1988 HSV VL Walkinshaw SS Group A
Work Carried Out
This VL Walkinshaw having been stored for several years came into Finest Restorations to restore it to its former glory. The brief was to do whatever was required to get the vehicle looking as it would have once it left the showroom in 1986, After a detailed discussion taking place with the owner the go-ahead was given to work our magic this included Finest Restorations unique method of cutting and buffing full vehicle to rectify any minor imperfections in paintwork, minor PDR Paintless dent removal, detailing of underbody to represent GMH production line & painting full front end to eliminate any stone chips and scrapes to the HSV Walkinshaw front bar.
The final stage was to Ceramic Coat the vehicle to protect the paintwork and give it a flawless finish leaving Finest Restorations headquarters just as it would have looked leaving HSV when new.
Vehicle Specs
Make – HSV VL WALKINSHAW SS GROUP A
Year – 1988
Colour – Panorama Silver
Engine – 5L Injected
Gearbox – T5G 5 Speed
History of the HSV VL Walkinshaw SS Group A
Holden Special Vehicles, operated by Tom Walkinshaw, was established in 1988 to replace HDT. Holden’s radical split with Peter Brock in 1987 had clearly left the company in need of a lucrative partnership – and that necessity brought about the new performance tuning operation. Holden Special Vehicles released their first vehicle being known as the SS Group A. Built between March and November 1988 in very limited numbers (a total of 750 were made) to homologate the car for Bathurst, Australia, the Holden Commodore SS Group A boasted a highly tuned 5-liter V8 engine with Delco EFI producing 180kW of power and 380Nm of torque. Paired with a 5-speed Borg-Warner T5G manual gearbox, Turbo 6/V8 brakes and 16 by 7-inch alloy wheels on 225/55 VR16 tyres were clothed in a dramatic body kit with the added drama of a built-up boot-lid spoiler.
With all Walkinshaw Commodores finished in the same Panorama Silver, they were priced at the same level as the best European luxury cars released at the time at $47,000, which is almost three times the price of a base VL when new. In recent years, cars of this type have experienced tremendous growth in value on the classic muscle car market and they appear to be certain to continue rising next year.
