Geelong All Holden Day highlight – HSV “30 Years” ClubSport R8

A major celebration of Holden, the Geelong All Holden Day returned with a bang in 2025. The last show before this was back in 2019, so the hunger for a Holden-only show in the birthplace of Ford Australia saw more than 450 cars attend. These came not just from Geelong and surrounding districts, but also Melbourne, country Victoria and even interstate.

Along with the very first Holdens, some of the last were on show, like this 2017 HSV ’30 Years’ ClubSport R8.

Announced in February, 2017, when Commodore-based HSV production was only a few months away from ending forever, the 30 Years anniversary range marked three decades since Holden Special Vehicles was founded in 1987.

Based on the GEN-F2 (aka Commodore VF) platform and powered exclusively by supercharged LSA V8 engines, the 30 Years lineup included the ClubSport R8 sedan and R8 Tourer, Maloo R8, Senator Signature and GTS.  

Torque vectoring, previously exclusive to the GTS, was added to all 30 Year models, along with a recalibrated exhaust system. An AP Racing brake package was standard on the GTS and optional on other models. All other changes were cosmetic, including matte black wheel accents and ‘HSV 30’ badging on the sills, front guards and floor mats. Each car also got a unique engine build plate.

How many of the 30 Years models HSV produced is hard to verify, but it seems around 1,000 were built across all model variants.

The car featured, a 30 Years ClubSport R8 sedan, would have listed for $82,990 when new. Finished in factory ‘Light My Fire’ metallic orange (a new colour for MY17 Holdens), the paint on this car was protected by an Invisible Car Bra over the front end. Rolling on 20-inch satin black wheels, this ClubSport R8 had the optional AP Racing brakes fitted. The interior was customised, re-trimmed in black-and-white leather by Eye Candy Motorsports.

While the 6.2-litre LSA produced a more-than-respectable 410kW in stock form, it had been tweaked on this car to hit 550rwkW. That increase was achieved by the addition of a Race Chiller insulator kit for the supercharger and intake ports, a 12lt coolant reservoir and overload switch, plus ceramic-coated headers and exhaust with a high-flow 3.5 100 cell convertor. Custom airbrushing in the engine bay was the finishing touch.

For JUST CARS’ report from the 2025 Geelong All Holden Day, click HERE.