HSV GTSR W1 auction passes in

The first built HSV GTSR W1 offered to the public has failed to sell at auction overnight.

Crossing the block at Manheim Melbourne’s auction yard last night, HSV GTSR W1 build number 35 passed in on a bid of $257,500.

While the figure clears the car’s recommended retail price by $87,600, it wasn’t high enough to breach the vendor’s reserve price.

But as Mathew McAuley from Manheim reveals, this can be just the start of the sale.

“[The W1] got referred, that means we’re negotiating on behalf of the vendor with the highest bidder.”

“We’ve got a policy of not disclosing prices,” he adds. “If it sells, we can’t disclose the price, but in normal circumstance the price usually walks up, rather than going down.”

The $257,500 bid is also lower than the circa-$280K prices we’ve seen attached to online W1 classifieds. Even W1-centric number plates have commanded six-figure sums. However, none of these sales have actually offered a ready-to-drive car.

Manheim’s particular example bears only 14km on its clock and still wears its original protective plastics. Manheim says it’s being sold by a regular vendor.

With demand far outstripping supply, the speculative sales surrounding the W1’s limited release has frustrated the public, driving prices on the 300 examples too high for mere mortals.

“We saw a similar to this with the GT F when Ford did the last batch of those where there were interesting results on cars that were sold then resold very quickly thereafter,” Manheim’s Aaron Lofts told MOTOR earlier this week.

“Given the Holden closure this one’s probably more final than the GT F was.” As we revealed earlier this week, this will probably be the last and most powerful car built by the HSV we know.

We'll try and bring you more details as more about the negotiation comes to hand.