1967 HR Holden Special: Reader Ride

By: Keith Bostock, Photography by: Keith Bostock

Date: 23.11.2015

Keith Bostock with his Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Keith Bostock with his Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Holden HR Special

Keith Bostock's son persuaded him to buy his HR Holden Special and says 'Lady Penelope' as it's called, is now part of the family

Keith Bostock's 1967 HR Holden Special

My son’s very passionate about HRs; he’s got one but it’s in pieces at the moment. I was thinking I wouldn’t mind a toy of my own, since I had Kingswoods when I was younger. I was looking at maybe getting an EH or something like that, but we always ended up looking at HRs because that’s what my son loves. He said one day, ‘Dad, you’ve gotta come see this original HR’, so we ended up buying it.

It was all original when I got it, we just sort of polished it up, had it reconditioned and kept everything looking original. The interior is still original aside from the carpet, which it didn’t have. That was added in ’89 but the receipt is still there. Other than that, everything else is original. The purchase price shows on the original receipt, too. It was $2405.94.

It’s actually even got the original number on the rego, we’ve just put new plates on it. Basically, I’m assuming that’s what the car was like as new and we haven’t touched it. Even the paint is original.

I clean it about once a week, I usually take it out to a show each week and that’s when it gets driven, so it gets cleaned as it’s needed. I don’t like to put a lot of water on, since old Holdens can start to rust like that, but it does have a tiny bit in the front guard. Aside from that it’s amazingly rust free.

It gets driven so regularly because I didn’t want it to be locked away. It was basically locked away for a long time before I had it, and it’s only got 67,000 original miles on it now, so I’ve tried to get some use out of it. I think there was about 25 years where it had only done 4000 miles. It’s too good to be locked away. You’ve got to enjoy it.

I’ve had it since early 2014, and it probably wasn’t my first choice, but with the originality and the way the car is, I love it. It’s part of the family now, but I think what I really love is that it hasn’t been played with, touched up or resprayed. I’m very careful with the repairs that get done, so that it stays up to original standards.

The kids called it Lady Penelope, and it kind of stuck. They got the name from The Thunderbirds, but I kind of like it, because the car’s like a nice, elegant lady, even though it’s a country car. It was originally bought in Laidley and it lived there until I bought it and brought it to Brisbane. There are no plans to move it on – I don’t think my son would talk to me if I got rid of it.

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