Notification

Icon
Error

Login


Take the time to read our Privacy Policy.
HJ Monaro LS Mandarin red - prestige level optional colours
Options Go to last post Go to first unread
Previous Topic Next Topic
Blu253 Offline
#1 Posted : Thursday, 24 July 2025 4:45:32 PM(UTC)
Blu253

Rank: Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/01/2025(UTC)
Posts: 30
Australia
Location: Macarthur

Thanks: 22 times
The Norm Darwin HQ HJ Holden book has a picture of this car (p 205), as well as the colour it has the rally wheels, sports instruments, sports steering wheel and 4.2.
The car has "engineering" stamped on a wheel arch in the engine bay.
It looks absolutely stunning to me. I cannot remember ever seeing a Premier, Monaro LS or Statesman in a bright or sporty colour like this before.
I think the HJ Caprice had a few (4?) special colours that weren't available on the lesser lines.

Am I correct in assuming that the HQ & HJ prestige level cars (Prem, LS, DeVille, Caprice) had an available colours list that excluded these colours?
I remember seeing colour lists for earlier cars (HK T G?) that showed some colours being not available to some levels, I remember one had a pyramid diagram
of colours against trim levels.

My HJ Premier (2nd hand) was in Antelope Metallic and looked really nice. That's the kind of colour I remember seeing, a nice metallic, silver or white etc.

This Monaro LS looks so good, to me at least, that I think if they did more like it in equipment and colour, plus the 5.0, they may not have needed an LE.
But were the "sporty" "bright" colours unavailable as an option ? or possibly more accurately stated - did these cars have a limited number and style of available colours.

Edited by user Thursday, 24 July 2025 5:10:14 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Current daily drivers
VFII Sportwagon SV6; BF Astra RS
In the shed
VH Vacationer Pacific Blue 4.2
Back to top
WWW
HK1837 Offline
#2 Posted : Thursday, 24 July 2025 5:16:52 PM(UTC)
HK1837

Rank: Veteran

Reputation:

Groups: Moderator, Registered, Veteran
Joined: 1/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 14,874

Thanks: 1 times
Was thanked: 550 time(s) in 525 post(s)
Mandarin was a regular colour available on all Holden, Gemini and Torana covered by colour charts A624 through to A628 (basically HJ through to the end of HX). Statesman had its own colour charts, from memory Caprice had a unique range and Deville could be had in a lot of the Holden colours plus its own regular colours.
What you have to remember is GMH made cars for sale, they built what their research said buyers would want. That's why GTS and Sandman were most common in Absinth, Mandarin etc, whereas Premier or LS would be more common is less bright colours and metallics. It doesn't mean you couldn't order a HJ Premier in Mandarin, you could, but as an ordered car was very rare you'd rarely see one. Normally the ordered car would have higher mechanical or comfort spec and less likely to be bright in colour. My HJ Premier is like this, its got just about every RPO box you could tick for a HJ Premier sedan in 10/74, only missing N10 dual exhaust and XS9 cloth trim. It has GroupIII metallic paint (Sepia metallic). You could also do a CTV (colour/trim variation) on just about any Holden or Statesman (or Torana or Gemini etc), it was probably the easiest non-standard thing to order. If your Fleet colour was Whippy Pink (06154) you could do a CTV on a Statesman Deville and GMH would paint it for you in that Fleet colour.
_______________________________________________________
If we all had the same (good) taste, who would buy all the Fords?
Back to top
 1 user thanked HK1837 for this useful post.
Blu253 on 24/07/2025(UTC)
Blu253 Offline
#3 Posted : Thursday, 24 July 2025 9:00:58 PM(UTC)
Blu253

Rank: Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/01/2025(UTC)
Posts: 30
Australia
Location: Macarthur

Thanks: 22 times
Originally Posted by: HK1837 Go to Quoted Post
Mandarin was a regular colour available on all Holden, Gemini and Torana covered by colour charts A624 through to A628 (basically HJ through to the end of HX). Statesman had its own colour charts, from memory Caprice had a unique range and Deville could be had in a lot of the Holden colours plus its own regular colours.
What you have to remember is GMH made cars for sale, they built what their research said buyers would want. That's why GTS and Sandman were most common in Absinth, Mandarin etc, whereas Premier or LS would be more common is less bright colours and metallics. It doesn't mean you couldn't order a HJ Premier in Mandarin, you could, but as an ordered car was very rare you'd rarely see one. Normally the ordered car would have higher mechanical or comfort spec and less likely to be bright in colour. My HJ Premier is like this, its got just about every RPO box you could tick for a HJ Premier sedan in 10/74, only missing N10 dual exhaust and XS9 cloth trim. It has GroupIII metallic paint (Sepia metallic). You could also do a CTV (colour/trim variation) on just about any Holden or Statesman (or Torana or Gemini etc), it was probably the easiest non-standard thing to order. If your Fleet colour was Whippy Pink (06154) you could do a CTV on a Statesman Deville and GMH would paint it for you in that Fleet colour.


Thanks. So, I could have (apart from being 12yo in 74) ordered a HJ Premier in
Jamaica Lime, Mandarin or some such colour? Wow. Not that I would have even thought of it.
I guess the rarity becomes self fulfilling, we might need to see these things before they
become “possible” in our minds.

Do you know of this LS?

Current daily drivers
VFII Sportwagon SV6; BF Astra RS
In the shed
VH Vacationer Pacific Blue 4.2
Back to top
WWW
HK1837 Offline
#4 Posted : Friday, 25 July 2025 11:18:10 AM(UTC)
HK1837

Rank: Veteran

Reputation:

Groups: Moderator, Registered, Veteran
Joined: 1/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 14,874

Thanks: 1 times
Was thanked: 550 time(s) in 525 post(s)
Originally Posted by: Blu253 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: HK1837 Go to Quoted Post
Mandarin was a regular colour available on all Holden, Gemini and Torana covered by colour charts A624 through to A628 (basically HJ through to the end of HX). Statesman had its own colour charts, from memory Caprice had a unique range and Deville could be had in a lot of the Holden colours plus its own regular colours.
What you have to remember is GMH made cars for sale, they built what their research said buyers would want. That's why GTS and Sandman were most common in Absinth, Mandarin etc, whereas Premier or LS would be more common is less bright colours and metallics. It doesn't mean you couldn't order a HJ Premier in Mandarin, you could, but as an ordered car was very rare you'd rarely see one. Normally the ordered car would have higher mechanical or comfort spec and less likely to be bright in colour. My HJ Premier is like this, its got just about every RPO box you could tick for a HJ Premier sedan in 10/74, only missing N10 dual exhaust and XS9 cloth trim. It has GroupIII metallic paint (Sepia metallic). You could also do a CTV (colour/trim variation) on just about any Holden or Statesman (or Torana or Gemini etc), it was probably the easiest non-standard thing to order. If your Fleet colour was Whippy Pink (06154) you could do a CTV on a Statesman Deville and GMH would paint it for you in that Fleet colour.


Thanks. So, I could have (apart from being 12yo in 74) ordered a HJ Premier in
Jamaica Lime, Mandarin or some such colour? Wow. Not that I would have even thought of it.
I guess the rarity becomes self fulfilling, we might need to see these things before they
become “possible” in our minds.

Do you know of this LS?



Yes, the colour charts say All models for most colours on A624, A625, A626 and A627, that is for Torana and/or Gemini and Holden which includes Premier and LS (which were the top spec Holden). Some of the Torana and Gemini models are excluded from some colours.

If its the LS I'm thinking about I judged it at the Warwick Monaro Nationals. It was a colour clinic or Engineering test car for something. The owner rescued it off a scrap metal truck from memory.

_______________________________________________________
If we all had the same (good) taste, who would buy all the Fords?
Back to top
Blu253 Offline
#5 Posted : Friday, 25 July 2025 1:45:19 PM(UTC)
Blu253

Rank: Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/01/2025(UTC)
Posts: 30
Australia
Location: Macarthur

Thanks: 22 times
Originally Posted by: HK1837 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Blu253 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: HK1837 Go to Quoted Post
Mandarin was a regular colour available on all Holden, Gemini and Torana covered by colour charts A624 through to A628 (basically HJ through to the end of HX). Statesman had its own colour charts, from memory Caprice had a unique range and Deville could be had in a lot of the Holden colours plus its own regular colours.
What you have to remember is GMH made cars for sale, they built what their research said buyers would want. That's why GTS and Sandman were most common in Absinth, Mandarin etc, whereas Premier or LS would be more common is less bright colours and metallics. It doesn't mean you couldn't order a HJ Premier in Mandarin, you could, but as an ordered car was very rare you'd rarely see one. Normally the ordered car would have higher mechanical or comfort spec and less likely to be bright in colour. My HJ Premier is like this, its got just about every RPO box you could tick for a HJ Premier sedan in 10/74, only missing N10 dual exhaust and XS9 cloth trim. It has GroupIII metallic paint (Sepia metallic). You could also do a CTV (colour/trim variation) on just about any Holden or Statesman (or Torana or Gemini etc), it was probably the easiest non-standard thing to order. If your Fleet colour was Whippy Pink (06154) you could do a CTV on a Statesman Deville and GMH would paint it for you in that Fleet colour.


Thanks. So, I could have (apart from being 12yo in 74) ordered a HJ Premier in
Jamaica Lime, Mandarin or some such colour? Wow. Not that I would have even thought of it.
I guess the rarity becomes self fulfilling, we might need to see these things before they
become “possible” in our minds.

Do you know of this LS?



Yes, the colour charts say All models for most colours on A624, A625, A626 and A627, that is for Torana and/or Gemini and Holden which includes Premier and LS (which were the top spec Holden). Some of the Torana and Gemini models are excluded from some colours.

If its the LS I'm thinking about I judged it at the Warwick Monaro Nationals. It was a colour clinic or Engineering test car for something. The owner rescued it off a scrap metal truck from memory.



Yes, it has “Engineering” stamped in the engine bay, on an inner wheel arch to think
Current daily drivers
VFII Sportwagon SV6; BF Astra RS
In the shed
VH Vacationer Pacific Blue 4.2
Back to top
WWW
Users browsing this topic
Guest
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.

Powered by YAF | YAF © 2003-2025, Yet Another Forum.NET
This page was generated in 0.066 seconds.