Hidden gems available at Grays’ latest auction

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 26.06.2018

Rare South African market HT Monaro, and an unlikely Peter Brock road car

Though one of the less publicised auctions, while perusing Grays’ latest classic car auction we noticed a few very tempting cars that caught our eye.

At the time of writing, many of the cars have almost two days left on the bidding, and could be worth keeping tabs on.

First up is a Holden HT Monaro GTS, originally delivered to South Africa as a rare Chevrolet SS.

These rare shared-exports have their own cult following and are highly sought after. Only available for a short time, the program was shut down due a melting-pot of highly volatile political factors regarding South Africa’s apartheid status in the 70s.

This HT Monaro/Chevrolet SS currently has no bidders, but is on offer from $100,000.

Purportedly fully restored in 2015, the car currently bears its local Holden badges and Grays lists the odometer reading at just 6,870kms.

One of the less assuming cars, a Volvo 850, is actually a bit of a collector’s item with its own Peter Brock connection.

A 1995 Volvo 850 T5-R, was raced by Peter Brock in the 1995 Bathurst 12 hour, and Jim Richards in 1996 – the latter winning the 1996 AMP Super Tourer race in Bathurst.

Purportedly only 30 T5-Rs were brought to Australia, 25 of which were yellow, and just five – of which this is one – in black.

The car currently has a modest 149,908kms, and the current bid is at $11,509 after 55 bids thus far.

One for the Europhiles: This 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SL Convertible is a highly sought-after Australian-delivered model.

As the preceeding ‘Pagoda’ SL’s continue to rise in price and desirability, the R109-generation SLs have too trailed behind the upward trend. There’s a 1988 model up for grabs at next month’s Shannons auction with no kms listed, estimated for $80-95,000.

This one has a modest 115,320kms and, being a 560 model, is fitted with the largest capacity 5.6lt V8, mated to an automatic transmission.

The car’s current bid at the time of writing is $33,009, with 105 bids lodged so far.

There’s a number of other notable cars on offer, including various Falcon GT replicas, a Toyota Crown MS65 sedan, a 1980 Ford RS2000 Escort and even an LX Torana SL/R 5000 replica.

At the time of writing, many cars have over a day left of bidding, and may jump in price as the last-minute bids are submitted. But have a look for yourself and let us know what you’re keen on!

You can check out all of the available lots at Graysonline.com.

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