I recall seeing that car at Warwick. Great thing, but I can't see it being worth more than an XW8 in the same condition as in the end those were essentially Kingswood sedans with an option package applied. This is exactly the same as if a GTR turned up with an XU1 driveline but wasn't an XU1, it should not command more $ than an XU1 in the same condition.

I'd love it, but not at that price!

Would it have been factory built or dealer constructed?

The only part of the story in the ad that sounded unlikely to me was that the original owner picked it up from the Pagewood plant. And its not supported by the delivery record signed off by the dealer in Lismore. Would the plant really give a car out to someone like that, and then what he drives it up to Lismore to get the 'pre-delivery' done and handbook signed off?

I take it HK that you've seen or know of Pagewood records that the car came off the line as such.

There was another HQ Kingswood 350 at the all Holden day at Clarendon 3 years ago. It was also white.

Not sure if it was this same HQ but if my memory is correct it didn't have the sports rims and it was a auto.

I agree Terry, well worth getting rid of the updates and also that disc brake rear end.

Jim

Just saw this HQ for sale today.....I agree why would anybody do that to the 350 , when the rest of the car is mint /original ....nice car but engine bay really lets it down. Also on Muscle cars figures for HQ 350 production are they just quoting Pagewood production ? as Dandenong built 4 x HQ 350 Premier wagons ? Mark.

I can see a dealer telling zone office that he had the police in ordering a 350 manual car for pursuit work and that they wanted a sedan instead of a coupe. Zone office may have approved it and as said above, the car would have been sent to the dealer or to the police headquarters. But as signed off by the selling dealer why would he have picked it up.

Also it takes about 20 to 30 hours to build a car from nothing, so why would the security guard know what was on the line, he would have had to walk through the factory and known what he was looking at. I doubt a security guard who is issuing the keys the gate to a "special car" or manning the gate would also have time to wander around the assembly plant, and to know that the only other 350 sedan is being made that day. What about one that may have been made on his day off?

I do have a vague memory of talking to a fellow who had a 350 Kingswood sedan that was auto. I would have passed the details onto Ben at the time. From memory he had the original books for that car.

Warren

A lot of it does seem far fetched....

2 examples that clearly don't add up:

" Having made numerous failed attempts to order the car through various dealerships "
So why did he go straight to Lismore after his shift? Sounds like it was the local dealer to him, so why did he make "numerous" attempts at various others?

" Still wearing his police uniform, the original owner placed the order and crossed his fingers. The dealership not knowing any better assumed the car was going to be used as a highway pursuit vehicle and agreed to take the order. "
This one is even more porky.
If a cop in uniform orders a car for the Police force, it will have a NSW Govt purchase order, and will be sold through the Govt supply channels that existed in the day.
A dealership will never assume it's for the Police force if a private individual is ordering it in their name.


And I'm not even going to start on picking it up from the plant, or the security guard's supposed super-human knowledge of the plant schedule for the entire HQ production period, as the guys above have already noted. More likely someone read through the production data that is now available to a select few, and concocted that rubbish to try to make the rest of the bullshit sound somewhat plausible...

These stories are getting more & more far fetched over time, and with a little logic, you can blow holes the size of Sydney Harbour in them.

well ....when I purchased my HQ Premier S/W 350 , I was told by the seller that it was originally ordered by the South African consulate ! . On further investigation ( NZ Ownership Papers) I tracked down the original owner , who at the time owned a large transport company in Nelson with a lot of Bedford trucks , he said the HQ was ordered from the local agent(Wrightcars) and took ..."A long time to come" . So I still do not know how a car could be ordered when it did not exist as a model in the Holden line-up ? Mark.

And most sales men got grumpy if you ordered a different diff ratio and as for twin exhaust it was better to just get the standard single and toss it in the bin and go get the twin done yourself, that way it was cheaper and you could pick out what you wanted.