Punter pics

then on! Bathurst sleeping quarters were under the tarp stretched between the GT and the XA. That’s me carrying somebody’s car fridge.” As to the characters perched on the old Chev, Kerry wonders whether “any of these blokes surface, and if so, at what level of regret.”

Kerry once owned a HQ GTS 350 he believes was painted a one-off colour as a Styling department exercise at Holden. “I had a mate at Fishermans Bend and he sourced this 308ci 4-speed GTS, believed to be the first one built, for evaluation as to whether it would be released or not. It had no bonnet black-outs. Several people wanted one after seeing mine, but they could not get this colour. My mate pin-striped it and painted the 308 on the rear.” Could his mate’s handiwork regarding the ‘308’ have inspired Holden’s stylists to adopt this styling trait on later GTS models? Kerry is certainly of this opinion.

“I had to sell the GTS to be able to purchase the SL/R 5000,” Kerry recalls. “In those days it was considered a great tow vehicle: small body, big engine. I used to tow my boat to Merimbula