HQ Holdens

[Ext User(Marco)]

I'm guessing there might be a few people in here who know the ins and
outs of HQs?

There's an immaculate looking one down the road from me that I've been
admiring for a little while now which is now for sale. I don't know
anything about it - haven't been for a closer look - but driving past
it does seem to at least have very good paint with no obvious rust,
and what looks like a pretty decent interior. It has no rego, and I
don't know if it runs, but my wife got a closer look at the sign on it
and reckons they're asking $1000. I'm thinking not as a daily driver
but as a hobby/resto project.

As I've said here many times before, what I would really like is an EJ-
EH but one of those in good nick these days goes for stupid money,
whereas a HQ seems to still be at that stage where it's not a sought
after classic just yet.

I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?

Marco

[Ext User(Cyborg 0019)]

Marco wrote:
> I'm guessing there might be a few people in here who know the ins and
> outs of HQs?
>
> There's an immaculate looking one down the road from me that I've been
> admiring for a little while now which is now for sale. I don't know
> anything about it - haven't been for a closer look - but driving past
> it does seem to at least have very good paint with no obvious rust,
> and what looks like a pretty decent interior. It has no rego, and I
> don't know if it runs, but my wife got a closer look at the sign on it
> and reckons they're asking $1000. I'm thinking not as a daily driver
> but as a hobby/resto project.
>
> As I've said here many times before, what I would really like is an EJ-
> EH but one of those in good nick these days goes for stupid money,
> whereas a HQ seems to still be at that stage where it's not a sought
> after classic just yet.
>
> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?
>
> Marco
>
Did not read your post,but saw $1000,Bye it now,you cannot loose even if
the chassis is twisted.
Have not seen one for years down this way.

[Ext User(Noddy)]

"Marco" <ignition.vess@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1179061835.376396.215290@w5g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...

> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?

As an investment, that would depend almost entirely on what it is. As a
"project" that could be a lot of fun, it'd probably be a bargain.

With the current madness associated with anything from the "supercar" era,
you can bet that less desirable models will become more valuable over the
next few years as people find the desirable cars out of all reasonable
reach. With that in mind, things like HQ Monaro's are currently fairly well
under valued, and will no doubt rise in price as people attempt to latch
onto anything remotely connected to that era.

As far as the rest of the HQ model range goes, I think it'll be quite some
time before they're ever considered desirable, and things like Kingswood or
Belmont sedans & wagons are most likely at the bottom of the pile in that
respect.

The good news is that as a "do-able" project they're fairly cheap, have a
plentiful supply of parts, are easy to work on and as they came with a
variety of engines ranging from lo po 6 cylinders to 350 cube Chev V8's,
kick arse engine swaps are a simple bolt in deal using factory components
and perfectly legal.

HQ's were a solid, robust car that was pretty simple and could be made to
perform *reasonably* well for very little money, and a nicely customised one
would make a great cruiser that would certainly stand out in today's bubble
shaped plastic world.

I don't know what this HQ you're thinking about is, but if it's a two door
and you're not interested, please kindly pass the guy's details on to me so
I can make arrangements to move it down south :)

--
Regards,
Noddy.

[VYBerlinaV8]

Hey Marco - any chance you could let us know what street it's on? I wouldn't mind driving past for a look. You're safe though, no way the wife would let me have another car right now!

Cheers.

[Ext User(jackbadger56)]

On May 13, 11:10 pm, Marco <ignition.v...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm guessing there might be a few people in here who know the ins and
> outs of HQs?
>
> There's an immaculate looking one down the road from me that I've been
> admiring for a little while now which is now for sale. I don't know
> anything about it - haven't been for a closer look - but driving past
> it does seem to at least have very good paint with no obvious rust,
> and what looks like a pretty decent interior. It has no rego, and I
> don't know if it runs, but my wife got a closer look at the sign on it
> and reckons they're asking $1000. I'm thinking not as a daily driver
> but as a hobby/resto project.
>
> As I've said here many times before, what I would really like is an EJ-
> EH but one of those in good nick these days goes for stupid money,
> whereas a HQ seems to still be at that stage where it's not a sought
> after classic just yet.
>
> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?
>
> Marco

If you can put aside the familiarity of the HQ shape and somehow look
at them with 'fresh' eyes, I reckon the HQ is one of the nicest
designs - simple, unfussy, flowing.
Would be fun as a project and they seem to be getting rare. Have they
all been used up for the HQ racing series? Someone should start an
'Ugly Magna' series so they too get snatched up and put into walls at
great speed ; )

[Ext User(Jason James)]

"Marco" <ignition.vess@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1179061835.376396.215290@w5g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...
> I'm guessing there might be a few people in here who know the ins and
> outs of HQs?
>
> There's an immaculate looking one down the road from me that I've been
> admiring for a little while now which is now for sale. I don't know
> anything about it - haven't been for a closer look - but driving past
> it does seem to at least have very good paint with no obvious rust,
> and what looks like a pretty decent interior. It has no rego, and I
> don't know if it runs, but my wife got a closer look at the sign on it
> and reckons they're asking $1000. I'm thinking not as a daily driver
> but as a hobby/resto project.
>
> As I've said here many times before, what I would really like is an EJ-
> EH but one of those in good nick these days goes for stupid money,
> whereas a HQ seems to still be at that stage where it's not a sought
> after classic just yet.
>
> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?
>
> Marco

The HQ was a very solid car. It tracked well but really needed
power-steering if the missus is going to try and park it (lots of castor).
In red-motor form (especially the little 173cu) they struggled on the
highway and today, would have little hope keeping up with traffic. But with
a V8,..preferabley a Chev SB, would make a nice performer.
Like a lot of things, its in the eye of the beholder. IMHO they were one of
GMHs better efforts at styling.

Jason

[Ext User(Dan---)]

On Sun, 13 May 2007 06:10:35 -0700, Marco PCM code reading says:


>
> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?

Here is a tip don't have kids if your are going to have a project car. It
would seriously slow down your project to a almost complete stop.
:-)


--
Regards
Dan

[Ext User(Marco)]

VYBerlinaV8 wrote:
> Hey Marco - any chance you could let us know what street it's on? I
> wouldn't mind driving past for a look. You're safe though, no way the
> wife would let me have another car right now!

Yeah, no worries. I'll send you a PM on LS1.

Marco

[Ext User(Marco)]

Noddy (nospam) wrote:
>
> As an investment, that would depend almost entirely on what it is. As a
> "project" that could be a lot of fun, it'd probably be a bargain.

It looks to be nothing more than a stock standard Kingswood or
possibly even a Belmont - I'll go for a walk down the road tonight and
see if I can glean some more about it. Certainly nothing particularly
desirable, no.

> HQ's were a solid, robust car that was pretty simple and could be made to
> perform *reasonably* well for very little money, and a nicely customised one
> would make a great cruiser that would certainly stand out in today's bubble
> shaped plastic world.

That's the sort of thing I had in mind, yes - basically kept as
original as reasonably possible, as it appears to be fairly well
unmolested as it is and there wouldn't be too many unmodified HQs
still getting around.

What I guess worries me at the moment is the financial aspects of it -
as I said, this could get very expensive very quickly, and with a baby
on the way (and resulting loss of income), this might not be the best
time to take something like this on. On the other hand, it could be
the best time ever, given that I'm not going to be going out anywhere
anymore and will have plenty of time hanging about at home on
weekends :)

> I don't know what this HQ you're thinking about is, but if it's a two door
> and you're not interested, please kindly pass the guy's details on to me so
> I can make arrangements to move it down south :)

Nah, it's just a plain jane four door sedan, nothing to get too
excited about :)

Marco

[Ext User(Marco)]

jackbadger56 wrote:
>
> If you can put aside the familiarity of the HQ shape and somehow look
> at them with 'fresh' eyes, I reckon the HQ is one of the nicest
> designs - simple, unfussy, flowing.

I used to hate the way they looked (along with all other 70s cars) but
I've reconsidered that over the last couple of years and I agree, it's
quite a neat design without too much fussy detailing.

> Would be fun as a project and they seem to be getting rare. Have they
> all been used up for the HQ racing series? Someone should start an
> 'Ugly Magna' series so they too get snatched up and put into walls at
> great speed ; )

HQ racing hasn't helped (even though that series has stopped now,
hasn't it?). A mate of mine here at work has owned a HQ since it was
about a year old, and he's starting to have trouble getting some bits
and pieces, but on the whole it's still not too bad if you know where
to look.

Marco

[Ext User(Marco)]

Noddy (nospam) wrote:
>
> As far as the rest of the HQ model range goes, I think it'll be quite some
> time before they're ever considered desirable, and things like Kingswood or
> Belmont sedans & wagons are most likely at the bottom of the pile in that
> respect.

That's probably about right, but on the other hand, these days even a
not particularly special EH that is in good original or restored (but
not show car standard) condition seems to fetch close to $10k - you
might remember that pretty rough looking wagon I saw around last
Christmas that was asking $5k, for example. Given a couple of years a
good, original HQ might be worth a few grand, but that would probably
be outweighed by the costs of keeping it in good order (as well as
your basics like rego etc).

Marco

[Ext User(Marco)]

Dan--- wrote:
>
> Here is a tip don't have kids if your are going to have a project car. It
> would seriously slow down your project to a almost complete stop.
> :-)

Probably - and we have our first due in October. But as I said to
someone else in this thread, am I going to be totally out of time, or
will I have heaps of it given that I won't be leaving my house much
anymore? :)

Marco

[VYBerlinaV8]

VYBerlinaV8 wrote:
> Hey Marco - any chance you could let us know what street it's on? I
> wouldn't mind driving past for a look. You're safe though, no way the
> wife would let me have another car right now!

Yeah, no worries. I'll send you a PM on LS1.

Marco

Cheers mate - much appreciated.

[Ext User(Daryl Walford)]

Marco wrote:

> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?

HQ was Holdens biggest selling model ever so even despite their age
there is still a lot of them about so in terms of an investment they
won't be as good as other less common models.
IMO a car like that needs to be totally original to be worth much.
I don't know if it makes any difference to their value but early HQ's
had MPH speedo's.


Daryl

[Ext User(Dan---)]

On Sun, 13 May 2007 17:13:02 -0700, Marco PCM code reading says:

> Dan--- wrote:
>>
>> Here is a tip don't have kids if your are going to have a project car. It
>> would seriously slow down your project to a almost complete stop.
>> :-)
>
> Probably - and we have our first due in October. But as I said to
> someone else in this thread, am I going to be totally out of time, or
> will I have heaps of it given that I won't be leaving my house much
> anymore? :)

Want a new home for your SS?
:-)



--
Regards
Dan

[Ext User(The Raven)]

My mate has an almost immaculate HQ GTS coupe. He's planning on selling it
and researching market prices. To say it isn't collectible yet is a bit of
an understatement.

He needs to dump the LPG system (long expired) and freshen up the engine bay
but otherwise the interior and exterior are very good. Market price varies
on locality but I could easily see this one fetch $12000+

The exhaust system is a major selling point. Just a basic headers and twin
system but it sounds fantastic, even on a stock 308.


--
The Raven
http://www.80snostalgia.com/downloads/batfink/sounds/wings.mp3

"Marco" <ignition.vess@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1179061835.376396.215290@w5g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...
> I'm guessing there might be a few people in here who know the ins and
> outs of HQs?
>
> There's an immaculate looking one down the road from me that I've been
> admiring for a little while now which is now for sale. I don't know
> anything about it - haven't been for a closer look - but driving past
> it does seem to at least have very good paint with no obvious rust,
> and what looks like a pretty decent interior. It has no rego, and I
> don't know if it runs, but my wife got a closer look at the sign on it
> and reckons they're asking $1000. I'm thinking not as a daily driver
> but as a hobby/resto project.
>
> As I've said here many times before, what I would really like is an EJ-
> EH but one of those in good nick these days goes for stupid money,
> whereas a HQ seems to still be at that stage where it's not a sought
> after classic just yet.
>
> I'm thinking this sort of thing is probably beyond me at the moment,
> more from a financial point of view than from a time point of view -
> I've read enough resto stories to know that this sort of thing gets
> out of control very quickly, starts with just a minor clean-up and
> ends up at a $30k rebuild, etc. But if it's in relatively good order,
> and has only a minor amount of rust maybe...worth considering?
>
> Marco
>

[Ext User(ReSiN8oR)]

Marco wrote:
> jackbadger56 wrote:
>> If you can put aside the familiarity of the HQ shape and somehow look
>> at them with 'fresh' eyes, I reckon the HQ is one of the nicest
>> designs - simple, unfussy, flowing.
>
> I used to hate the way they looked (along with all other 70s cars) but
> I've reconsidered that over the last couple of years and I agree, it's
> quite a neat design without too much fussy detailing.
>
>> Would be fun as a project and they seem to be getting rare. Have they
>> all been used up for the HQ racing series? Someone should start an
>> 'Ugly Magna' series so they too get snatched up and put into walls at
>> great speed ; )
>
> HQ racing hasn't helped (even though that series has stopped now,
> hasn't it?). A mate of mine here at work has owned a HQ since it was
> about a year old, and he's starting to have trouble getting some bits
> and pieces, but on the whole it's still not too bad if you know where
> to look.
>
> Marco
>

HQ racing is in fact still going. Was watching them at Oran Park only
the other weekend

Cheers
Adam

[Ext User(Patrick)]

Marco wrote:
> Well, I measured my garage again last night and discovered that it
> won't fit - I need about another 5cm of length that I just can't get
> without taking down half a wall (and given that I took down the other
> half to get the VE in, I'm not keen to undo what just took me a few
> weekends to get exactly as I want it). Unless I'm going to leave it
> parked in the driveway - and I'd rather not, at that age - then I
> don't think I'll be buying.
>
> In any event, I think with kids on the way, my time for fiddling with
> it and driving it is probably going to be pretty limited, and children
> are likely to find a better use for my money too :) I'm also not too
> sure that I would actually enjoy driving it all that much, as the
> reality is likely to be that it would be slow and cumbersome and not
> all that pleasant compared to other cars I've owned and driven.
>
> My wife is still trying to convince me to buy it though, which is odd.
>
> Marco
>

You think that's odd? The other night my wife suggested I buy a faster bike!

Maybe she wants me to kill myself???

[Ext User(Marco)]

Well, I measured my garage again last night and discovered that it
won't fit - I need about another 5cm of length that I just can't get
without taking down half a wall (and given that I took down the other
half to get the VE in, I'm not keen to undo what just took me a few
weekends to get exactly as I want it). Unless I'm going to leave it
parked in the driveway - and I'd rather not, at that age - then I
don't think I'll be buying.

In any event, I think with kids on the way, my time for fiddling with
it and driving it is probably going to be pretty limited, and children
are likely to find a better use for my money too :) I'm also not too
sure that I would actually enjoy driving it all that much, as the
reality is likely to be that it would be slow and cumbersome and not
all that pleasant compared to other cars I've owned and driven.

My wife is still trying to convince me to buy it though, which is odd.

Marco

[Ext User(atec 77)]

Marco wrote:
> Well, I measured my garage again last night and discovered that it
> won't fit - I need about another 5cm of length that I just can't get
> without taking down half a wall (and given that I took down the other
> half to get the VE in, I'm not keen to undo what just took me a few
> weekends to get exactly as I want it). Unless I'm going to leave it
> parked in the driveway - and I'd rather not, at that age - then I
> don't think I'll be buying.
>
> In any event, I think with kids on the way, my time for fiddling with
> it and driving it is probably going to be pretty limited, and children
> are likely to find a better use for my money too :) I'm also not too
> sure that I would actually enjoy driving it all that much, as the
> reality is likely to be that it would be slow and cumbersome and not
> all that pleasant compared to other cars I've owned and driven.
>
> My wife is still trying to convince me to buy it though, which is odd.
>
> Marco
>
Buy it a dent the back wall . or shorten the bumper mounts a little