Good clean utes of this era are getting hard to find
They were after all workhorses, so it’s hardly surprising that most of this ute’s comtemporaries ended up looking as though they were dragged backwards through a barbed wire fence. Or were abandoned at the tip. Often both.
So it came as a bit of a shock to see this one (only one photo available) looking very tidy and original – right down to the hubcaps. That certainly suggests it’s led a charmed life.
The seller does mention it’s had a respray and that looks like it could be the original colour.
The HZ was the last generation of the Kingswood series, which places it around 1977-80.
We like the fact it’s got the locally-developed 253 V8, even if it wasn’t the most powerful engine in the catalogue. The owner says it’s a 4-speed floorshift manual, which will be the M21 gearbox.
It claims to have books and 177,000km on the clock.
What’s it worth? The owner is asking $18,000, which is up there, but if it’s as good in the flesh as in the photo the price may be on the mark. It certainly falls into the range suggested by our own value guide.