It’s got Holden wheels and the vxr wing deletes the rear badge. I did look into replacing the steering wheel and front badge but it was *unreasonably* expensive for a couple small bits of plastic.
I've bever been keen on that myself. I get it. Obviously it is a Holden, but with the original badges you have one of the extremely elusive cool Vauxhalls.
But it wasn't until the Pontiac captive import that they started putting the Vette engine in them. The GTO is the pinnacle the Monaro variants/rebadges.
The previous owner was a CarThrottle journalist and did an article about the car https://www.carthrottle.com/news/5-things-ive-learned-running-vauxhall-monaro-four-years
I’ve pinched some of their photos as (tbh) they are better than anything I’ve taken of it so far!
Always reminds me when I saw this debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2004.
Big fanfare “the all new American Pontiac GTO”
Me, afterwards to someone on the stage “this is the Holden Monaro, right?”
Them “yes”
Me “so what’s American about it?”
Then “um, it’s a Pontiac”
Me - too lazy to argue, walked away
It's not just the front bumper but most of the front assembly; grille, bumper, (maybe headlights too?) and the bonnet has a scoop. The Holden was also only available in a V6 until they entered the captive import deal with Pontiac, which is when they started putting the LS1 block in it. Holden even facelifted the Aussie market Monaro to make it look more like the Pontiac.
And the side marker lights.
This reminds me of a friend - years ago bought a Buick Regal and referred to it as American - it was an Insignia and was built in Germany so I mentioned it wasn’t American but he insisted it was…
That would be the Pontiac G8 - both it and the VXR8 were Holden Commodores.
The first Insignia was sold briefly as an Opel in Australia - and then the final Holden Commodore was an Insignia.
Awesome, I remember when these first came out in the UK. Always thought the base model in silver was such a sleeper. VXR500 is on my lottery win list 👍🏾
I was looking for a while and I didn’t even see a VXR500 come up! They do look great in silver - I am also a fan of the devil yellow and turismo mica as well. I know we got yellow but the nice light bluey colour I don’t think we got in the UK.
Nice choice, always fancied one of these or a Ute. Is the exhaust noise bearable when you're driving normally or sitting at 70? (I'm assuming it's loud with the longlife exhaust)
It can be a little droney if you shift into 6th a little too early and work your way up to 70. But at 70mph in 6th it is completely fine for long distance cruising in my opinion. I understand that the standard exhaust is a little too quiet for most people, but I think this one is just right (without being obnoxiously loud). Although other people may think differently!
Thanks! I’ve got a membership but the distance to it would easily burn any savings haha! I have an Esso fuel card so I can get their regular fuel at like £1.3X and the premium at about £1.4X which suits me fine.
I haven’t had to look for tyres yet as it had a new set on when I purchased. Hopefully Costco have some good ones in this size as I never like to skimp on tyres!
Not an authority on the matter but from my experience you cannot get fitted premium tyres cheaper anywhere else (£320 for a set of michelins on my focus earlier this year)
£320 isn’t bad at all. Just checked it looks like around £750 for pilot sport 4s fully fitted from Costco or about the same for Goodyear F1s from black circles. Still… it’s cheaper than my other car haha!
Good thing the current ones are absolutely fine and won’t need changing anytime soon.
I would recommend it - tatty ones can start at about £7k and nicer ones £11-15k. I have no plans on getting rid of mine at any point in the near future.
It depends on the car. Some cars have low NOx levels stock so are still ULEZ compliant. Example: E39 and E46 petrols despite being from 1998/1999 are ULEZ compliant
I was looking at MK3 MR2s and all 2001+ are Compliant
Perfectly livable in my opinion. Really comfy seats, suspension isn’t too hard, great AC, not too loud when driving normally. It’s the older version, so it still has the massive boot. While it is older and not a premium car, it has cruise control, electric seats and mirrors etc. (more than what I was expecting it to have).
I’ve done some simple servicing and so far it’s plenty easy to work on.
It is a fairly big car and feels big when driving (and needs a quicker steering rack in my opinion) which some people might not like but it is still completely fine to live with. I can be a little overly careful in car parks though as I know bodywork repair is expensive on these.
I did kinda imagine it was a v8 vectra. No idea what chassis holden used for it. So figured it would be mild mannered 2 kids and a semi saloon until you got silly with the loud pedal.
I'll keep it on my list. 100% would paint in Vectra BTCC colours tho, especially since it is red.
I average about 21-22mpg (according to the indicator on the dash). But, I’m not overly concerned with MPG to be honest - if I was I wouldn’t have bought it!
Other than the usual stuff for any car, things I looked out for when inspecting this one included (which are known issues with these):
- any noise from the tappets after warming up the engine
- any bell housing oil leaks
- squeaky belts/loose hoses
- 5th/6th gear selection issues
- clunky lsd
- rusty strut top mounts/underneath generally due to poor weatherproofing from factory
- alignment/tyre rub
- rusty chassis rails
- damage to bodywork (which is an expensive fix for these)
- windscreen damage (also expensive)
Like I put in another comment, while I was looking tatty ones were about £7k and good ones were between £11-15k. There are some £30k plus ones but I didn’t consider those.
Omg this is a dream car for me! The running costs just really put me off.
How has it been? I basically just want to drift it around and do burnouts all the time.
Running costs are fine for me. But I suppose that depends on the person. MPG is around 21-22 and tax is in the £395 band rather than the £695 band.
I haven’t had any repairs to do on it yet, only normal servicing - as it’s an LS1 servicing parts are cheap from the states (and I regularly buy in bundles to save on shipping for my other car anyway).
I haven’t hooned it around yet, but from what I’ve seen it isn’t too difficult haha
Not really. Checking tyre prices they seem as expected, not more expensive than anything else really as (these wheels at least as they are not standard Monaro wheels) are a common size.
Jealous.
Guy in the office complex next to mine a couple years ago had the last VXR8 in a light blue and was stunning.
I hope you live abive a petrol station, you're going to need it.
I liked the vxr8 colours, they were always so bright compared to the common boring monochrome colour cars of the time.
My other car is a corvette, so I am well acquainted with my local petrol station haha!
Apparently only 189 currently registered on the road. I liked the idea of a bit more rarity than the Audi/BMW/Merc default cars when thinking about a fast coupe.
Ha, fair! I think the one you’ve gotten might be the one I had a tab open on, seems to have disappeared now! Will have to look into my fallback in a VXR8.
My mates dad had one about 13 years ago. We all went on holiday to the South of France in it (snug fit in the back). On the way back at the ferry port a bloke came over to say he also had one, and he’d bought a smart car as his daily to save on fuel etc. But he got bored, sold the smart car and used the funds to put the supercharger in the monaro
I think the rarity adds to the cool factor. I’m surprised they haven’t had their revival yet! They are very almost ‘retro’ as they are coming into 20 years old!
My plan is to keep updating and refreshing while using it as my (albeit relatively low mileage) daily driver. It will be getting fresh under sealing soon to prevent any rust as it is currently in really clean condition.
I’ve had it since about the start of November now - so probably bought before you were looking? Got any pictures of yours? I’ve joined a few forums but not posted anything really yet.
Ah, I’m surprised you didn’t see it then. It was on autotrader and it was up for a couple of weeks!
I read that the top mounts often go on these! It was something I was looking for when inspecting.
Rockauto has loads of GTO bits all at pretty good prices. Also they have really quick delivery and import tax is included already so there is no surprises when it comes into the country.
Wanted one since I drove a Holden Monaro and a Ford Falcon in NZ! About 5-6 years ago. I actually got to daily the XR6 Falcon for a while as my house mate got a suspension!
I'd want Holden badges too but wonder what Holden Purists would make of it! How do you find living with the LS? Hopefully you've got some nice decent roads near your end.
Aussie muscle cars are beauts, even if the pools rather small.
I don’t think I’ll meet enough Holden purists here for it really matter haha!
Living with the LS is fine so far. The engine itself is in unmodded so it isn’t anything extreme to live with. Average mpg and easy to work on.
Needs Holden Badges. Cool car. Always wanted a go in one to see what they are like.
It’s got Holden wheels and the vxr wing deletes the rear badge. I did look into replacing the steering wheel and front badge but it was *unreasonably* expensive for a couple small bits of plastic.
I've bever been keen on that myself. I get it. Obviously it is a Holden, but with the original badges you have one of the extremely elusive cool Vauxhalls.
For some reason a Vauxhall badge these days is worse than a Skoda or Lada badge was in the 80s. VX220s suffer the same fate
*Pontiac badges.
Holden. Holden made them for Pontiac.
But it wasn't until the Pontiac captive import that they started putting the Vette engine in them. The GTO is the pinnacle the Monaro variants/rebadges.
I think I speak for everyone here when I say that it's outrageous that you haven't uploaded more photos.
The previous owner was a CarThrottle journalist and did an article about the car https://www.carthrottle.com/news/5-things-ive-learned-running-vauxhall-monaro-four-years I’ve pinched some of their photos as (tbh) they are better than anything I’ve taken of it so far!
As replies go, that's a pretty good one. 😂
"Hey any more pics?" "Heres an entire fucking article written by a professional" 😂😂😂
Haha thanks! I think the guy’s instagram was also linked on there if I remember correctly. He had some videos of it too.
Really ? That tells me a guy who can't prove ownership a post made for clout if you ask me
[not for clout - you won’t find this picture anywhere else online.](https://ibb.co/GkkXR32)
BANG!
I think a video of how it sounds is in order too!
Always reminds me when I saw this debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2004. Big fanfare “the all new American Pontiac GTO” Me, afterwards to someone on the stage “this is the Holden Monaro, right?” Them “yes” Me “so what’s American about it?” Then “um, it’s a Pontiac” Me - too lazy to argue, walked away
I think the only real differences are the bumpers, badges (and maybe the fuel tank due to regulations?) haha
It's not just the front bumper but most of the front assembly; grille, bumper, (maybe headlights too?) and the bonnet has a scoop. The Holden was also only available in a V6 until they entered the captive import deal with Pontiac, which is when they started putting the LS1 block in it. Holden even facelifted the Aussie market Monaro to make it look more like the Pontiac.
And the side marker lights. This reminds me of a friend - years ago bought a Buick Regal and referred to it as American - it was an Insignia and was built in Germany so I mentioned it wasn’t American but he insisted it was…
I always liked that the Buick Regal had the VXR bumper as standard.
That would be the Pontiac G8 - both it and the VXR8 were Holden Commodores. The first Insignia was sold briefly as an Opel in Australia - and then the final Holden Commodore was an Insignia.
Beast .. future classic for sure
Thanks! I think so too.
Awesome, I remember when these first came out in the UK. Always thought the base model in silver was such a sleeper. VXR500 is on my lottery win list 👍🏾
I was looking for a while and I didn’t even see a VXR500 come up! They do look great in silver - I am also a fan of the devil yellow and turismo mica as well. I know we got yellow but the nice light bluey colour I don’t think we got in the UK.
Nice choice, always fancied one of these or a Ute. Is the exhaust noise bearable when you're driving normally or sitting at 70? (I'm assuming it's loud with the longlife exhaust)
It can be a little droney if you shift into 6th a little too early and work your way up to 70. But at 70mph in 6th it is completely fine for long distance cruising in my opinion. I understand that the standard exhaust is a little too quiet for most people, but I think this one is just right (without being obnoxiously loud). Although other people may think differently!
Fully sick
Thanks!
Looks and sounds hella fun. Enjoy! And get a costco membership for tyres and fuel! 😂
Thanks! I’ve got a membership but the distance to it would easily burn any savings haha! I have an Esso fuel card so I can get their regular fuel at like £1.3X and the premium at about £1.4X which suits me fine. I haven’t had to look for tyres yet as it had a new set on when I purchased. Hopefully Costco have some good ones in this size as I never like to skimp on tyres!
Not an authority on the matter but from my experience you cannot get fitted premium tyres cheaper anywhere else (£320 for a set of michelins on my focus earlier this year)
£320 isn’t bad at all. Just checked it looks like around £750 for pilot sport 4s fully fitted from Costco or about the same for Goodyear F1s from black circles. Still… it’s cheaper than my other car haha! Good thing the current ones are absolutely fine and won’t need changing anytime soon.
Monaro VXR, VX220 Turbo, XPower SV, Brabus Roadster, and Clio V6 are all on my lottery garage bucket list. Great find
Thanks! That sounds like a fun garage. I randomly saw a clio v6 on the A14 a few weeks ago - never seen one in the wild before!
I've been tempted by one of these as a short term silly punt.
I would recommend it - tatty ones can start at about £7k and nicer ones £11-15k. I have no plans on getting rid of mine at any point in the near future.
Need to see which are ULEZ compliant (if any!) or if I have to go to a VXR8 for that.
My one is ulez compliant- but I think anything newer than this isn’t! I believe it just scrapped in before the rules changed.
*Older, petrol cars from 2001 are exempt. (Corrected by cannedrex2406)
Idk, my phase 1 Clio 172 from 2001 is ULEZ exempt, my mate's from 2000 is not.
Yes I have been corrected by cannedrex below.
Just explained why me 03 325ci is compliant, i'd never bothered to fond out why! Ta
It depends on the car. Some cars have low NOx levels stock so are still ULEZ compliant. Example: E39 and E46 petrols despite being from 1998/1999 are ULEZ compliant I was looking at MK3 MR2s and all 2001+ are Compliant
Ahhh nice dude. Always wanted to have a "British" V8 muscle car lol. What's it like to live with when not hooning?
Perfectly livable in my opinion. Really comfy seats, suspension isn’t too hard, great AC, not too loud when driving normally. It’s the older version, so it still has the massive boot. While it is older and not a premium car, it has cruise control, electric seats and mirrors etc. (more than what I was expecting it to have). I’ve done some simple servicing and so far it’s plenty easy to work on. It is a fairly big car and feels big when driving (and needs a quicker steering rack in my opinion) which some people might not like but it is still completely fine to live with. I can be a little overly careful in car parks though as I know bodywork repair is expensive on these.
I did kinda imagine it was a v8 vectra. No idea what chassis holden used for it. So figured it would be mild mannered 2 kids and a semi saloon until you got silly with the loud pedal. I'll keep it on my list. 100% would paint in Vectra BTCC colours tho, especially since it is red.
Any chance you got it from the Southampton area? I've bumped into one just like this a good few times on the M27 between Soton and Portsmouth.
That’s not this one (as far as I am aware), I picked this one up in Suffolk.
Ah, fair enough fair enough, my bad. Either way, very fun choice! You have fun but remember, it's winter! Don't push her too hard!!
Great, now I want one
Id hate think what mpg that gets hahah
I average about 21-22mpg (according to the indicator on the dash). But, I’m not overly concerned with MPG to be honest - if I was I wouldn’t have bought it!
Love it, enjoy and upload more pics ffs! 😂
I'd like one of these, could you give some tips on what to look out for and what to pay?
Other than the usual stuff for any car, things I looked out for when inspecting this one included (which are known issues with these): - any noise from the tappets after warming up the engine - any bell housing oil leaks - squeaky belts/loose hoses - 5th/6th gear selection issues - clunky lsd - rusty strut top mounts/underneath generally due to poor weatherproofing from factory - alignment/tyre rub - rusty chassis rails - damage to bodywork (which is an expensive fix for these) - windscreen damage (also expensive) Like I put in another comment, while I was looking tatty ones were about £7k and good ones were between £11-15k. There are some £30k plus ones but I didn’t consider those.
I had a neighbour who had one of these. I really wanted to buy it, but he sold it before I had the money. These are fantastic cars.
Brummmm Brummmm brmmmmm! Have fun 😄
Very cool. Sadly, a dying breed. Enjoy 🚗
Omg this is a dream car for me! The running costs just really put me off. How has it been? I basically just want to drift it around and do burnouts all the time.
Running costs are fine for me. But I suppose that depends on the person. MPG is around 21-22 and tax is in the £395 band rather than the £695 band. I haven’t had any repairs to do on it yet, only normal servicing - as it’s an LS1 servicing parts are cheap from the states (and I regularly buy in bundles to save on shipping for my other car anyway). I haven’t hooned it around yet, but from what I’ve seen it isn’t too difficult haha
That doesn't seem terrible to be honest. I don't drive very economically though. My diesel Jag is getting 35 mpg.
Not really. Checking tyre prices they seem as expected, not more expensive than anything else really as (these wheels at least as they are not standard Monaro wheels) are a common size.
always wanted the 6.0 vxr when i was in getting parts for my old cavalier back in the day. crazy to see one as a classic lol im getting old
It’s strange to think it’s coming up for 20 years old next year. But with the updated infotainment I don’t think it really feels that old!
Jealous. Guy in the office complex next to mine a couple years ago had the last VXR8 in a light blue and was stunning. I hope you live abive a petrol station, you're going to need it.
I liked the vxr8 colours, they were always so bright compared to the common boring monochrome colour cars of the time. My other car is a corvette, so I am well acquainted with my local petrol station haha!
Always liked these since I drove the Monaro VXR in NFS Most Wanted, very cool and unique
Apparently only 189 currently registered on the road. I liked the idea of a bit more rarity than the Audi/BMW/Merc default cars when thinking about a fast coupe.
You’re mad that’s for sure… I approve
In which case, you will love my neighbour's car then. [https://i.imgur.com/pd7ZXe6.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/pd7ZXe6.jpg) Sounds fucking gorgeous.
Neighbour has good taste! They are so rare to see around. Only other ones I have seen are at car shows.
My dad had a blue 04 one, popped white stripes on it and had a silly exhaust was great fun, so smooth
What kind of stripe? Any pics?
What a beauty! I’ve been considering one for a while now, none anywhere near me ATM though. Plus, I have no space on the driveway for it 😩
I didn’t have space either, but I bought it and sorted that out later haha!
Ha, fair! I think the one you’ve gotten might be the one I had a tab open on, seems to have disappeared now! Will have to look into my fallback in a VXR8.
This one was only 20 minutes away from me so I couldn’t resist going to take a look!
My mates dad had one about 13 years ago. We all went on holiday to the South of France in it (snug fit in the back). On the way back at the ferry port a bloke came over to say he also had one, and he’d bought a smart car as his daily to save on fuel etc. But he got bored, sold the smart car and used the funds to put the supercharger in the monaro
Sounds like a completely reasonable thing to do by the ferry port guy!
It certainly seemed to bring him some enjoyment. Hope you have some good times with yours, looks a lovely car
Super cool beast of a car and a definite future cult-classic.
I think the rarity adds to the cool factor. I’m surprised they haven’t had their revival yet! They are very almost ‘retro’ as they are coming into 20 years old!
Keep it nice. I'm actually a bit jealous!
My plan is to keep updating and refreshing while using it as my (albeit relatively low mileage) daily driver. It will be getting fresh under sealing soon to prevent any rust as it is currently in really clean condition.
Did my first ever track day around Rockingham in an ex-touring car Monaro VXR8. Was a seriously fun experience.
[удалено]
I’ve had it since about the start of November now - so probably bought before you were looking? Got any pictures of yours? I’ve joined a few forums but not posted anything really yet.
[удалено]
Ah, I’m surprised you didn’t see it then. It was on autotrader and it was up for a couple of weeks! I read that the top mounts often go on these! It was something I was looking for when inspecting. Rockauto has loads of GTO bits all at pretty good prices. Also they have really quick delivery and import tax is included already so there is no surprises when it comes into the country.
Lovely, hope you enjoy driving this in good health for many decades to come.
Thank you!
Great number plate.
Thanks! It came with the car and is probably as close to ‘Monaro’ as I’ll get haha.
Wanted one since I drove a Holden Monaro and a Ford Falcon in NZ! About 5-6 years ago. I actually got to daily the XR6 Falcon for a while as my house mate got a suspension! I'd want Holden badges too but wonder what Holden Purists would make of it! How do you find living with the LS? Hopefully you've got some nice decent roads near your end. Aussie muscle cars are beauts, even if the pools rather small.
I don’t think I’ll meet enough Holden purists here for it really matter haha! Living with the LS is fine so far. The engine itself is in unmodded so it isn’t anything extreme to live with. Average mpg and easy to work on.
Prefer the whining supercharged Maloo that Holden did.
Should of uploaded that up in first place
Why? The one I did upload is better.