The ones that got away

By: Cliff Chambers

Date: 05.09.2016

HSV

Jowett

VW Beetle

Prince GT

HSV

Jowett

VW Beetle

Prince GT

Yep, here they are, the classic car bargains we missed. Cliff Chambers takes us for a wander through the classified ads from the past.

HSV COUPE 4 - NOVEMBER 2007

Not many cars produced by HSV have achieved price growth within a decade of their launch. Most in fact have cost their owners a motza, so well done if you bit plonked down $90,000 for one of these rarities. At that price it would surprise no one that HSV didn't shift many at all of its All-Wheel Drive Coupe 4. Production of just 140 cars is unlikely to satisfy future demand and keeping the kilometres on cars like this to 20,000 or less is important. Owners who bought a car like this, locked it up and walked away are already being rewarded with six-digit values. 

THEN $70,000 NOW $90-95,000

JOWETT BRADFORD - MARCH 1986

A few issues back we featured the spacious and attractive Jowett Javelin sedan with its advanced flat-four engine. Now we offer a glance at a traditional Jowett; the upright and painfully slow twin-cylinder Bradford van which paid for the excesses of its more exotic sibling. These vans were rarely seen in Australia but in the UK were parked outside every second butcher's shop and hardware store. Even there though they are getting scarce and generating quite decent money. Whoever secured this one hopefully avoided woodworm issues with that half-timbered body.

THEN $2750 NOW  $15-18,000

VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE SPLIT-WINDOW -DECEMBER 1991

Say 'splittie' to a VW tragic and they might conjure visions of early Kombis and six-digit selling prices. However the 'Type 2' wasn't the only split-window model ever to decorate a VW showroom. The very earliest production Beetles featured a bar dividing their rear windows and an 18kW engine. Although these VWs didn't officially sell in Australia a decent number were privately imported and they pop up regularly. Almost $15,000 in the midst of a recession was silly pricing but at $9000-10,000 this car should have sold and steadily grown in value.

THEN $14,750  NOW $22-25,000

PRINCE SKYLINE GT - DECEMBER 1989

If ever a car was born to nail the annual Bathurst 500 Mile Production Car race it was this one. Under the bonnet was a grunty two-litre 'six' with triple carburettors and top speed from GTB versions with their five-speed gearbox was more than 190km/h. It even had disc brakes when most of the big cars were running drums. Sadly the Prince was a dud at the Mountain and in most other places too, with patchy sales and scarce parts. A lot donated their engines to keep 2000 Sports models running and survivors have become quite valuable.   

THEN $2500   NOW: $20-24,000 (restored)

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