Hello to all on site ,

Im new member to Fast lane.
Im requiring any information with regards to the Monaro bathurst fuel tank?

1 - Were they ever dealer options outside the standard fit Gts 350.. cars .
2 - what would be the cost of an Original good condition tank now days given they are as rare
As hens teeth ?

Thank you .

BCF.

Had someone else ask me about this today. A HG V8 GTS L31, supposedly optioned with a “Bathurst Pack”. Apparently because it had radius rods and a 25 gallon tank. I told him that the radius rods were standard on HG V8 GTS, and upon further inspection it didn’t have the breather setup as per the VAP would have done. So if the tank had been there from early days it will probably be a dealer talking BS to ask more for the car.

I see it all the time - "Monaro Options" on an ad for say a HG V8 Kingswood. I've asked what they think is different between a Monaro and a Kingswood? The dash, the buckets and the 4spd! They look at you dumbly when you tell them that Monaro and Kingswood are basically identical, they even share the same luxury level codes (04), that a Monaro had flip forward buckets not fixed back buckets, and that console shift was standard in a V8 Kingswood sedan or Monaro if you optioned 4spd, you also had to pay for bucket seats (A50 or XS6) in a HG V8 Kingswood sedan if you wanted a 4spd. Even dumber looks when you tell them the dash is an optional dash (U21) on both Monaro and Kingswood. "But that is a GTS dash, standard on Monaros" - no its not, it is a column shift dash, Monaro had the same dash as the same spec Kingswood.

I think also people get confused with the concept of ordering a Holden back in the day. They think their Uncle or Dad or whomever actually ordered a car - "my Dad ordered a HQ with factory fitted xxx". Whereas what the dealer did was found them a Stock Order car either built already or in the schedule and fitted bits to it at the dealership. An example might be if the buyer wanted A/C. The dealer would find a car in the schedule, get it and fit A/C to it. GMH published whole books on "selling from stock". Whilst they'd accept a Retail order they were encouraged to convince the buyer to take a stock or schedule vehicle. GMH made the most money that way. Retail order vehicles didn't cost any more than the same vehicle off the schedule, but it took time to achieve the end result which cost money, whereas stock order were built in bulk, all the same.

You do see extreme examples of dealers doing stuff to build a vehicle from stock. A few examples are the Sydney dealer who swapped drivelines between a HQ LS L30 and a HQ Belmont van L32 M40. And another where the buyer wanted a console shift L31 M41 HJ Kingswood ute, the dealer found a yellow HJ Kingswood XX7 ute, and a yellow HJ Kingswood sedan. Then swapped the walk-off fronts, added accessory Kingswood side strips to the ute and sold it as what the buyer wanted. They left the XX7 decal on the tailgate though. So the buyer ended up with a HJ Kingswood ute, L31, M41, XS6, M11, U17 and N66 (and I think C60)and probably paid the premium for it. This would have been a bit more difficult after late 1975 as dealer would have had to find an XU3 as this buyer wanted to tow and tour with it, and a later passenger tyred low GVW XX7 wouldn't have been legal to do it.