HSV: A personal story

Owning 30 HSVs over 30 years says multitudes for the brand and how it's evolved in the Australian psyche, says Graeme Rutgers of Adelaide-based Special Vehicle Innovations.

The company is no longer fettling locally-built Holdens, but it has entered a new phase, converting Chevrolets, including the Camaro, to right-hand drive for Aussie consumers.

Graeme was recently guest of honour at HSV for his ongoing support of the marque. With him was his latest purchase, a Maloo GTS R – his 30th HSV and his 10th Maloo. He was good enough to provide an insight into his relationship with HSV, through its products and his ownership.

As a youngster during the 1960s and 70s, says Graeme, he became a die-hard Aussie car enthusiast. That fabulous era formed a backdrop to the whole SV concept first conceived by the Holden staff at Fishermans Bend – with Adelaide Holden Dealer, the late Vin Keane, as a facilitator and Peter Brock as the motivator for the HDT [Holden Dealer Team] brand.

"And yes," says Graeme, "I do have HDTs in my garage and forever will."

Following the demise of Holden's relationship with Brock in early 1987, John Crennan was tasked with finding a company to partner Holden for a new special vehicles entity.

Enter TWR.

An alliance of TWR [Tom Walkinshaw Racing] and GM's Aussie subsidiary provided an opening for Scottish race driver and team owner Tom Walkinshaw to broaden his motoring empire. The new business was to be known as Holden Special Vehicles, or HSV for short.

For its part, Holden saw an opportunity to engage an international special vehicle partner with experience – the TWR organisation was already involved with Jaguar and a couple of other makes in the UK, so the transition in a technical sense was a no-brainer for GM-H. The icing on the cake was the early engine and mechanical developments already undertaken by Holden insiders led by Crennan and John Lindell at Holden Motorsport.

Walkinshaw's team in Leafield UK hurriedly put together the wild VL SS Group A body styling that focused on aero over aesthetic, but 30 years on, that car is now an icon of the Australian special vehicle scene.

TWR's design team was originally headed by Ian Callum, who went on to style the next generation of models from the corporate headquarters in the UK or out of HSV's facility in Clayton, Victoria. Callum is now head of design at Jaguar.

At that point in time John Crennan was still at Holden, busily putting together the whole HSV Business case, which ultimately resulted in John himself taking the helm at HSV under TWR's ownership. Over the first two decades, HSV was a driven workplace, led by Crennan with the support of his lieutenants including race driver John Harvey (HSV's first employee), Steve Markwell, Chris Payne ... and a fabulous lady by the name of Marg Curtis, who kept them all on the straight and narrow.

"Such was my relationship with John," says Graeme, "that the now famous GTS R moniker and the original 1996 GTS R were inspired by [a discussion with Crennan] in January 1995, before its debut at the Sydney Motor Show the following October."

"There were many other liaisons over the years..." he continued. "For me, the HSV experience was far more than just cars; it was the connection to HSV that made my experience particularly special."

Graeme's admiration and respect for John Crennan extends to some of Crennan's initiatives, including the formation of the Holden Racing Team (HRT) and Holden by Design (HBD).

"John, with Marg Curtis, drove the marketing of HSV and HRT to become a million-dollar apparel juggernaut that was the envy of sport brand marketing in the automotive industry..."

"I'd hate to think what I spent on apparel and memorabilia in those heady years, but it was good stuff and we all had to have it."

The merchandise was the catalyst for "the next generation of... aspiring HSV owners."

But for a more mature fan like Graeme, it's not the hats and spray jackets, it's the people... and the cars.

"The sheer joy of owning 30 of Australia's finest HSVs is an experience that is probably too hard to put into any real context," he admits.

His 30th car "was always going to be a Maloo," he says. That choice was guided by "a comprehensive HSV performance summary in Sept 2017", which confirmed the Maloo GTS R "was the quickest Australian produced production car of all time."

His journey with HSV isn't ending with the Maloo GTS R, however. "Definitely not; there is also a number 31 and in the fullness of time there will be a 32nd."

Graeme Rutgers says his highpoint during HSV's first three decades was his collaboration on the VS GTS R with John Crennan in 1995. His chief disappointment was the company's decision to axe the Monaro-based HRT 427 in 2003. And his one personal regret is that he didn't place an order for the Coupe4 when they were new.

Over time, he has purchased three Group A models, an SV89, four Senators, a Senator Estate (wagon), three of the long-wheelbase Grange, four of the GTS, a VS GTS R, two of the (Monaro) GTO, a W427 and 10 – count them – Maloos. His fondness for the utes is a legacy from his father.

The vehicles in chronological order of purchase are as follows:

1988 VL SS Group A,
1990 VN SV 89,
1994 VR Maloo,
Another Maloo,
VS GTS R,
VS Senator,
VS Grange 215,
VT Senator,
1997 VT GTS,
1998 10th Anniversary Senator,
VU Maloo,
WH Grange,
VT II Senator Estate,
2000 VS III Maloo,
VX GTS,
VL Group A SS,
VN Group A SS,
2003 WK Grange,
R8 Maloo,
2005 R8 Maloo,
2005 GTO,
2006 GTO LE,
VE GTS,
2007 VE Maloo R8,
2008 W427,
2010 E2 GTS,
2010 Maloo R8,
2011 Anniversary Edition Maloo,
2011 E3 Senator,
Maloo GTS R.