Hero ute
If ever you needed proof that Australian industry was once capable of building some truly spectacular cars, look no further than the late HSV Maloo series.
We are in fact talking serious performance. Motor magazine (no longer with us, unfortunately) said this during a 2017 road test: “The second run is clean, the Maloo putting the majority of its 435kW/740Nm to the ground quickly and efficiently. The Driftbox agrees, spitting out 4.2sec 0-100km/h and a 12.3sec quarter mile, the fastest figures Motor has recorded from an HSV and thus a standard Australian-made performance car.”
That power was being produced by a 6.2lt LSA-series V8 and back then you could choose between a six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
The car you see here is running the auto and is said to have Harrop tuning. Listed as number 62 of 670 examples, it is showing a little over 11,000km on the odo.
It’s up for auction with with Collecting Cars.