This once-daggy Kingswood was restored in time for the wagon renaissance

A 1970 Beige HG Kingswood station wagon was once viewed as plain Jane however, today it certainly stands out from the crowd.

This particular HG was actually ordered by a sales manager for a washing machine company in Sydney. For some unknown reason the order was cancelled and this left HM Hunt Motors Group Lakemba with the V8 3-on-the-tree wagon sitting on their showroom floor but it didn't hang around too long. Mr Claude Kinsela, then 55 years of age, had just retired from the Royal Australian Navy and was looking for a new car to enjoy his retirement. He spotted the Kingswood on the showroom floor and decided it was just the ticket for him.

Claude's Kingswood had a relatively easy life making trips to the shops, visiting friends and to his local RSL club in Narooma. From the records it appears that Claude got many years of 'no fuss' motoring right up until 1985. It was then the old girl was parked up in the garage for the next 22 years due to the owner's failing eyesight.

Current owner, Joe, had grown up with HTs and HGs and so it was no surprise that he had a soft spot for them. In 2006, Joe began looking for a clean HG Holden but wanted something different so decided to buy a station wagon instead of a sedan. He spent more than a year looking for a good one and had almost lost hope until one day when he decided to just type in 'HG Kingswood' in a web search. These keywords had fished out an obscure ad from the car classifieds of the NSW Leader newspaper which, luckily for Joe, were already digitalised and available online.

Joe says the ad simply read "one owner HG V8 Kingswood station wagon with 104,000 miles." The car wasn't advertised anywhere else so Joe, being in Victoria, would've certainly missed it if it wasn't for the web. Although the asking price was a bit steep Joe decided it was worth a closer look after speaking to the owner. When Joe first met the feisty 92 year old Claude and saw the wagon tucked away in the garage he was blown away. He knew it was exactly what he was looking for and so began the negotiations. He managed to haggle the price down but Joe wasn't too worried as the Kingswood was a real beauty.

In hindsight, Joe regrets not taking a few photos of the HG as he found it but says at the time he was just awestruck by the condition of the vehicle. By all accounts, Claude was a very fussy owner and looked after his Kingswood extremely well. He kept meticulous records of all the maintenance, servicing and repairs. After the deal was done he proceeded to lecture Joe on how the car should be washed. Claude told Joe in a stern manner "A garden hose has never been near this car, I've always sponge washed it. I expect you to do the same!"

Joe's plan was to use the wagon as an everyday driver but he soon realised that this HG was just too good for the daily grind and hence decided to save it for weekend use. However, before Joe could use the HG as a weekender he needed to overhaul the motor because it sat unused for so long. In fact Joe says "when I started her up she sounded like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and blew more smoke than a power station." So along with help from his friend Nick, he decided to freshen up 253cid V8 and in the process give the motor a new lick of paint. As a precaution, Joe had his cousin Frank replace the front end to ensure the old girl was roadworthy. The wagon was soon back on the road, and has since clocked up some 12,000 miles, and even managed to pick up a few trophies in the most original of its class at the All Holden Day.

Many of these now classic Holden station wagons were simply worked to death and then sent to the scrap yard. Until very recently, hardly anyone was interested in 'daggy' wagons so it's very fortunate that Joe's HG has survived in such good condition. One could say that Joe was ahead of the game when he decided he wanted a HG station wagon rather than a sedan as we're now seeing a huge resurgence in these models. Joe knows that he has a special Survivor and with everything now running reliably strong and smooth, he simply plans to enjoy it.

Source: Survivor Car Australia

What do you think about the HG Kingswood wagon? Daggy, or unappreciated classic? Let us know what you think in the comments below.