Having been a car enthusiast from childhood, I’ve been watching with considerable interest at the extraordinary price escalation that a host of Aussie Classics have experienced in the past 12 months. Every auction seems to be smashing all the records from the previous record-setting auction.
I’ve had a bit of a clean out lately and culled my collection due to my inability to house lots of cars, however there are still a few classics on my radar that are still somewhat affordable.
I thought I would share them with you, here is a small selection!
No.01: VC Valiant Regal V8
When I was a kid, my dad sold Holdens and traded one of these. And while I could never be accused of being a Mopar diehard, it was mega impressive, nonetheless. The Regal had luxury bucket seats, power steering and a floor-shift auto – which was one of the best autos on the market. It also has a bullet proof V8 and nice square styling. They’re hard to find these days but I’d love to get my hands on one.
No.02: Mk1 GT Cortina
I love these! The Harry Firth-inspired, GT500 is out of most people’s price range because of its rarity, however the normal GT can still be found for reasonable money. They were ground-breaking sporting cars in the day, and still drive fantastically well even by today’s standards. A burgundy metallic example with black trim would do me nicely.
No.03: Holden EH 179 manual
Back in my youth, all us lads lusted after an EH - especially the 179ci manual. The fact that my dad was a Holden salesman, and quite often brought one home created a lifetime love of them. Misty memories clouds over the fact that its drum brakes were only good for one stop, and hard cornering had a nasty habit of cracking the wheels – all that stuff doesn’t even enter the equation. The EH was a great Aussie road car and a nicely presented one still turns heads! Turquoise with a white roof is my choice.
No.04: Ford Falcon XE Fairmont Ghia V8
It’s nice, little 302 and three-speed auto, plus the luxury of the Ghia trim gets this Aussie classic on my list. While relatively rare and highly desirable ESP commands big money, the Ghia is a good alternative. It’s a great car and there’s loads of restoration and replacement parts available through Rare Spares. They’re fantastic cruisers, which eat up the kilometres with ease. Best of all, they’re still around for reasonable money. I’ll have mine in white thanks.
No.05: Holden Commodore VB SLE V8
Forget the crazy money the Brock cars are getting nowadays – the affordability ship for these sailed long ago. However, the SLE was the height of luxury, ran the same basic engine and diff – and it only needed a decent set of shock absorbers to tidy up their behaviour. And again, Rare Spares is really catering to these early Commodores, with a large and ever-increasing range of parts to complete a top resto. If you can find one with a 308 V8 and manual gearbox – the sky is the limit! Hard to find but well worth the hunt, as they drive like a modern car when restored properly and really lend themselves to a Restomod build – such as an LS V8 and Tremec 6-speed transplant.
So, there you have it, that’s my Forgotten Five. What is your Forgotten Five? What are a few affordable classics would you like to park in your garage – let me know.
John Bowe