W427 capped at 200

Holden Special Vehicles has drawn a line in the sand with its W427 "supercar" program with a formal announcement it will cap the build number of the flagship sedan.

According to the Holden hotshop, a maximum of just 200 of the 375kW four-doors will be built, with the order book for the hand-assembled model to be closed in June 2009.

Unveiled at this year's Melbourne Motor Show, the $155,000 four-door hits the road in July. It is built to retail customer order at a rate of around six units per week. HSV says around 96 W427s have been delivered to owners to date.

HSV's official statement said the build cap "clarifies the final build number for this ambitious, groundbreaking program".

According to HSV Managing Director, Phil Harding, the announcement has in large part been driven by customer and dealer group feedback.

"The feedback I have received as I travel around the country is that our customers want to be part of an even more exclusive club. The confirmation of the final build number will give existing owners certainty that they are part of a very special program, whilst encouraging potential purchasers to put their order in quickly," Harding opined.
 
"Existing W427 customers have told us they want to keep their purchase as exclusive as possible and some potential customers have asked us for clarification on exactly how many W427 Supercars we intend to build. The confirmation of a total build number of 200 does this," Harding said.

According to Harding, the decision to cap the program at 200 cars is also in line with the original business case for the car. He said the current financial crisis did not affect the decision.

"We've said all along the planning number was around 150 to 200, somehow [at the initial launch] with a remark we wouldn't build anymore than 427 the press thought we were going to build 427. That wasn't the intention," Harding said. [Ed see note below.]

According to Harding, around 40 "firm orders" are in hand for early 2009 build W427s. HSV will hold the car's $150K-plus retail price through to the end of the program, he said.

Harding says closing off orders in June will allow HSV to build out the final customer cars in the second half of 2009. The HSV boss expects the 200 car run to be fully subscribed.

"My take on this is I think there'll be a scramble to fill out the remaining production slots."

Harding was also bullish about the success of the W427 program. And also confirmed the company would pursue future "supercar" programs.

"Have we made money out this program? Yes, absolutely. Has it been a success? Yes, absolutely and we'll do it again, around those [build] numbers.

"When I say do it again, they'll obviously be some more years of gap while Joel [Stoddart, HSV's Engineer Manager] creates another supercar… We have got the enthusiasm for this type of program, but it probably won't be done again for three or four or five years," Harding stated.

Harding would not be specific on the nature of the program but commented that the company may "do it in a different way and cap it at a lower number."

Ed's note: the debate on just how many W427s did HSV intend to build could become one of the legends of Aussie performance cars.

For the record, in our early news on the W427, we quoted HSV's then chief, Scott Grant. At the launch of the mainstream LS3 models Grant said, quite categorically: "200 is the current plan" -- more here.

After an audience with HSV owner Tom Walkinshaw, the seeds of not more than 427 units were sowed (more here). And then at the July 2008 launch drive of the W427 HSV officials equally categorically proclaimed the company had reserved the build numbers #1-5 and 427 for its own use.

Among other references, if that's not at least some indication that up to 427 was at least a marketers target then we'll go 'he for tiggy'…