The classic/fave car thread

[Baggers]

The car that I really want from that era, but can't afford,  is the Valiant Charger R/T E 49 with the straight six, triple Webers and 4 speed manual gearbox.

A dear friend of mine, who's monthly tax bill is about the same as my annual gross, has got exactly that beast. Orange. A car you could just pull up a chair, sit down and stare at for hours.

[LP]

I nearly purchased my 1970s dream car a long time back, it was a unfinished / never started rebuild project, an Aston Martin DBS V8 from 1970, historically perhaps one of the first ever "Supercars". It had been flogged to death and left to rust in a paddock, the owner had purchased it to rebuild in factory livery, but after breaking it down he never really got started for any number of reasons. The panels and chassis were in reasonable condition in they were straight, but in addition to the corrosion the engine, cooling system and gearbox were complete rebuilds. He wanted $20K for it and I was tempted but it would be a lot of work. The technical stuff didn't worry me, back then in my youth my hobby was building high performance engines on the stand and finding ways to wedge them into old bodies, but it would be a lot of work. You don't / can't do this stuff for profit, so I baulked at it. It was eventually bought by someone and refurbished in factory colours, silver body with red / white leather interior, it recently sold for $250K.

Around the same time, a long time back, while part hunting for grey or red motor spares, I had a chat with a bloke who had owned the No.3 Holden, one of the first ten or so what is now called homologation builds, build for approval. He was a manager on the production line and he owned it for years then sold it to put a deposit on a new house, back then a house was about $16K so he probably sold it for a few hundred or maybe a thousand or so at most. Many years later he came across it on display at the car museum out near Calder Raceway valued at $1.3M. I think he said the Prime Minister at the time got No.1 and that's also in a museum somewhere as well, not sure what happened to No.2.

[Gointocarlton]

I nearly purchased my 1970s dream car a long time back, it was a unfinished / never started rebuild project, an Aston Martin DBS V8 from 1970, historically perhaps one of the first ever "Supercars". It had been flogged to death and left to rust in a paddock, the owner had purchased it to rebuild in factory livery, but after breaking it down he never really got started for any number of reasons. The panels and chassis were in reasonable condition in they were straight, but in addition to the corrosion the engine, cooling system and gearbox were complete rebuilds. He wanted $20K for it and I was tempted but it would be a lot of work. The technical stuff didn't worry me, back then in my youth my hobby was building high performance engines on the stand and finding ways to wedge them into old bodies, but it would be a lot of work. You don't / can't do this stuff for profit, so I baulked at it. It was eventually bought by someone and refurbished in factory colours, silver body with red / white leather interior, it recently sold for $250K.

Around the same time, a long time back, while part hunting for grey or red motor spares, I had a chat with a bloke who had owned the No.3 Holden, one of the first ten or so what is now called homologation builds, build for approval. He was a manager on the production line and he owned it for years then sold it to put a deposit on a new house, back then a house was about $16K so he probably sold it for a few hundred or maybe a thousand or so at most. Many years later he came across it on display at the car museum out near Calder Raceway valued at $1.3M. I think he said the Prime Minister at the time got No.1 and that's also in a museum somewhere as well, not sure what happened to No.2.

What is the "No.3 Holden" LP? Never heard of it, tried googling it but nothing really come up.

[PaulP]

I don't really have much interest in cars, but the notion of the No3 Holden did pique my curiosity. One least guess : the 3rd of 10 pilot cars that were built after the 5 prototypes. 

[bobby]

The car that I really want from that era, but can't afford,  is the Valiant Charger R/T E 49 with the straight six, triple Webers and 4 speed manual gearbox.

In 'burnt orange' ?

[Gointocarlton]

The car that I really want from that era, but can't afford,  is the Valiant Charger R/T E 49 with the straight six, triple Webers and 4 speed manual gearbox.

My Old Man had a VH Valiant Pacer, 265, triple, webbers, sucked fuel like there was no tomorrow. Kept it for around 12 months then traded it in for a more docile VJ Valiant Regal. Not sure how original it was, wish he kept it though.

[Macca37]

In 'burnt orange' ?

Naturally.

[LP]

What is the "No.3 Holden" LP? Never heard of it, tried googling it but nothing really come up.

It's the 3rd FX ever produced, No.1 is in the National Museum.

[img width=350]https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0009/545445/MA22861025-holden-1200w.jpg[/img]

The wikipedia article lists the first ten, the bloke I talked to was a manufacturing manager, I gather he was part of the engineering department. The article calls them pilot cars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_48-215

[LP]

I don't really have much interest in cars, but the notion of the No3 Holden did pique my curiosity. One least guess : the 3rd of 10 pilot cars that were built after the 5 prototypes.

That's correct, there were actually many prototypes and test builds, but the cars I refer to are the first official production run of 10. The person I meet had No.3 of 10.

Not sure what happened to the US built prototypes.

[Gointocarlton]

The car that I really want from that era, but can't afford,  is the Valiant Charger R/T E 49 with the straight six, triple Webers and 4 speed manual gearbox.