, the SLR5000 he ordered auto! Talk about getting your priorities around and back to front. I had to see the Statesman and sure enough there it was , a manual Statesman with M21 on the tag. I'm not sure how it came about but he must have had some contacts at Holden.
I'll have to see if I can find the pictures of the SLR5000.

Might be a good thread to start guys, one off or unique factory builds.
There were a few specials made back in the old days. Doesnt happen anymore.
Some of my relatives and school mates work/worked for Holden in Elizabeth SA, plenty of good stories there. An uncle ordered a HQ Monaro LS with the 350 and T400 is one that springs to mind.

I didnt know the auto was even an option on the LH SL/R 5000?

Edited by mika03au, 27 November 2012 - 04:00 PM.

[Dr Terry]

The auto option for he LH SL/R5000 wasn't available when the LH was first released, it became available due to demand later in 1974. Auto LH SL/R5000s are still quite rare though, LX versions are more common.

350/TH400 was a regular option for the HQ LS, but the M21 Statesman the REDA9X mentioned was not a regular option, it would've been a special build. There are other examples, Bob Jane had 2 HQ 350 utes built.

Dr Terry

[yel327]

He also had a HQ 350 Premier wagon in Sebring Orange!

Red, there was a HQ Deville getting around Newcastle in the 80's that had been stamped M21 on the ID plate. It wasn't factory though. I think it was white from memory. Also a Statesman Custom could be had in M21, I know there were a few of these built (ie 308 M21). The standard driveline was 202 and 3spd for the 81569 or 253 and 3spd for the 81669.

[REDA9X]

This one was factory, 308 M21. I still to this day though cant understand why you would want your SLR5000 as an auto, but your Statesman as a manual? It's just so backwards.
It's going back a while, it would have been around 86-88 but the original owner still had it back then, but he had just sold the SLR5000 to a guy who we used to use sometimes to detail our cars. We had a fleet of rental cars at the time with AVIS and my family had always been around cars, owning service stations and working at Holden so taking note of what was on the streets was a big thing. This one was in Dubbo. The two cars were bought new around the same time, I can't remember if the Statesman was white or gold though. I'm sure it's trim was a tan / gold colour though.

[yel327]

Was it a Custom though, or a Deville? L31 M21 in a Custom was a normal option. Deville was not normally available in M21 as auto was standard. If it was a Deville it'd be a special order as Terry says.

[REDA9X]

To be honest with you, I'm not familiar with a Custom. Are you saying some sort of custom build thing, or badged custom as apposed to badged DeVille? I've never seen that. I seem to remember it being a Caprice but I could be wrong.

[yel327]

HQ came as 3 x models for the Aussie market:

81569 - 6cyl Statesman Custom.
81669 - V8 Statesman Custom.
81469 - Deville.

The custom was the basic Statesman that came as either a 202 and M15 3spd with the normal gearbox options (M40, M20) or in the V8 model as a 253 and M15 3spd, with all the available V8 engine and gearbox options except I don't think there were any L30 MC7 examples built (350 and Muncie) - you could certainly get 253LC, 308 and 350 though. The custom was probably the equivalent of a Kingswood in a Statesman body, so vinyl trim, basic dash, bench seat etc. Only major difference was the Custom had 202 as standard on the 6cyl model, whereas the Kingswood got the 173. They weren't badged as a Custom, just had the same Statesman badges as the Deville, just minus the DEVILLE badges, and lacking the feature inserts in the rear bar of the Deville. The 6cyl Custom may even have had front drum brakes as standard (can't remember).

There was also those exported as Chevrolet 350 or as a Caprice depending upon what Country they went to (NZ, South Africa, Thailand, Fiji etc) with a different model code again - 84469. HJ Devilles went to Malaysia with 202 and M20 but not sure if HQ Customs were built for the same market in that driveline.

Edited by yel327, 28 November 2012 - 10:15 AM.

[Dr Terry]

The HQ Statesman Custom was essentially a LWB Premier. It had the same trim level as both Premier & LS, with 202, carpets, timber look instrument facia etc. It also had the same front bench seat as the Premier with a fold-down armrest.

I worked at a taxi & hire car company back then, where they had a few of these things with 202 autos & disc brakes. They were a good car for hire car use, simple & reliable.

Dr Terry

[mika03au]

The auto option for he LH SL/R5000 wasn't available when the LH was first released, it became available due to demand later in 1974. Auto LH SL/R5000s are still quite rare though, LX versions are more common.

350/TH400 was a regular option for the HQ LS, but the M21 Statesman the REDA9X mentioned was not a regular option, it would've been a special build. There are other examples, Bob Jane had 2 HQ 350 utes built.

Dr Terry

TYG, always thought that one was a one off. Have never seen another 350 LS. The only other HQ with the 350, that I was aware of, was the Statesman.
Cheers guys, good to know all that sort of stuff...

Edited by mika03au, 28 November 2012 - 11:01 AM.

[yel327]

There were 213 x HQ LS coupes made with L30 engine. All will have been M41, either as a column shift or optional T-bar.

The only normal places the 350 came were:

As an option on Statesman V8 Custom, Statesman Deville, V8 LS coupe or V8 Kingswood sedan (as part of the XW8 special vehicle package (GTS350 sedan)).
As Standard on GTS350 coupe and Chevrolet 350 (export)..

Most were with M41 as standard when L30 applied but GTS350 coupe and XW8 came standard as an MC7 manual.

There were some special build HQ's with 350 known. I know from Dandenong there were 2 x V8 Kingswood utes (one being the Ewe't), 4 x V8 Premier wagons and 2 x V8 Kingswood sedans that are not XW8's. One of this lot was a manual (one of the sedans). There were also some Pagewood built 350 powered HQ's that were special builds, including utes, Premiers etc. I don't know the numbers though. Dealers were known to build them too, by swapping drivelines between utes, vans etc and GTS350's and selling them as new vehicles.

[Dr Terry]

Yes, for some odd reason GM-H only allowed the 350 on the GTS, the LS, Statesman custom & DeVille but not on any of the others.

You don't see many HQ LS 350s but they are out there. I know the Statesman custom was available with the 350, but I've never seen one. As a matter of fact 308 customs seem to be rare also. I've only seen 202 & 253 versions.

Dr Terry

[REDA9X]

Yeah, this Statesman wasn't a HQ though, it was HJ, and I remember the trim certainly wasn't basic.