Hi all,

I had a look at a car advertised as a HQ GTS/4 yesterday and I could tell it was not genuine but was just curious about a few things.

I own a couple of HQ GTS/4's and am very familiar with identifying Monaro's but am not so familiar with codes for Kingswoods, Statesman's etc.

The tag on this vehicle was 81469QL179089 and it was a Kingswood style body shell (ie not a Statesman shell)

I didn't write down the full paint and trim codes but I do remember that the trim code ended in 'N' and it had a seating capacity listed as 6. I think the build date was around 3/73.

To me it looks as if it has been fitted with ID plates from an Adelaide built HQ Statesman Deville V8..

I'm sure it's not a HQ GTS/4 as it would have either 80469 or 8W69 (depending on manufacture date) with a trim code of W, X, Y or Z.
There were also no HQ GTS/4's built with bench seats that I'm aware of so the seating capacity of 6 doesn't match either.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The car was totally stripped with the majority of the parts in the boot but looked mostly complete with the exception of the motor.
It did have a beautiful condition GTS dash facia with a complete set of gauges in excellent condition bagged up in the boot.
It had GTS guards and was a very rust free looking shell.

No GTS steering wheel or rims.

Why would someone stick a set of Statesman ID plates on what looks like a Kingswood body shell? Can anyone see any benefit to this?

The vehicle was being sold by a storage place in Adelaide to recover unpaid storage fees and he was open to offers for 1 week. The seller told me he was going to accept a $1000 offer he had on it this morning if I didn't beat that offer.

It had some good parts but I wasn't going to offer that much for it although it may have been worth that in parts alone. It appeared to have a Turbo400 transmission too (but I'm no expert).

Can someone let me know if a trim code of 'N' is a Statesman code as I am curious about that.

The seller was quite concerned that he had advertised it as a GTS and was having a mental dilemma about whether or not to tell the buyer who had offered $1000. He was concerned that the buyer may have some comeback down the track if he discovered it was not genuine.

To the best of my knowledge, all HQ Monaros had a seating capacity of 5.
There are more trim codes than X,Y,& Z .....E,S & R were also used in the Monaros up to '73 then an even wider range in '74.
The fact that the vehicle has been dismantled, put in s

Edited by user Sunday, 21 August 2005 5:20:48 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Of course if you have wrecked it by then and sold all the bits all they can recover from you is the money you got, if you can't say who you sold it to.

There is a bit more to this story that I didn't mention as I was really only curious about the plates.

The storage place owner was doing everything legit and was legally entitled to sell the car.

He told me that a woman had put it in storage and pai

It looks to me like the ADR tag may be original for the body, and the VIN has come off a Statesman. Initially I thought that perhaps 814 had been stamped instead of 804, but the 3/73 date means it should have had 8Q69 on the VIN. Also, I don't think you c

Hi Guys.

The 6 front bench seat was standard issue in all HQ Devilles, front buckets with or without console shift are optional.

Also re:- the ADR compliance plate, the chassis number on this plate should be the same as that stamped next to the stee

I had the VIN checked. It's off a 7/71 Statesman Deville with L30 engine ie 350 Statesman. Fully loaded as well ie air, steer, LSD etc. I suspect that someone has transferred all of the 350 Stateman stuff across, including the VIN and Body plates, to a 4-

Yes, but GTS/4 is just a moniker. They were really V8 Kingswoods ie 80469 with XV4 option (253/308) or XW8 option (ie 350), however the GTS350 was always regarded as a 'premium performance' vehicle, in the same light as an 81837. The later examples (XV4 o

I suspect you're right Byron. Someone was probably trying to pass it off as a 350 GTS/4.

I wish I had copied all the details down but i only have what I can remember. As soon as I saw the tags I knew it wasn't genuine.

Also I'm not disagreeing wit