Holden Monaro: FAQs

First off, what are we looking at when we start discussing Monaro?

Best remembered as a two-door coupe, the Monaro first appeared as part of the HK Holden line-up in July 1968. It continued through the HT and HG before evolving into the iconic HQ and its HJ update.

The coupe body style was dropped for HX but the Monaro continued on as a four-door sedan. In 1977 Holden introduced the HZ update and dropped the Monaro name from the body altogether.

Holden gave a hint it was thinking about reintroducing the Monaro when it rolled out the VT Commodore-based Holden Coupe at the 1998 Sydney International Motor Show.

Based on the VX Commodore and dubbed V2, the reborn Monaro entered production in early 2001 offered with a choice of supercharged V6 or V8 engines.

An update followed in 2004 based on the VZ Commodore. Production ceased in 2006.

The HSV Coupe based on the V8 Monaro was built from 2001 to 2006. An all-wheel drive dubbed the Coupe4 also had a short production run.

So to cost. The older they are and the cleaner they are the higher the price. First gen examples are listed at over $200,000 on carsales.com.au and third generation V8s up to $80,000. Most, however, are below $50,000.

Of course, a really special example could generate a hell of a lot more.

The Pontiac GTO sold in the USA from 2004 to 2006 was most definitely based on the Holden Monaro.

Launched at the LA auto show in early 2003, more than 40,000 reborn GTOs were sold, despite what Americans derided as a “bland” design.

That criticism helped explain why the GTO grew non-functional slots in its bonnet for 2005. They were also standard on the VZ Monaro.

The Monaro was also exported to the Middle East as the Chevrolet Lumina Coupe and the UK as the Vauxhall Monaro.

The four-door Monaro was a late introduction to the HQ Holden line-up, joining the range eight months after launch in March 1973.

It came in two specifications, the GTS and the GTS 350. The former could be had with 4.2 or 5.0-litre Holden V8s, while the latter ran a 5.7-litre Chevrolet donk.

Both coupe and sedan continued on into the HJ update, although the 350 was dropped. The Monaro coupe was axed for HX, leaving only the GTS sedan in the line-up. Worth noting the coupe body style did continue in the HX, but was named LE.

For HZ the Monaro name disappeared altogether, with the performance sedan now simply dubbed GTS.