V8 Holden and Ford prices soar - carsales.com.au (2024)

We’ve seen huge prices being paid at auction for rare Australian performance cars in recent weeks.

And now the latest data shows that even regular homegrown muscle cars are being caught up in the perfect storm created by the ‘COVID tax’ and patriotic nostalgia.

At the centre of the frenzy around Australian-made performance metal are Holden V8s. The median asking price of V8-powered Holdens listed on carsales.com.au has increased by more than 40 per cent this year.

As ever, it’s all about supply and demand. Apart from the general shortage of new and used vehicles available during the pandemic, muscle cars are simply no longer made in Australia and there’s strong emotion tied up in the departure of Holden in late 2017.

An enduring love affair with Aussie-built V8 muscle cars from Ford is also reflected in the figures.

But for those in the red corner, the median price of V8 Holdens listed on carsales.com.au has skyrocketed, from $26,788 in January last year to no less than $38,000 in January 2021.

That’s an increase of 41.9 per cent!

Even a clean, low-mileage MY17 Holden Ute SS – the cheapest V8 previously sold by Holden new – can now fetch over $60,000. That’s around $15K more than the new price, and people are paying even more for manuals.

If the model in question comes from Holden Special Vehicles (HSV), prices have also soared over the past 12 months, with the median price climbing 30.7 per cent to $68,000 in January 2021 compared to the corresponding month last year.

The heat in the market has led to a sharp reduction in the number of listings over the same timeframe, with HSV the obvious case in point where average listings nationally on carsales have dropped by more than two-thirds to 460 cars across January 2021 – down from 1291 in January 2020.

The most-searched HSV models are, unsurprisingly, the HSV GTS and ClubSport, followed closely by the HSV Maloo ute. Focus on the Maloo has sharpened as a rare GTSR W1 version was sold at an online auction last month for $1.05 million.

At the same auction, the last Holden Commodore to be framed, painted and allocated a serial number (but not the last to leave the factory in Adelaide), a 2017 VFII SS-V Redline sedan, sold for $750,000.

For those in the blue corner, whether buying or selling or just standing by and watching the fun, the demand for V8-powered Ford or FPV muscle cars has also hit new heights.

The median asking price for Ford V8s on carsales.com.au grew sharply by 17.4 per cent, from $50,990 in January 2020 to $59,870 in January 2021.

And the median price of an FPV listing in January 2021 was $47,500 – an increase of 25.3 per cent in 12 months.

The number of FPV listings nationally on carsales has also dropped by almost a third over the past year, from an average of 311 last January to 94 last in January this year.

Most searches on carsales are centred on the FPV GT, but the turbocharged six-cylinder F6 models also attract plenty of attention.

As well as checking out the listings on carsales.com.au, our 2014 Muscle Car Masters comparison and the 2016 Grudge Match between the best from HSV and Ford/FPV, might also help guide your next investment decision.

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