Holden Special Vehicles
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Tom Walkinshaw |
| Headquarters | Clayton, Victoria, Australia |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Owner |
General Motors Walkinshaw Performance |
| Parent |
Holden Ryan Walkinshaw |
| Website | www.hsv.com.au |
Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is the officially designated performance vehicle partner of Australian automaker, Holden. Established in 1987 and based in Clayton, Victoria, the company modifies Holden models such as the standard-wheelbase Commodore, long-wheelbase Caprice and commercial Ute for domestic and export sale. Over the years, Holden Special Vehicles has also modified other non-Holden cars within the General Motors portfolio, in very low volumes.
Cars produced by Holden Special Vehicles have, in the main, been marketed under the HSV brand name. However, in the early years, some have retailed under the Holden name in Australia whereas most cars for export (other than in New Zealand and Singapore) have retailed under different names (namely, Vauxhall and Chevrolet Special Vehicles).
HSV was created in 1987 as a joint venture between Holden and Tom Walkinshaw Racing – an operation owned by Scottish racing car driver and entrepreneur Tom Walkinshaw. HSV effectively replaced the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) special vehicles operation run by Peter Brock, after Holden severed its ties with HDT in February 1987 following the Energy Polarizer and "HDT Director" controversies. With the more recent demise of TWR's global companies, HSV still remains a partnership between Holden and Walkinshaw, the joint ownership company being Premoso Pty Ltd.
Over the years HSV has built an array of modified vehicles, most of which have been based on Holden models powered by either Holden or GM sourced V8 engines.
The first car developed by HSV was the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV of 1988, which was badged and sold by Holden for Group A touring car racing homologation purposes. It went on to win the 1990 Bathurst 1000 race. The first car developed, badged and sold as an HSV was the SV88.
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