WHY DIDN’T WE NAB EM

THE CARS WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT OR ARE JUST GLAD WE DIDN’T...

Tell us in 60 words the car you should have bought, or were lucky enough to buy!

Send your tale to uniquecars@bauertrader.com.au with ‘Gotaways’ in the title

HOLDEN VK EX-INTERCEPTOR I’m still kicking myself that I let this car get away approximately two years ago. It was an Absynth yellow or “canary yellow” ex-Victoria police VK chaser, 5.0L manual for $18K. It was totally original and had fresh paint after a 10 year hibernation. Look at the asking prices now. DONALD MARTIN - GREENSBOROUGH, VIC

SEPTEMBER 1989 HSV ASTRA

HSV entered the world in a huge hurry and with hardly any product to supplement its VL Group A Commodore. Virtually all the new HSVs made in 1989 were based on VN Commodores – everything except this all show-no go Nissan Pulsar. Sorry, Holden Astra. HSV made 65 of them in Hatch and sedan form and seemed to have trouble finding buyers. Flash wheels, decals and interior upgrades pushed the price of a sedan to $24,000 and anyone paying $21,700 or less was doing OK. Hardly any appear for sale (the last one we found was in 2012) so current values are open to debate.

APRIL 2012 BMW 2000CS

The 1960s brought big changes for BMW. The brand that had been best known for its motorcycles launched the 2002 sedan and developed a sixcylinder engine to power its lovely but underdone CS coupe. The 2000CS was built by coachbuilder Karmann, and succeeded the V8-engined 3200CS. Not many of the 2.0-litre cars would have come to Australia – not until replaced by the six-cylinder 2800CS – and although a couple have been offered for sale here in recent years the market is driven by LHD sales in Europe and the USA.

FEBRUARY 2003 FERRARI 500 SUPERFAST

Last of the ‘super cruiser’ Ferraris and soaring in value as enthusiasts recognise their significance and scarcity. Only eight of these cars were built in right-hand drive and seemingly only one Superfast

– a gunmetal grey car – was sold new to Australia. It was followed in 1977 by a well-known UK car and that appears to be the one offered here. It is known to have spent some years in local collections before being returned to the UK where it was offered for sale recently at an undisclosed sum. In 2016, a LHD car of similar quality was sold at auction for US$2.7 million.

MARCH 1993 DODGE PHOENIX 1963

Poor old Dodge. Late in 1959 it seems to have turned its styling department over to the workexperience kids who for several years afterwards produced weird shapes with appalling grilles. The one on this locally-built 1963 Phoenix was nicknamed the ‘dollar grin’ but looks more likely to have been inspired by manic Jack Nicholson in The

Shining. Dodge at the time sat in 8th place on US sales charts but enthusiast buyers today are more forgiving and happy to pay increasing amounts for a chrome-dripping Dodge.

JUNE 1993 PORSCHE 914

A Porsche for the price of an MGB? Impossible. Well no it isn’t providing you’re willing to accept some shortcomings and continually answer the question ‘what’s that?’ The 914 and companion sixcylinder 916 were never sold officially in Australia and it seems that almost all of them went to North America where they caused considerable aftersales grief for local agents. The few in Australia will be personal or dealer imports, often still LHD. Despite scarcity, the money made by 914s during the past 25 years hasn’t gone close to matching gains made by early 911s.

MAY 2004 CHRYSLER VG REGAL V8 HARDTOP

When buying a collector car the best advice is to buy top-spec, in a good colour and outstanding condition. This Regal ticks all the boxes and it’s hardly surprising that within 15 years its value has trebled. Total production of VG-Series Valiants was around 46,000, however there seems to be no verifiable data on the number of Hardtop bodies assembled. Fewer than 5000 is a reasonable estimate with under 1000 of those being V8 Regals. Based on a US-sourced Dodge Dart, the Hardtop is easy to maintain and restore using imported parts so we’re confident that this car may still exist.

JANUARY 1996 XM FALCON V8

If Australia had followed the way of the USA or even in the footsteps of Sydney-based Ford modifier Bill Warner, we could have been driving V8 Falcons like this in 1964. Scared of political pressure, Ford kept the XM as a six-cylinder but couldn’t stop private owners slotting V8s into their Aussie Falcons. XM V8 Hardtops survive in fairly robust numbers and we hope this distinctive car with its leather interior might be among them. If not and you want an older Ford that will run away from other XMs, keep $40K available and your eyes glued to each new edition of UniqueCars.