A piece of Holden motorsport history to sell for crazy price

Auction house Lloyds believes this piece of Australian motoring history will fetch an eye-opening price when it goes under the hammer.

Holden Dealer Team's 1969 Holden HT Monaro driven by Kevin Bartlett and Spencer Martin goes to auction.

Aussies have a chance to own a piece of local motorsport history, but there is a catch.

A 1969 HT Monaro, which is the very first factory built race car to wear a Holden badge, is up for sale through Lloyds Auctions.

The HT Monaro debuted at the 1969 Sandown 300 and was prepared by Harry Firth and driven by Spencer Martin and Kevin Bartlett for the Holden Dealer Team.

Holden Dealer Team's original 1969 Holden HT Monaro driven by Kevin Bartlett and Spencer Martin is going to auction.

Its race was cut short when the Monaro was involved in a fiery crash. But lessons learned from the race built the platform for the Holden Dealer Team’s future dominance – including launching Peter Brock’s career and numerous Bathurst wins.

The rear-wheel drive two door coupe has 24,875 miles (40,032km) on the clock and is powered by a Chevrolet V8 matched to a four-speed manual transmission.

Lloyds Auctions chief operating officer, Lee Hames, said the first HDT Monaro holds a special place in Aussie motorsport history and had a big part to play in Holden’s success.

This Holden HT Monaro was the first factory built race car to wear a Holden badge.

“This car is a significant piece of Australian motorsport history, not only shaping the success of Holden as a company, but also setting the stage for the domination by Holden and Peter Brock for the following two decades,” said Mr Hames.

“While we’re seeing rare classic cars like Holden Toranas and GT Falcons selling for hundreds of thousands, none have the colourful backstory or cultural significance of this Monaro, which is what makes it so rare and special.”

But if you want a slice of the now defunct Lion brand’s racing history, you’ll have to pay up.

Hames believes the Bathurst classic Monaro could sell for more than $1 million. A rare feat for Aussie-built cars, which has only been achieved by the Ford Falcon GTHO.

The car had a fiery crash at the 1969 Sandown 300.

We expect that this incredible piece of history will break seven figures – making it the most expensive Holden ever,” said Mr. Hames. “The inquiry on this car is massive from all over the country, many people are even saying that it will reach 7 figures.”

It will be a tough battle for the car to reach the more than $1m record set by the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, which sold in 2018, because of the current economic climate and that car had an extra hook of being owned by former Aussie fast bowler Jeff Thomson.

The 1969 Holden Dealer team HT Monaro goes to auction online on Friday the 27th of June at noon.