should i buy a hr

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Go the old car, you know you want to

I've got a dirty love affair with the VB,VC,VK era and once I'm married and bought the Mrs a new car it's helloooooo project car for meee

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

I suppose the obvious question is why???
What is it you’re looking for?
Like any old car, even if rebuilt and upgraded, it is a nasty piece of junk compared to anything built in the last 30 years. So hopefully you’re buying this as a Show Car, Sunday Cruiser, collectable, etc.
You then need to consider the totality of the ownership experience. Are you going to hangout on Holden forums, go on Holden cruises, join the Holden club, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I'm sure there are a great many happy people who swing both ways, and if that’s you then more power to ya. On the other hand, if it’s just for you and the family to enjoy, then you don’t have to worry.

Be aware though that any old car is a commitment. You will be looking for parts, looking for information, and looking for advice. Don’t have too romanticised view of it, as long as you understand what you’re buying, and what you’re getting yourself into, and you’re happy with it then go for it.

Of the older Holdens, I liked the look of the FE & FC. I also liked the HK/HT/HG especially the Monaro, but like the HD/HR they were rustbuckets even 30 years ago.

Personally, if I was going for a car from the 60’s (and I still might) I’d be looking for an XP, but that’s my personal preference.

"Nasty piece of junk"...? To be blunt, no they aren't. They're solid, reliable, simple to work on, and tough as nails. You could probably say the same about any similar car of the era, Falcon or Valiant both.
One of my sister-in-laws is terrified...literally extremely frightened...of driving in any car without at least six air bags (that's the figure she's repeatedly told us). I drove her to the shops in my '82 Celica...once...and she had no problems telling me that she was honestly afraid the whole time, especially when in traffic. She's bought the whole line that anything without air bags and more than five years old is useless, is a waste of metal, and should be banned from the road and scrapped as a dangerous death trap.

Go the HR...you won't regret it.

[66 STANG]

HD = Horribly Designed

HR = Hurridly Rectified


The HR can be a cool looking car these days, as long as it's done up right with period US Racing mags etc.

Do it - just for fun!

[79FordEsky]

I think that the HD is over rated but it will become a collectable..Just my opinion, But hrs are nice cars have to get a special or a rare combo to be a good investment but standards are ok.

[davids_gxl]

you can hear a hr rust.lol

[TC200six]

If you are into old cars and you're really contemplating one, go for it. It doesn't matter what car brand forum this is.

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

She's bought the whole line that anything without air bags and more than five years old is useless, is a waste of metal, and should be banned from the road and scrapped as a dangerous death trap.

Im tending to to the same way as your SIL. Old cars are maybe just for looking at or for very restricted use.

Basically get tboned at even a low speed, say 20km/h and one risks getting you head slammed into the side glass/and or pillar and getting a permanent head injury and many have. would you have the same opinion regards wearing a seatbelt in an older car(if it wasnt law that they have to be retrofitted?)

Surely if worthwhile safety features are available, you wouldnt compromise your passengers/family by not have full curtain airbags? how would you feel if one of them did end up with a head injury when you didnt get the model with the rear curtain airbags?

Interestingly, I do remember the hr was the first Holden fitted with front seat belts as standard.

[mik]

this is a chance you take Sudzy, a lot of those old cars where terribly unstable, i think the old valiants had the goods on the early fords and holdens, i particularly have a dislike for most of the early holdens except for EH, the EH seemed to be the least boaty and fairly stable out of all the early holdens from 66 back, HR seemed more stable but a bit boaty if that makes sense, easily fixed though.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

"Nasty piece of junk"...? To be blunt, no they aren't. They're solid, reliable, simple to work on, and tough as nails. You could probably say the same about any similar car of the era, Falcon or Valiant both.

That's exactly what I did say.

Yhe best car in the 60's is in all ways massively technologically inferior to anything built in the last 20 years. As long as people understand that, then old cars are great fun and a great thing to hold on to.

[BPXR6T]

Got good memories of my uncles HR. He'd pick me up and drop me off every day when I worked in the factories. Cool car. We dropped in a stroked 202 running 12 port alloy head and tripple webbers. Powered through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd smoking the tyres all the way. Awesome little car and easy to work on. If one came up for the right price I'd buy it in a heat beat.

[flooded one]

why not. HRs are good looking!! like all old cars!! they have character!! sweet lines. I prefer the original looking HRs to the stupidly modified ones. cant beat that original old car look

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Im tending to to the same way as your SIL. Old cars are maybe just for looking at or for very restricted use.

Basically get tboned at even a low speed, say 20km/h and one risks getting you head slammed into the side glass/and or pillar and getting a permanent head injury and many have. would you have the same opinion regards wearing a seatbelt in an older car(if it wasnt law that they have to be retrofitted?)

Surely if worthwhile safety features are available, you wouldnt compromise your passengers/family by not have full curtain airbags? how would you feel if one of them did end up with a head injury when you didnt get the model with the rear curtain airbags?

Interestingly, I do remember the hr was the first Holden fitted with front seat belts as standard.

While i do teld to agree to a point, there were and are many cars that are alot safer than a HR that dont have air bags and all the other safety features
That said theres plenty of cars that come standard without airbags you really would want to be in an accident in
If memory serves me right the model commo before the first with airbags was terrible in impacts and was the main reason i didnt buy one
But funny thing the model with airbags passed safety features cause it had them ...
Cant remember what model it was or wasnt.long time ago
There are many cars that a HR would tear to pieces and the occupants in the HR would come out without a scratch
Hardy a selling point really in the big picture
My XC doesnt have the fancy stuff either but itll hurt many with the real steel bumpers
They are well over 40 years old now, and its when people start comparing then to now it gets a bit conflicting
My bog stock AU ute would wipe the floor with any HR, all across the board, but a good HR will cost more than most or even the best AU
Brand new AU guard $75 , egay, you wont get a brand new HR guard under $250-$300 if you can find one

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Im tending to to the same way as your SIL. Old cars are maybe just for looking at or for very restricted use.

Basically get tboned at even a low speed, say 20km/h and one risks getting you head slammed into the side glass/and or pillar and getting a permanent head injury and many have. would you have the same opinion regards wearing a seatbelt in an older car(if it wasnt law that they have to be retrofitted?)

Surely if worthwhile safety features are available, you wouldnt compromise your passengers/family by not have full curtain airbags? how would you feel if one of them did end up with a head injury when you didnt get the model with the rear curtain airbags?

Interestingly, I do remember the hr was the first Holden fitted with front seat belts as standard.

Fair enough having a car with all the mod cons you describe, but sometimes we need another sort of car to occupy our time...ie, something we can tinker with, without needing a science degree to figure out.

[Bucknaked]

I had a HR back in about 1989. It belong to my father inlaw. I bought it off him for $200 with the intention of rebuilding it. I under estimated to amount of work involved. The car had been sitting in a paddock for about 20 years. He got it running and I wanted a project so I bought this off him. Anyway, in the end, I sold it off to a young guy who was going to tafe as a panel beater. I caught up with hime about a year after I sold it. It was well on the way to being restored. More work that I had ever hoped to get done myself.

[XP6]

"pretty sure the holdens had recirculating ball until much later, possibly the first commodores had rack and pinion, Lh torana`s had rack and pinion, not sure about the earlier ones."


"Yeah your right. The commodore had rack and pinion and so too did the LH/X torana's. Everything else was recirculating ball."


The 1st Holden to have a steering rack is the 68 HB Torrie along with a collapsible coloum and dual circuit brakes... oh and a 4 link rear!

[66GT]

I to had a thing for the old oldens in the late 80's early 90's. I spent a fortune converting an EH into a street machine. Went like sting, drank fuel like a dam exploding - was a 500 holley on a heavily worked 6 and wasted 13" tyres & diffs like nothing else. Ahh great times - often wonder what happened to it. I also have a soft spot for GTR Torana's & early GTS Monaro's.

[The Yeti]

If being in the lasetst safety featured car is important to you well no old car is for you,

But for some people (my self included) any car built after plastic bumpers is of little interest to me, except perhaps as a doner for a chrome bumperd car

Yea they don't stop turn perform or are even as reliable as a new car, but new cars are about as exciting as high fiber breakfast cerial. I'd sooner cruize in a gutless 170 powered XP wagon than a 2012 FPV something or other

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Originally Posted by 66GT

.... drank fuel like a dam exploding ...

When I was looking for a project car (before I got sick of fixing older cars and bought the FG) I found a VB with a stroked 383 in it, loved it until I read the fine print on the ad:

"383 Stroked etc etc etc, Note: Not to be used as a daily driver, 40L fuel cell gets ~110km"

I decided it wasn't for me