Holden Monaro
The Holden Monaro is a house built in the Australian General Motors - Holden Coupe dependance.
The Monaro was built from 1968 to 1976, as Holden LE Coupe and Holden GTS 4 -door even until 1979. A new edition in a modern form experienced the Monaro von 2001 to 2005.
Year by year
Monaro ( HK / HT / HG, 1968-1971 )
Holden Monaro HT GTS 350 (1969-1970)
The Ur - Monaro presented a two-door hardtop coupe is (without B-pillars ) on the basis of contemporary sedan Holden Belmont HK series and was in the basic version, as GTS and offered as a GTS 327. The basic model was available with 2.6 -liter or 3.05 liter straight-six, the GTS with the 3.05 l -R6 in a stronger version or a 5.0 -liter V8. The GTS 327 is a 5.4 -liter V8 from Chevrolet was salvaged. A GTS 327 won in 1968 immediately became the 500-mile race at Bathurst.
In early 1969, chose the Australian journal Wheels Monaro the "Car of the Year 1968".
In June 1969, the Monaro HK received a first facelift and now heard the name, ' Monaro HT ''. At the same time the top model of the 5.4 - liter V8 was replaced by a 5.7 liter V8, its name accordingly changed to GTS 350 ( The numbers indicate the respective engine capacity in cubic inches. ). This model also won the Bathurst race in 1969.
1970 saw again slightly revised Monaro HG. Distinguishing features of HT and HG compared to the HK plastic grille (with HK it consisted of metal), round tachometer on the dashboard instead of square tool on the center console, rubber bearings at the front (instead of bearings made from sintered bronze ) and enlarged to the body corners drawn tail lights.
Good to differ are the variations in the shapes of the trim. In HK, a strip ran the left side of engine and trunk lid along the HG the strip ran along the upper flanks and ended just before the C-pillar. The GTS models in HT and HG version had air scoops on the hood.
In the design of the first generation Monaro is similar to the Opel Rekord C Coupe; However, the Holden was a good bit larger.
From the Monaro HK types, HG and HT total of 29 529 units were produced.
Monaro / LE Coupe / GTS 4 -door (HQ / HJ / HX / HZ, 1971-1979 )
Holden Monaro HJ GTS (1974-1976)
In July 1971 Holden Monaro HQ presented with an all-new second generation. Also new was the comfort-oriented trim level LS with a new 3.3 -liter inline six- cylinder or V8 engines to 5.7 liter displacement and standard black vinyl roof.
The GTS was no longer there now with six-cylinder engine; in the base model was provided by a 2.85 -liter six-cylinder engine for propulsion. The new body line with a broader, steeper upright C-pillar and a larger rear window was widely regarded as less sporty, but is now regarded as one of Australia's finest designs.
The athletic reputation of the GTS (which had to make do until 1973 without trim and its V8 had lost some performance, especially if it was coupled with three-speed automatic ) can also be assumed damage that Holden at Bathurst in 1970 took the smaller Holden Torana.
Introduced in late 1974 HJ series of Monaro was characterized by an extensive facelift, optionally available front and rear spoilers and the elimination of the small six-cylinder engine, but the 5.7 -liter V8.
1976 ended the Monaro production with a limited edition of 600 pieces special edition LE coupe HX. These coupes but no longer bore the name Monaro, just as the four-door GTS models.
From the 4-door GTS was also launched an HZ- series with dual headlights and black grille in October 1977, which was made by the end of 1979.
Some copies of the Monaro GTS have been exported to South Africa and there assembled from imported parts. Later, these cars were marketed as Chevrolet SS and were given their own front end with dual headlights. The majority of these vehicles had the 5.7 liter V8 under the hood.
The Monaro is one of the leading muscle cars of Australia, together with the Ford Falcon GT, Chrysler Valiant Charger, and the more powerful variants of the Holden Torana, it is but overlook the fact that the vast majority of the Monaro's from the smaller six-cylinder and the weaker V8 engines were fired. Especially sought after by collectors today are the Monaro HK GTS 327 and the later 350 GTS models.
From the second generation Monaro total of 18,626 copies were manufactured.
Monaro ( V2/VZ, 2001-2005)
Holden Monaro V2 ( 2001-2004)
About 20 years after the setting of the second generation Holden Monaro which pointed to the Sydney Motor Show in 1998, a Holden Commodore Coupé as a style study. The press dubbed the study quickly to the nearby Monaro name, and the very positive reaction of the visitors led Holden to let the model go into production. The production of this V2 Monaro began in 2001; development costs amounted to only 40 million euros, but had exceeded the planned development time of 12 to 18 months significantly at 22 months.
The Monaro third generation there was (until mid 2004) as CV6 with 3.8 -liter supercharged V6 and a 5.7 liter large V8 CV8, each with six-speed gearbox or four-speed automatic. In early 2003 debuted the Series 2 with the dashboard of the contemporary Holden Commodore VY, rims with new design and changes to the color palette. The CV6 reached only about one tenth of the numbers of the eight-cylinder and accounted for with the introduction of the Series 3 in the summer of 2004. HSV from those based on the Monaro GTO models were from the Series 1 in small numbers ( 255-297 hp kW/347-404 ) and GTS (299 kW/408 hp) manufactured with tuned 5.7 -liter engines and aerodynamic bodywork. The GTS was later deleted from the program and replaced by the Coupe4 with all-wheel drive.
There were also two special Monaro CV8 -R special series, with luxurious facilities and other rims in gray and red livery.
The strongest ever Monaro was the HRT 427, a system designed by HSV Coupé with a modified seven- liter V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette C5R racing version. Characteristics of the two-seater 427 HRT were beyond roll cage, race suspension and brakes and ram air cold air supply. With 420 kW ( 571 hp) came the GTS in less than four seconds to 100 km / h Since the calculation turned out unfavorable, the project was dropped.
A GT version of the HRT 427, however, won the 24 Hours of Bathurst in 2002 and 2003 against stiff competition from Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini. 2003 Peter Brock won pilot his 10th long-distance victory in Bathurst - at the age of 60 years.
The third generation Monaro was exported. In the Middle East it was there as Chevrolet Lumina Coupe, in the U.S. as Pontiac GTO and the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Monaro.
Complaints from the United States over the too smooth styling of the Monaro / GTO meant that the hood was fitted from 2004 ( the Pontiac GTO from model year 2005) with two scoops. The scoops are just dummies (though the GTO was not a Ram Air, but functional Hood Scoops ) and have ruined the car in the eyes of the Australian press. The Pontiac GTO of the model years 2005 and 2006 also received a six -liter V8 with 294 kW (400 hp ); the same engine came in the HSV GTO VZ series Monaro VXR and Vauxhall used.
The production of the third generation Monaro ended on 13 December 2005, the last Pontiac GTO ran on 17 June 2006 by the band.
The very last Monaro was produced by Internet Auction for 115,000, - € auctioned, about three times its list price. The proceeds went to a Leukaemia Foundation, the car is in collectors hands.