HSV Clubsport 2010 News

It will join the three Heritage Retro series models that HDT Special Vehicles have produced since long-time Peter Brock friend Peter Champion bought the company in 2007. Heather Smith who manages Champion's Brock Experience, a museum in Yeppoon near Rockhampton, says the anniversary car will be limited to 30."We're still costing it up but it will be about $80,000 to $120,000 depending on options," she says. "There are no orders yet because people don't know it's coming. No one has even seen it yet. We have good security at our workshops."Smith says the anniversary car will feature the same performance package as the current series Blue Meanie. The Blue Meanie in standard trim has an 350kW V6 but can be optioned up with a supercharger and a seven-litre V8 engine, bringing peak power to as much as 800kW. By comparison the HSV Club Sport produces 325kW.The Holden Dealer Team was Holden's unofficial racing team from 1969 until 1987. In the 1980s, Brock produced modified high-performance Commodores under the HDT name until his break with Holden. The brand had been dormant since then with two different owners producing parts but not cars until Champion, a Central Queensland mining equipment millionaire, bought the company.Smith says that in the past 18 months they have produced about 70 vehicles in three models at their Smeaton Grange workshops in western Sydney. The Heritage Retro VC, VH and VK Blue Meanie are based on the VE Commodore SV6, SS and SSV models."We're going to do a VL next year and a Champion Series next year with a modern look. It won't be a heritage series as we have had. Our cars are not like a HSV, they are more powerful and exclusive. Only 250 Blue Meanies are being made. The Blue Meanie has been our most popular so far."HDT also makes spares and reproduction parts for the old HDT cars produced in the Brock years."Holden has a commercial relationship with HSV, but we're on our own," Smith says. "Our business is growing. We believe there is a market for performance vehicles. Most of our buyers are diehard Holden supporters who are passionate about the Brock name. Some Holden dealers sell cars for us but not HSV dealers. Holden tends to frown on dealers that sell them. We're not even a blip in the numbers that HSV or Holden sell, but we don't want to rock any boats."The Brock Experience museum features most of the HDT vehicles built by Brock, including a 1989 Ford EB Fairmont Ghia Brock built after the parting with Holden. The museum started as Champion's private collection of all things Brock over two decades. It was sitting in a Blackwater shed until Brock suggested to Champion that he should turn it into a public museum.The museum features many of Brock's race cars, including his first Austin A30, Bathurst winners, rally cars and his Bathurst 24-Hour Monaro. The only other Ford in the collection, apart from the HDT Fairmont, is his Sierra touring car.There are also trophies, race helmets and suits, videos, memorabilia and even an "Energy Polarizer", a mystical invention that Brock believed gave his cars more power and better handling. Smith says they are in the final stages of restoring the Daytona coupe rally car in which Brock died. Tour guide Emma Holmes says it will be exhibited in a separate extension yet to be built. "It will be a personal choice whether you want to see it as it may upset some people," she says. "People do get emotional. We have a man who has been to seven of our special events and he leaves here crying every time."The museum attracts 10,000 visitors a year.

If you’ve been dreaming of owning one of these rare high-performance cars, the Melbourne-based company has just made the move into performance territory more palatable. It has launched two new entry models, the ClubSport GXP and Maloo GXP with driveaway pricing of $61,990 for the six-speed manual sedan and $55,990 for the manual.  The cars are based on the Pontiac GXP, which sold for a brief period in the United States.HSV says the sedan and ute are ‘limited editions’, meaning just 400 sedans and 350 utes will be built.  However, HSV executives are mindful that as an entry level car, both are expected to sell out quickly.HSV general manager sales and marketing, Darren Bowler, says it is unlikely the GXP will join the lineup as a new model, beyond the limited edition cars.  “We don’t want too many variants in our model range,” he says.However, the company has left the door open for a similarly priced entry level model at some time in the future.  “We will learn a lot from this exercise and if they work, we will look at it,” Bowler says.HSV managing director, Phil Harding, says the cars are designed to bring new customers to the brand.  “Importantly, both cars also adhere to the HSV brand pillars of performance, handling and unique design,” he says. Harding says it “was always our objective to find a solution for the model that sat below the ClubSport R8”.  “We received a lot of customer inquiries for a model like that and GXP provided us with that opportunity,” he says.There are many common parts between the GXP and the ClubSport R8, including the 317kW/550Nm 6.2-litre V8.  The cars also get unique suspension settings, a Brembo brake package, E Series 2 daylight running lights, E Series 2 front bumper and bonnet and mudguard vents.Harding is quick to point out that the GXP pair were not a result of left over components from the Pontiac parts bin.  “There is a great danger that you might refer to this program as inventory user,” he says.“It’s absolutely nothing of that sort. And certainly companies these days don’t end up with stuff left over; certainly we don’t.  “In terms of building these cars new parts have had to be ordered.”Body and appearanceIt’s no surprise the GXP looks familiar. It uses the same name as the Pontiac G8 GXP model sold briefly in the United States and phased out early this year.  For Australia both the ute and sedan get a mix of Clubsport R8 interior and exterior tweaks, including the same 6.2-litre V8 developing 317kW and 550Nm.The ClubSport GXP gets a unique rear bumper on the sedan with a blacked-out diffuser into which the quad exhausts are set.  The ute follows a less is more treatment with the rear end and looks similar to an SS ute. Instead of the Maloo hardcover tonneau, the GXP ute opts for a soft-cover.DrivetrainThe 6.2-litre V8 is already a well proven beast in the ClubSport and this engine is the one and only choice here.PricesBoth models will debut with driveaway pricing of $61,990 for the ClubSport GXP sedan manual and $55,990 for the Maloo GXP manual ute. Autos attract another $2000.  Options include satellite navigation, rear park assist, sunroof and roof-mounted DVD player for the sedan.InteriorClubSport R8 owners will recognize the cabin. The sedan gets HSV sports seats with cloth trim while the Maloo gets the performance sports seats. There is also a dual zone climate control system, 6.5’’ multi-function colour display screen, electric windows and Blaupunkt stereo with six-disc in-dash CD player. There are 11 speakers in the sedan and seven in the ute.EquipmentOutside there are projector headlights, daytime running lights, bonnet scoops, chrome mirror housings and chrome door handle surrounds, sports tail lights on the sedan, soft tonneau cover with HSV logo on the ute, 19-inch Series I alloys.  Inside there is a leather wrapped HSV multi-function steering wheel, trip computer, alloy faced pedals, tyre pressure monitors, HSV sports instruments and triple centre mounted gauges.Both models are available in Heron White, Nitrate, Sting Red, Phantom, Voodoo and Karma. The ClubSport GXP is also available in Evoke.SafetyDual front, side and curtain airbags with seatbelt load limiters, limited slip differential, four piston Brembo performance brakes, electronic stability control, anti-skid brakes and traction control.DrivingIF the GTS has too much “bling” for your liking then the GXP sedan is a natural choice.  The car steers, brakes and accelerates just like a HSV should but without the “look at me” styling.  That doesn’t mean it’s not without some nice touches, from the mudguard vents and bonnet vents to the skillfully crafted diffuser treatment on the sedan’s rear bumper.Inside there are touches of the ClubSport R8 around the cabin, and that’s a good thing. To keep the price down it misses the launch control function.  The sedan is a smooth operator when it comes to the nip and tuck of every day traffic. The V8 will help dispatch slowcoaches easily and without drama.The most surprising thing about the Maloo GXP is that it is a ute. You have to keep checking the rear view mirrors because until you drive it, you’ll dismiss it as just another ute. It’s not.And that’s the key to all HSVs. There is some serious under the skin engineering on the suspensions, engines and steering to back up the go-fast looks.  HSV’s general manager sales and marketing Darren Bowler calls the GXP a “sleeper”.  He might be right but if you hang around too long this sleeper will rocket out of showrooms.At a glanceEngine: 6.2-litre LS3 Gen 4 V8Price: $61,990 sedan, $55,990 Maloo ute.Power: 317kW at 6000 revsTorque: 550Nm at 4600 revs.