HSV’s 'Holy Trinity' goes to auction

They’re being hailed as the Holy trinity of HSVs – three of the homegrown Holden tuner’s most prized vehicles, all wearing the famous Yellah hue – and they’re all up for grabs.

Lloyds Online Auctions has listed three rare and limited-edition models overnight, with estimates the wider Holden collection could fetch $10 million combined.

Headlining the auction is an extremely rare HSV GTSR W1 Maloo ute – said to be only one of four built.

Built by HSV engineers under a cloak of secrecy – a true skunkworks project – the Maloo is powered by the W1 sedan’s 474kW/815Nm 6.2-litre supercharged LS9 V8.

It has only 19km on the odometer and follows the sale of another W1 Maloo earlier this year for $1.05 million.

At the time of writing, bidding for the Maloo was already out to $425,000 with 28 days remaining.

The Lloyds collection also includes an HSV GTSR W1 in sedan flavour – build number four. It too is finished in the iconic Yellah colour, with bidding out to $360,000.

Finally, there’s the vehicle that started the Yellah fascination: a 1996 Holden HSV VS GTSR with 86km on the odometer and still wrapped in its original plastic.

Complete with a stroked 5.7-litre V8 offering 215kW and 475Nm, the GTSR of course bears an oversized wing and has had two previous owners.

Like the other two Yellah examples, the 1996 GTSR has never been registered. Current bidding sits at $320,000.

“These vehicles are extremely rare, and we are unlikely to see them come through auction again. I wouldn’t be surprised if a museum or Holden themselves purchased them to preserve history. I just hope they get to stay in Australia,” said Lee Hames, Lloyds Auctions chief operating officer.

The Lloyds collection also includes a 2004 Holden HSV GTSR Prototype Concept Coupe – a vehicle that was displayed at the 2004 Sydney motor show but never made it to the production line.

The entire collection can be viewed online at www.lloydsauctions.com.au.