favourite, what with its hearty V8, slithery chassis and the likeable demeanour of a laid-back cartoon bear. In 2002, however, Holden Special Vehicles announced a plan to put some firecrackers up the bear’s bottom.
When an Aussie car mag was given a go in the running prototype it enthusiastically noted its ability to light up its back tyres in gears higher than first while adding that vigorous use of revs had the exhaust ‘yodelling like a bastard’. As you might guess, excitement for the HRT 427 was running high Down Under and HSV dealers quickly took more than 80 deposits, easily accounting for the entire production run and then some.
Other Australians thirsting for a street-legal 7-litre Holden had to wait until 2008, when HSV announced the W427, a four-door saloon fitted with the 7011cc 503bhp V8 from the contemporary