Brock’s Blue Meanie goes to auction

Amongst early Commodores, the 1985 HDT VK SS Group A is the top of the three, and in that rare group of 500 (some sources say 502), one sits even higher – the SS Group A originally owned by Peter Brock. After being auctioned for more than $1 million back in 2021, this car is going to auction again, this time with Collecting Cars.

Brock’s personal HDT VK SS Group A was #005 (naturally) of the 500 built by Holden and HDT to homologate the VK Commodore SS for Group A Touring Car racing. An international formula, Group A had been adopted by CAMS in 1985, replacing Group C racing in Australia. All the homologated cars featured a 4.9-litre (4987cc) Holden V8, which was a de-stroked version of Holden’s current 5.0-litre (5044cc) V8 to avoid a weight penalty the formula applied to entries over 5.0-litre capacity.

HDT took this V8 and tuned it, via the addition of a Crane camshaft, roller rockers, ported inlet manifold, cold air induction and other tweaks, to produce 196kW at 5,200rpm and 418Nm at 3,600rpm. This compared to only 126kW and 361Nm from the stock 5.0 V8 when matched to an automatic, although the manual transmission VK SS did offer a more respectable 177kW and 419Nm.

An M21 four-speed manual was the standard transmission offered, with the Group A spec also including Bilstein suspension, 16-inch ‘Aero’ alloy wheels (available in white or polished) and model specific aerodynamic enhancements for homologation that included a front air dam, grille insert and rear spoiler.

All the homologation cars were painted Formula Blue, leading to the ‘Blue Meanie’ nickname, although subsequent sleuthing has suggested one or two may have been released in other colours.

A pale blue interior was standard, where the upgrades included specially-trimmed Scheel sports front seats, a leather-trimmed Momo steering wheel, HDT-branded shift knob and ‘Peter Brock’ cassette stereo, with air conditioning optional. HDT SS identification was added to the centre console and each car’s build number to the glovebox lid, which in the case of this example was “Build No. 005/500”.

As listed, this VK SS Group A has 79,724km on the odometer, just over 2,000 of which has been accrued by the current owner who acquired the car at a Grays auction in 2021. Since purchase, the car has been serviced, most recently in October, 2023, when the harmonic balancer was rebuilt and new Bridgestone tyres fitted.

A large volume of paperwork supplied with the car includes these records of service, as well as HDT literature, period advertisements, and most importantly, an HDT letter signed by John Harvey certifying that #005 was Brock’s personal car.

The auction listing does not clarify if this is a matching numbers car, but mentions a stainless-steel .exhaust system and suggests the radiator has been replaced, adding that the car is in largely original condition. The car is located in Melbourne and the current owner is believed to be the fourth.

“This is a rare opportunity to own a piece of Australian motoring history,” said Lee Hallett, Head of the Asia-Pacific region at Collecting Cars. “If there is one Holden model that represents the best of Brock and the Commodore’s racing success, it is the HDT VK Group A SS. And to own car 005 would be any dedicated Brock fan’s dream.”

The Collecting Cars auction opened on 4 April and runs to 11 April at 4:30PM AEST. At time of writing, bidding had exceeded $300,000, so still has a way to go before it matches the $1.4 million this car achieved at auction in 2021. For more details, click HERE.