1976 HX HOLDEN

Park an HJ Holden next to a HX and most enthusiasts will struggle to tell the difference. It represented only minor refinement over the HQ/HJ series, introducing a low emission version of each Holden engine to meet new Australian Design Rules. Externally the HX had a new grille, revised hub caps and other minor cosmetic modifications. The biggest improvement from a rriver's point of view was a steering column stalk in all models giving fingertip control of the wipers, washers, turn indicators and headlight beam.

Towards the middle of 1976, the Monaro coupe was phased out, with the remaining body shells used to create the Holden LE Limited Edition). A run of 600 V8 Monaro LE luxury two door models wrapped up 8 years of Monaro coupe production. Strangely the LE is rarely referred to as a Monaro, but as the LE! Powered by the 5.0-litre V8, the LE was fitted with air conditioning, a quadraphonic cartridge tape player, power windows, automatic transmission, front and rear spoilers, metallic paint with gold pinstriping and other special features, one being an anti-lock braking system that only worked on the rear wheels!

A gold HX marked General Motors' 50th year in Australia. Sandman 'recreational' utes and panel vans sold well, with the vans appealing to younger buyers especially.

In brief: 1976 HX Holden
Launched: July 1976
Engines: 2.84-litre six cylinder '173', 3.3-litre six cylinder '202', 4.2-litre V8 '253' & 5.0-litre V8 '308'.
Transmissions: Three speed manual gearbox, four speed manual gearbox, three speed Trimatic automatic transmission and three speed Turbohydramatic 400 automatic transmission.
Models: Belmont sedan, Belmont station wagon, Kingswood sedan, Kingswood station wagon, Kingswood utility, Kingswood panel van,Premier sedan, Premier station wagon, Holden cab/chassis truck, Holden panel van, Sandman panel van, Holden utility, Holden Sandman utility, Monaro GTS sedan, Monaro LE coupe, Statesman De Ville sedan and Statesman Caprice sedan
Prices when new: $5,186 (Belmont six sedan) $5,322 (Kingswood sedan), $8,554 (Statesman)
Total number built: 110,669