HR Holden Coupe was planned

... two door coupe long before the Monaro hit the showrooms in July 1968. Well, it is true.

These photos which have been sourced from General Motors (GM) Archives in Detroit are dated August 1963 and clearly show a proposal for a two door HR Holden Coupe. 

The HR would not be released for another three years, so why would GMH be considering a coupe at a time when the EH was only weeks away from release?

No doubt it was in anticipation of Ford's new two door Falcon hardtop, which was just about to hit the market in 1964, being a sales success. 

The Falcon coupe was already in American showrooms and boasted an optional V8, and we suspect Holden was planning its own coupe "just in case" the local Ford sales indicated a demand for a two door.

The renderings, which are full size, depict a very elegant car. The roof line is more formal than fast back. It is definitely a HR, as the rear end images clearly show. Take a close look at the photos.

The "Premier" badging across the boot panel and "SS" insignias on the "C" panel and right hand side of the boot lid suggests GMH were thinking of the coupe as a sports/luxury offering.

The front mudguards have Monaro type slots between the wheel arch and the door. Intriguingly, the rendering has twin exhaust pipes, suggesting a V8 was in the mix of motors, but the twin pipes could also be stylistic license being employed to convey a muscle car image. 

We can only speculate what might have been if Holden had gone ahead with a V8 HR coupe two years before the Monaro appeared. Imagine what Bathurst in 1966 and 1967 would have been like if the GT Falcons had had to battle V8 HR coupes! Such is the stuff that dreams are made of.

retroautos.com.au