An Aussie icon is coming up for auction in Australia this weekend, with expectations that it could hit half a million dollars.
The 1996 HSV GTS-R, aka The Flying Banana, is one of the rarest Holdens in history, with just 85 made. The car up for auction is build number 85 and in “original condition”, according to Lloyds Auctions.
“This is an extremely rare Holden; the last time we saw the same model was September last year and we weren’t sure when we would see one again,” says Lee Hames, chief operations officer for Lloyds Auctions.
“When we auctioned the GTS-R last year it sold under the hammer for $1,000,000 and we expect that it will happen again with the increase in value of these classic cars,” says Hames.
READ MORE
That million-dollar GTS-R was build number 1, hence the sky-high price. But any GTS-R of this vintage is sought after.
“This is a very special vehicle and we’re very excited to see how it goes on auction day,” says Hames.
The VS GTS-R is famously finished in XU-3 Yellah, a colour that launched a thousand “taxi racing” jokes because Victoria’s taxis were assigned a very similar shade around the same the GTS-R was launched.
It features a stroked 5.7-litre engine that made 215kW/475Nm when new – a useful increase (at the time) over the standard 5.0-litre’s 185kW/400Nm. A big selling point was the option to have the engine blueprinted by Holden Racing Team (HRT), which meant it was stripped, balanced and reassembled by the racing experts. This added 10kW/29Nm – and another A$10,000 to the A$76,000 bill.
It could hit 100km/h in 6.6 seconds in standard form, or 6.0sec with the HRT engine. A six-speed manual was the only transmission offered; the car featured stiffened suspension and an Australian-developed limited-slip differential.
The model also featured a number of bespoke exterior bits from HRT, not to mention Flying Banana-specific detail elements such as the outrageous seat fabric and yellow interior badging.
Carbon fibre (still incredibly exotic for a road car in 1996) was used on the lower air intake, side skirts, rear trim, rear bumper garnish and wheel centre caps.
One of 10 GTS-Rs sold new in New Zealand was auctioned by Webb’s in March last year, but remained unsold despite a $275,000-$295,000 estimate.
Over 300 other classic cars are being auctioned by Lloyds on Saturday August 27, includes a 1977 Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 and 2017 HSV R8 Maloo 30th Anniversary edition with delivery kilometres on the clock.