Aussie Icons Muscle in on Shannons Summer Sale

SYDNEY – Jan 21, 2013: Three rare Australian Muscle Cars – including a sought-after 1968 HK Monaro GTS 327 ‘Bathurst’ coupe – will be jostling for pole position on the auction block at Shannons Sydney Summer Classic sale on February 4.

The Silver Mink metallic four-speed manual Monaro has already created great interest in collector circles as it is number 42 of the first 50 GTS 327 coupes to leave Sydney's Pagewood assembly plant in 1968 and is showing just 94,500 miles (believed genuine) on its odometer in the hands of its fourth owner.

Adding to its provenance, the HK GTS 327 believed to have been entered in ‘The Great Race’ as a backup car for the Bathurst Motors race team in 1968, but never competed as such.

There are no documents to substantiate this, but some small irregularities found on the car possibly point to this.

The previous owner purchased the car in the early 1980s with 70,000 original miles on the clock and soon after acquiring the car undertook a restoration of the body and all mechanicals.

Purchased by the current owner some 15 years ago, the car has been kept garaged with regular servicing and driven only sparingly during this time.

The car remains in good condition today, sporting period chrome rims, its original Goya Red vinyl interior and radio

Because of its early build, originality and provenance, Shannons expect the Monaro to sell in the $85,000-$95,000 range – a relative bargain compared with the prices that this most special of all Monaro models was bringing several years ago.

For Ford fanciers there is the next best thing to a Phase IV Falcon GT HO in the Sydney auction – a 1974 Ford Falcon XB GS 'K Code' 351 V8 sedan

A rare vehicle in its day and now sought after by Ford enthusiasts, this K-Code 351, four-speed manual, nine-inch diff with sports suspension XB GS Rally Pack Sedan has been in the current ownership since 1980.

It was used as a family car until the mid-1990s and has since led a more relaxed life, clocking up a total of 189,758 indicated kilometres, which are believed genuine.

Shortly after the vendor acquired this car the seats were re-upholstered in a black cloth trim rather than the original black vinyl, to make it more comfortable in its regular driving duties.

This original GS-Pack, matching numbers XB was resprayed in 1998 with the intent of continuing with a full restoration, but the owner instead chose to keep the rest of the car in its original state.

As a unique and highly-optioned GS, this fine XB is a true blue Australian Muscle Car that would be welcome at many events, with Shannons quoting a guiding range of $24,000-$28,000

Finally, there is a lovely, trophy-winning 1972 Holden HQ SS Sedan with the sought-after 253-cid V8 and four-speed manual gearbox combination that comes with a letter of verification from the SS Owners' & Enthusiasts’ Group.

The SS is believed to have been restored seven years ago and has also recently had its engine rebuilt, with just 400km travelled since.

Externally the HQ engine looks stock, but the internals have been modified extensively for added power.

Its four-speed manual gearbox is also fitted with M21 ratios while it has Pedders suspension all round and slotted front disc rotors.

Shannons expect this rapid and desirable HQ SS to sell in the $18,000-$24,000 range.