$1 million Peter Brock-owned ‘05’ Holden Group A Commodore fails to sell

Iconic Holden fails to sell

It might have sold for $1 million only a few years ago, but today Peter Brock’s HDT Group A didn’t even reach half that amount when bidding closed at auction.

More than 77 bids were placed on the iconic car, which is one of 500 Blue Meanies and carries the extra distinction of once being owned by Holden icon Peter Brock, however when the clock ran out the highest bid sat only at $438,500.

That’s a long way down on the car’s previous auction result of $1,057,509 in May 2021.

Given today’s result, the car passed in and remains unsold.

Things weren’t looking good for a record result earlier today. With two hours left to run in the auction, the highest bid sat at $390,000 after 50 bids. A late flurry of bidding did lift interest to the $430K mark before finally settling on the final figure of $438,500.

Original story continues below

One of the most expensive Holdens ever sold is back on the market, with a rare Holden Commodore owned by racing icon Peter Brock heading to auction less than three years after it was fetched $1 million.

Rare vehicle specialist Collecting Cars is auctioning the historical Holden for a private seller and is expecting a similar result when onlinebidding ends at 16:30 Melbourne time on Thursday 11 April.

The special car is one of 500 Holden Dealer Team VK SS Group A Commodores produced in 1985 as a homologation special to race as local regulations switched from Group C to Group A regulations.

4

In addition to Brock owning it, the car is number ‘05’ – Brock’s famous racing number – with a letter of authentication from John Harvey.

Harvey not only won Bathurst 1983 co-driving with Brock and Larry Perkins but was instrumental in Brock’s Holden Dealer Team Special Vehicles road car business – and later the Tom Walkinshaw-owned Holden Special Vehicles.

The VK is finished in Formula Blue – as all 502 produced were, earning the nickname ‘The Blue Meanie’ – and uses a 4987cc (304 cubic-inch) version of the Holden 5.0-litre V8, de-stroked from 5044cc to meet Group A rules.

4

This example also uses an M21 four-speed manual gearbox - a five-speed manual was an option – and white versions of the standard polished 16-inch HDT ‘Aero’ alloy wheels with centre caps as was Brock’s personal preference.

The interior sees the all-important ‘05’ numbering on the glovebox-lid, as well as Scheel seats, Momo sports steering wheel and a Brock-branded cassette player.

The VK’s square instrument panel shows 79,724km on the odometer.

While the VK SS Group A was listed at around $22,000 before on-road costs from your local Holden dealer in 1985, this particular example sold at auction in May 2021 for a cool $1,057,509 plus auction fees.

4