The Holden Monaro ( ) is a car that was manufactured by General Motors' Australian division Holden. It has a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and was produced with a two-door coupé body from 1968 to 1976 and again from 2001 to 2006 and with a four-door sedan body from 1973 to 1979.
Three generations of the Monaro coupe have been produced, the first covering the HK, HT, and HG series from 1968 to 1971, the second covering the HQ, HJ, HX, and HZ series from 1971 to 1979, and the third covering the VX, VY, and VZ series from 2001 to 2006.
The first-generation Monaro coupe was also manufactured by General Motors South Africa from 1970 to 1973, using knock-down kits imported from Australia.
The third-generation Monaro coupe was manufactured not only for domestic Australian consumption, but also for export, as variously a Chevrolet Lumina Coupe (Middle East), Vauxhall Monaro (UK), or Pontiac GTO-badged vehicle (USA). The third generation was also "remanufactured" in Australia by Holden Special Vehicles (HSV), from 2001 to 2006, marketed in a range of HSV-badged high performance derivatives without application of the Monaro nameplate.
First generation (1968–1971)
HK
Named after the Monaro region in New South Wales (although pronounced differently), Holden's new coupé was introduced in July 1968 in a two-door pillarless hardtop design available in three models: base, GTS, and GTS 327. The GTS versions had the full instrumentation installed, which included a tachometer mounted on the centre console. This proved to be a bad location, as the driver's knee would obstruct the view and it often rattled.
The base Monaro had a standard straight-six engine or the extra-cost options of two versions of straight-six engines (Monaro GTS came standard with the more powerful 186 'S' engine), and both base model and GTS could be optioned with a Chevrolet-sourced V8 engine.
The exclusive Monaro 'GTS 327' model was powered by a Chevrolet V8 engine rated at , available only with a four-speed manual transmission.
Despite the styling being unique, the Monaro nevertheless featured styling cues derived from GM designs, employing a "coke bottle" look similar to that of the Camaro, Corvair, and Nova coupés of the late 1960s.
After Holden engineers had originally claimed that the Monaro's engine bay was too small to house the 327 Chevrolet V8, a decision was made to speed up the development of Holden's first-ever Australian-developed and manufactured V8 engine, the and larger capacity Holden V8 engine. This particular V8 engine project ran behind schedule, which led to engineers remeasuring the engine bay and finding that the original measurement calculations had been incorrect, thus allowing the use of the imported Chevrolet engines.
A total of 8,945 HK Monaros were manufactured.
The HK Monaro GTS327 gave Holden its first victory in the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 at the hands of Bruce McPhee and co-driver Barry Mulholland. Whilst Mulholland only drove one of the total 130 race laps, McPhee drove the remainder and also scored both pole position and fastest lap of the race.
Norm Beechey drove a HK Monaro GTS327 to third place in the 1969 Australian Touring Car Championship, the first time the ATCC was held as a series rather than a single race. Beechey showed the capabilities of the Monaro when he won the final two rounds of the five-round series at Surfers Paradise and Symmons Plains.
In early 1969, the HK Monaro range was awarded Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1968.
HT
In June 1969, the HK Monaro was replaced by the facelifted HT Monaro. The 'GTS 327' became the 'GTS 350' with the replacement of the Chevrolet 327 in3 (5.4 L) V8 by the Chevrolet 350 in3 (5.7 L) V8. As the Monaro was Holden's main car in Series Production racing, this was primarily in response to Ford, which had introduced the XW Falcon GTHO Phase I in 1969. Also, an automatic version of the 'GTS 350' was introduced, which used a lower-power version of the 350 engine coupled to a two-speed Powerglide transmission. HT Monaro also marked the phasing out of the 5.0-litre Chevrolet V8, and the introduction of Holden's own locally made V8 engines, the 4.2-litre 253, and the 5.0-litre 308. Late in the HT model run, a new, locally produced three-speed automatic transmission, the Trimatic, was offered as an option, although it was not available on the 'GTS 350'.
The HT Monaro can be distinguished from the HK by the adoption of plastic grilles (previously metal), two-section taillights separated by a blacked out panel, a round speedometer instead of "strip" style allowing for bringing the tachometer into the main instrument cluster instead of on the floor console, rubber front suspension bushings instead of the HK's sintered bronze, and larger taillights, where the turn indicators also wrapped around the now-slightly undercut edges. Bodywork "go-faster" stripe designs (delete options) varied for each series; HK stripes were offset to the driver's side of the bonnet (hood) and bootlid (trunk), the HT had two broad stripes down the centre of the car. HTs also had twin air scoops / vents incorporated into their bonnets, which served no real purpose in delivering air into the engine bay. A total of 14,437 were manufactured.
The HT Monaro GTS350 was successful in Series Production racing. The Holden Dealer Team was formed in 1969 by longtime Ford Works Team boss Harry Firth with the team using the GTS350 in competition. The HDT entered three Monaros in the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500, the lead car driven by Colin Bond and Tony Roberts winning from 1968 winners Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland, who had switched to driving a Falcon GTHO. Coming home third in the Dealer Team's third Monaro was Des West and Bathurst rookie Peter Brock.
In January 1970, Bond and Roberts won the Rothmans 12 Hour Series Production race at Surfers Paradise driving their HDT Holden Monaro.
Norm Beechey upgraded to a HT GTS350 and won the 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship, Holden's first ATCC championship success. Beechey won three of the seven rounds at Bathurst, Sandown, and Lakeside, where he wrapped up the title. The Monaro (which Beechey and his chief mechanic Pat Purcell had bored out from 5.7 to 6.0 litres) proved too much for the opposition, which included defending champion Ian Geoghegan in his Ford Mustang, Allan Moffat in his Ford Mustang Boss 302 Trans-Am, Bob Jane's Mustang, and Beechey's own teammate Jim McKeown in a Porsche 911S. Beechey's win was all the more remarkable considering he failed to finish at Warwick Farm and did not start the final round at Symmons Plains after suffering an engine failure in qualifying. He also finished second to Geoghegan in round four at Mallala.
Beechey continued to run the Monaro (dubbed Trans-Aus in reference to its Australian build compared to the American Trans-Am cars of his opposition) for another two seasons, though unreliability plagued the car in 1971 and 1972. Norm only finished fifth in the 1971 ATCC, winning only round two at Calder. The 1972 ATCC had Beechey retire from the first three rounds at Symmons Plains, Calder, and Bathurst before his only points for the series came from a third place in round four at Sandown Park. At the end of 1972 as a result of the Supercar scare, the Improved Production class was shut down by Confederation of Australian Motor Sport with a new production-based Group C touring car class introduced for which the Monaro was not eligible to race.
HG
Unveiled on 26 July 1970, the HG Monaro was the last of the original coupé design concept. HG had cleaner lines with redesigned exterior trim pieces. The HG sported different stripes (delete options) known as "sidewinder" stripes which ran along the top edge of the fenders, under the windows and finishing just before the rear pillar. The "Monaro" badge on both rear pillars was introduced to all models. For the HG GTS, the "GTS" badges now featured black paint fill, received new black-out paint on rocker panels, with the GTS 350 getting bold treatment with new "sidewinder" stripes and black bonnet scoop. "GTS 350" designations now featured gutsier decals on the fenders and boot lid. Wheel arch moldings were deleted on all models. The "GTS 350" models no longer had the 350 Chevrolet badge on the fender, but rather a bold decal stating "350" as well as blackout treatment that covered the air-vents on the bonnet. The GTS badge originally above the gills in the fenders would be removed and would now be black instead of red (with the badges being placed on the passenger side of the grille and boot). The taillights had a cleaner look and the grille was redesigned.
Most mechanical specifications remained the same as HT series, with the exception of Monaro GTS (non-350), which had softened suspension, resulting in a smoother ride. Manual HG GTS 350 retained the suspension from the HT GTS 350. Other upgrades included thicker (HT GTS 350 style) power front disc brakes, now standard for all V8 and the 6-cylinder Monaro GTS. The HG would be the final model for the generation and the last to use the original body shell.
Export program
In 1970 HT Holden Monaro GTS coupes started being assembled in South Africa from imported parts by General Motors South Africa (GMSA) at the Port Elizabeth assembly plant. In 1971 the later HG series Monaro was assembled and sold in South Africa badged as the Chevrolet SS until 1973, long after the HQ series had been released. At this time GMSA had made a decision to market most of its products as Chevrolets. The Chevrolet SS had revised front styling unique to that model, incorporating four headlights and large turn indicators in the front edge of the fenders above the bumper. The Holden Monaro and Chevrolet SS models were both available with Holden 308 in3 (5.0L) and the Chevrolet 350 in3 (5.7 L) engines. South African sales totalled 1,828 Monaros and 1,182 SS models.
Second generation (1971–1979)
HQ
A completely new body design emerged with the HQ series in July 1971, including the new Monaro 'LS' (commonly believed to mean "Luxury Sports") model which featured four headlights and chrome trim rings shared with the Holden Premier sedan. There were no longer any six-cylinder versions of the Monaro GTS, just the locally manufactured or optional V8s or the top level GTS350 coupé, equipped with an imported Chevrolet motor.
The base model Monaro standard engine was enlarged to whilst the Monaro LS had a broad spectrum of engine options from a six to the V8. The new coupé design had a much larger rear window and a squarer rear quarter window; it was somehow seen as not as sporty looking compared to the earlier HK-HT-HG series, but is often now considered one of the best looking body designs to come from an Australian manufacturer. Taillights were now rectangular in dual-unit style, integrated into the rear bumper; they were not unlike those of the American 1969 Chevrolet Bel Air/Biscayne. The car's styling was somewhat reminiscent of the 1970-72 Chevrolet Chevelle.