Holden Monaro Problems

If only we had a crystal ball. Unfortunately it's impossible to say with any certainty if the foreign variants of the Monaro will become classics. If any do I would guess it would be the Pontiac with its connections to the GTO, Vauxhall's image in Australia is one of a cardigan wearing, pipe-puffing old timer, and the Chevrolet Lumina doesn't get the pulse racing.

Your complaint is with the mechanic who did the repairs, and you should pursue it through legal means, which appears to be what you are doing.

You'd need to have an experienced mechanic listen to the noise to determine if it's piston slap or not. The LS1 certainly rattled on cold starts due to piston slap, and it used oil, they were the giveaways to a problem with the engine. Yours could have some piston slap, but your description suggests it's not serious, and certainly if the engine isn't oil to any degree I wouldn't be concerned. The noise could also be a worn lifter, that's why you need someone with experience to listen to it.

For starters the mechanics are conning you by offering you so little to buy the car, it’s worth much, much more than that. The Monaro GTS 350 is a very desirable model, and yours is a very appealing colour/trim combination with low mileage. Depending on the condition it could be worth as much as $100,000. It could be fitted with LPG and it would run well, but I would urge you most strongly not to do it, as it would affect the originality of the car and in my view reduce its value. Even though the tyres might be cracked, and perhaps unroadworthy, they could actually add to the value of the car if they were the original tyres as fitted at the factory in 1969, so don’t discard them. Finally, you can sell the car without a RWC, but state on the transfer papers that the car is sold ‘as is’ without the roadworthy and the buyer is then responsible for getting the RWC.

From your description and looking at the photos you supplied it seems to be a very nice car. I would think it's worth $8000-$10,000 depending on the condition of the interior you say needs some TLC.

I'd be hanging on to it for a while yet, the economy is likely to improve and with it so will the demand for classic cars. Added to that I don't think the VZ Monaro has acquired the true classic status it is likely to acquire over time, even though yours has only a few kays on the clock. It would be worth $40,000-$45,000 right now.

Though it's not the most sought-after model, being a six-cylinder it's still a very attractive and desirable car. Warwick yellow is a popular colour, it's a GTS and, from the photo supplied, looks to be in nice original condition. I would start by asking $40,000-$50,000.

The HK Monaro is one of the great classics, so it's worth quite a bit. It sounds as though it needs a full restoration, which could be expensive, but I think it could be worth between $40,000 and $60,000 in its current state.