HSV Maloo R8 for sale

You’ve obtained to acknowledge it, no 1 does exciting commercial motor vehicles quite like the Aussies. Although we’re trapped with large vans, compact vans and anything-in-among vans that are all broadly humdrum, tradespeople in Australia have a bunch of utes (which is utility automobiles) at their disposal. Granted, the vans we have listed here are considerably much more simple, much less expensive to operate and personal, but what makes the Aussie ute that bit additional particular is that, if you obtain one with a big V8, it’ll brighten up even the most monotonous of chores.

For some rationale, carmakers of the globe made a decision Britain wasn’t a key spot for choose-up vans with gasoline-gurgling, 8-cylinder blocks up entrance. Granted, we did get the Vauxhall VXR8 Maloo for a quick period of time in the early 2010s, however a rapid Google lookup indicates these marketed in incredibly reduced figures. And that is probably why tradespeople and helpful folk really do not have numerous exciting solutions to pick from when it comes to workhorses.

Very well, the excellent news is there is a single hell of a mighty ute in the PH classifieds: the HSV Maloo R8. HSV (which is Holden Particular Vehicles) has been providing Holden’s humble Commodore-based Ute decide on-up truck the big V8 cure for many years, with every product carrying the Maloo (meaning thunder in a single of the hundreds of Aboriginal dialects) title as a nod to what is beneath the hood. And, in the automobile we have below, it is a 6.2-litre LS3 V8 developing 431hp, which is transferred to the rear axle through a six-velocity guide gearbox. And, if your mates really don’t imagine you, there’s a plaque with a power and torque curve slapped onto the engine include.

But it’s not all about ability. HSV does in fact do a bit of get the job done on the chassis aspect, this kind of as a reworked suspension and differential, to prevent you from performing donuts each time you look at the throttle. You might also discover the Walkinshaw title dotted around the car or truck. It is in essence the Australian arm of Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), which made use of to develop Holden’s Commodore racer for the V8 Supercars and now operates as a functionality company. Updates built to the Maloo (don’t be concerned, they’re manufacturing unit equipped) involve a Walkinshaw Functionality intake manifold, new headers and a beefier exhaust system.

It’s not particularly understated, both. Most of the visual upgrades are from the HSV Commodore of the period, these types of as the nostrils on the bonnet, the break up aspect vent built-in into its entrance wheelarches and the alternatively lovely set 20-inch alloy wheels, which, on the car we have right here, have just lately been refurbished. Inside is the normal low cost-still-enduring cabin we have appear to expect from General Motors effectiveness cars. You do, on the other hand, get the Maloo name embroidered onto the back again of the seats, which admittedly appears to be like unbelievably cool. And, besides, who cares about interior high quality when you have received a significant boot and similarly enormous motor up front?

You know what’s also fairly massive? The cost. This one’s up for sale at £49,995, which may well be a difficult tablet to swallow – in particular when you look at the 106,000 miles showing on the odometer. But, even nevertheless we got the Maloo in VXR8 type in the Uk, they really almost never occur up for sale, most likely mainly because their house owners are getting way way too substantially fun to even believe about advertising. Are you shelling out a quality for the HSV and Holden badges? Possibly, but one particular thing’s for certain: you are going to in no way have an additional uninteresting day at perform. Very well, at least not the journey to and from get the job done, which in a person of these, should to be a riot.

Motor: 6,162cc V8
Transmission: six-speed handbook, rear-wheel travel
Electrical power (hp): 431 @ 6,100rpm
Torque (lb ft): 406 @ 4,800-5,600rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
12 months registered: 2010
Recorded mileage: 106,000
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £49,995