Aussie Wagons HO!

Hey hey - I'm back again! Fresh from 2 weeks travelling via Sydney through Coffs Harbour, Lismore and then onto Toowoomba for Christmas with my wife's family. Managed to keep ahead of the floods, and get back in time for the shutdown at work... Been 4wding all day, seen some great tracks - and now here we're sitting watching a chick-flick with the missus so I think - what better time to do an update on stationwagonforums?

This one's a lot closer to home - and is very similiar to my wagon (albeit in much better condition than mine!) :



This is a "HG" (mine is a "HT") with the only major difference being the grill. Okay - so there were colour & interior trim differences when they were new, but since I'll be fitting a custom interior, the differences dont matter much really. Unlike the 1972 model ('HQ') these were built on the same wheel base as the sedan, so their a relatively short wagon, only slightly larger than the first generation Falcons...



And yep - those are the same venetians I have for mine - I figure they will help give those resto-types a heart attack when they see what I've done with the rest of the car! I want it to look like the car your grandad drove until a hot rodder got hold of it ...which is why I've managed to collect an original steering wheel in good condition, original radio etc etc just to keep the theme going!

Speaking of which -



Okay, okay - so it's not from a station wagon, but it was the closest thing to mine that I had handy at the time. This interior shot is from the coupe version (called a 'Monaro') but the dash is pretty much the same - the guage cluster has a couple of extra guages in it, and bolts directly into the same position as the original (which only had a speedo, fuel guage & bunch of idiot lights in it). The steering wheel in the shot is the GTS item, but the rest of the dash is pretty much the same inc the radio & heater controls.

Next - the engines :



The engine fitted to this particular wagon is a injected 5.0L (304ci) - a uniquely Aussie V8 that was produced in various guises from 1969 through to 1999, when it was replaced by the Gen III 5.7L Chev V8. The injected 5.0L though was only introduced in 1988.

However, this is how the 5.0L looked back in 1969-1971 :



This is pretty much as it was introduced in 1969 in the HT - the only emissions control was a PCV (positive crankcase ventilation valve feeding back into the intake manifold). Differences from the 307ci Chev version include having the right-hand bank leading to increase clearance for the RHD steering box - and of course the 308ci capacity. This was decreased in 1986 to bring it under 5000cc to allow it to run in a lower capacity weight class in Group A touring car racing! However, in 1969 a standard HK or HT wagon meant a 161ci straight six matched to a 3 speed manual, with an optional 186ci six. The HT & HG wagons were available with both a 4.2L & 5.0L V8, with both motors based off of the same archaetecture. The reason Holden decided to make it's own V8 rather than continue with the Chev 307 was Australia's tarrifs at the time, which had been eroded to the point in 1997 that it was no longer viable to continue updating this motor, vs. importing the Mexican produced Gen III...

These will easily soak up a big-block 396, 427 or 454 Chev V8 so are pretty flexible for customizing.

But neither of these are what I'll be using - I'm keeping that one to myself for the mo! So to make up for my secrecy, here are a couple of more shots of the HG - I photographed this particular example at the Picnic at Hanging Rock a few years back -



The four tail pipes was a Monaro thing - definitely never available on the wagon! But I can see where this guy is coming from...



Okay, okay - so I'll shut up again now. Hope that gives at least a little bit of where I'm coming from. Enjoy!

 

Righto - next, virtually the same car, but this time a HT "Premier" -



The "Premier" was the luxury spec'd version, but still didn't get a radio standard...but at least you got carpets! A different grill, twin headlights and extra chrome garnish is all you got externally though, the rest of the car was the same as the lower priced versions...



This one is painted in a non-standard colour and has wheels off of a later model on it - these were fitted to HQ through HZ Holdens (1972-1980) and as you might have already realized - are straight out of America. But after that - I am hoping you guys can fill in the gaps, as in what vehicles they were fitted to in the US?

Either way, they were a slightly different stud pattern PCD to the early Holdens, which tells me this owner has updated the brakes on this Holden to that of the HQ and onwards...



Okay, last shot - I took these photos out on the street in Ballarat, only 1/2 hour up the road from our place. Hope you enjoyed - would be interesting to see what cars you would compare this to in America, as all of our 50's, 60's & 70's models were inspired by American vehicles in one way or another...