HSV cancels exclusive HRT427 supercar

Holden Special Vehicles today announced that it would not go ahead with production of the HRT427 "Supercar".

Fifty firm orders had been placed for the vehicle, with an unexpectedly high proportion to be for road use. HSV\'s desire to build the car to the highest level of safety, engineering integrity and excellence to meet the expected asking price of $215,000 was not achievable at the (restricted) 50 vehicle build level.

To achieve a road car level of specification would have required significantly higher investment levels and resultant higher recommended retail price. Further, HSV was not prepared to build more than 50 units as this would seriously degrade the exclusivity of the very exciting 427 model, nor was HSV prepared to lower the specifications from that of the original show car intent, which may have diluted the integrity of the concept.

HSV expressed great disappointment in not bringing the 427 model to market, as the prototype vehicles that were completed had achieved their engineering objectives and vehicle intent. HSV\'s General Manager, Chris Payne, confirmed "The unfortunate and disappointing decision was one purely of business case economics that could not be made viable given our price and customer studies.

"The decision is particularly disappointing as the prototypes already demonstrate the engineering prowess of HSV to develop and build high performance supercars that can compete with the best marques in the world" he added.

HSV will be in direct contact with the fifty customers who were scheduled to become owners of the 427.

"We have some other very exciting and interesting concepts coming down the track that will continue to shape HSV\'s leadership in the Australian performance car segment" said Chris Payne.



Damn, i was really looking forward to this baby. Its a shame that only the prototypes live on. This car was going to give Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini are serious run for their money.

Here are the specs from the official prototype;

Drivetrain

Engine
7 litre Chevrolet C5R 90º V8  

Engine location  
Front, longitudinally mounted  

Displacement  
6.980 liter / 425.9 cu in  

Valvetrain
2 valves/cylinder, OHV  

Aspiration
Naturally Aspirated

Gearbox
Tremec T56 M12 6 Speed Manual  

Drive
Rear wheel drive

Weight
1330 KG

Performance

Power  
560 bhp / 417.8 kW @ 6000 rpm

BHP/Liter
80.2  

Torque  
780 Nm / 575.3 ft lbs @ 4800 rpm

Power to weight ratio  
0.36 bhp/kg  

Top Speed  
186.4 mph / 300.0 km/h  

0-60 mph Acceleration  
3.80 seconds

thats really unfortunate, specs are quite amazing.
but atleast we still have the GTS coupe .

7L V8?!!  Jeez that\'s a lot o\' displacement.  But c\'mon what did they expect?  If you had $215,000 would you buy that car?  It simply does not have the syling a quarter of a million dollar car should have.  Looks like a Cavalier with altezzas.  And don\'t get me started on those cheap wheels. :boom:

thats  215,000 australian dollars i beleive, around 140,000USD (still pretty expensive)

If you had $215,000 would you buy that car?

most definately, any car that HSV makes is worth buying imo .

[videoholic]

I was going to say the same thing.

Looks like a freaking Chevy.

They did export some 2 door monaro\'s to USA and changed the name,could possibly be the same(Not engine only shell).

^^

Skyrider, that is the new Pontiac GTO (yes, its an Australian car...) Its simply a Monaro thats been Americanised. Holden/HSV also export SS Lumina\'s to the US.

Yes, styling is too similar to the regular Monaro, however, if it ain\'t broke don\'t fix it I suppose. Would have been nice to have an Aussie production supercar, but oh well, will have to wait for Fords apparent announcement of the BA supercoupe.

Tyrant, are you an Aussie or something? You seem to worship HSV and Holdens. The new SS is nice, but I would only ever consider the GTS 300. Build quality is not that great, and they are very slurpy when it comes to high octane fuel.

Originally posted by ##RaCeR##

Tyrant, are you an Aussie or something? You seem to worship HSV and Holdens. The new SS is nice, but I would only ever consider the GTS 300. Build quality is not that great, and they are very slurpy when it comes to high octane fuel.

nope, i\'m just a huge fan of holdens. it all started with the commodore/lumina SS, then came the monaro which made me like holdens much much more.

btw here\'s a pic of the front and engine

i wonder why they didnt make it look like the GTS

Yeah the styling isnt the greatest but i guess it also keeps little kids from jackin yo shit. . Anyway the specs are nice but it guzzles gas like a friggin mactruck gone turbo. 7 friggin litres?! And people thought the 5.0 mustang was enough. I think they build like this to compensate for the lack of ingenuity in terms of other aspecs. Take a look at the 4AGZE. Its a beautiful engine with lightwheight power easily capable of matching car engines 10 years ahead of it. I dont doubt that they make nice cars but i think its just that they scrap this project and steer straight on ahead. Well they might have actually made a golden car but if they want to have such high exclusiveness then it think its proper they raise the price and up the body styling. They way they approached this project was just bad.

^^

Exactly. I mean, I love the GTS Coupe, don\'t get me wrong, but its only, like, $90G\'s. I think they could have improved on the styling to make it look \'like a freakin supercar\'.

Engineering is excellent, and I don\'t doubt that they can\'t make excellent cars, they just really need to ditch their \'Aussie muscle\' image and make something really nice and sleek.

Originally posted by ##RaCeR##

Engineering is excellent, and I don\'t doubt that they can\'t make excellent cars, they just really need to ditch their \'Aussie muscle\' image and make something really nice and sleek.

to me its that "Aussie muscle" look which makes the car stand out from the rest.
i just wanna mention something, these cars sound friggen awesome, the Monaro V8 just roars like a lion.

^^

Yeah, they are similar to Chevy\'s sound wise, but its the race cars that sound really cool. The bad thing about Monaro\'s though is that they are only Holdens. I would have loved HSV to have built the Monaro instead as they have better build quality.

Yeah, the Aussie image is ok, but not for a supercar to battle it out between Europes finest. It needs to be taken seriously!

I love the styling on the FPV GT Falcon, its Aussie, but not too Aussie. Looks waaaay to much like the current Mustang though, not that thats a bad thing, kinda.

the ford does look sweet, but the alloys could use some changing (they look like they belong on a kia).
but i do agree, that if its to compete with the euro cars it definately needs a design revamp, but other wise their great as is .

Originally posted by Tyrant
the ford does look sweet, but the alloys could use some changing (they look like they belong on a kia).
but i do agree, that if its to compete with the euro cars it definately needs a design revamp, but other wise their great as is .

Those rims look better than that but i do agree that they could be changed. But do many sports cars come with the dopest alloys? No. That doesnt bother me. I think the falcon looks great. Its like a mix of a mustang (obviously) and a wrx sti.

Anyone else see the the resemblance in BMW headlamp notches in the bumper, the Nissan 350Z wheels, and WRX lower front end.  Also is that a working brake vent cooler in the side molding of the car or purely for looks?  A nice looking car.. how much is it?