Walkinshaw W engine upgrades

[panhead]

The history of car collecting proves it's usually the unmolested cars that will draw the most attention and bigger dollars.

Walkinshaw is not a manufacturer, they are an aftermarket supplier like any other performance shop and in their case, they on-sell their brand name to other shops to do the work and rebrand components they buy from competing companies for their own use.

Walkinshaw may have a loose association with HSV through ownership but if you want the real thing, then purchase a HSV.

I've only had one Walkinshaw enhanced vehicle, an E Series Clubsport, what was I thinking?

I was very disappointed that the performance didn't match that of other vehicles with similar mods, and after a few months decided to cut my loses and sent the car to a well know Sydney tunning shop to have it redone.

I keep the Walkinshaw badge in a draw to remind me not to make the same mistake again.

I don't necessarily believe a modded car has been punished any more than an untouched one, as both can be equally abused and modding a car doesn't make you a hoon, many people mod their cars to improve them, not to destroy them.

But when I go shopping for an older vehicle, it's the untouched ones that I chase.



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[Ginger Beer]

I find that "well" modified older cars (pretty much any Commodore now), that are clean and has a good service history, was owned by someone with a mild OCD

Typically they are smart shoppers and pick the best parts, service the car regularly, and typically well before "scheduled" maintenance because OCD and a genuine love for it

In the end, if the vehicle meets the "collector" market it will not be your average condition and milage, so if your car is a daily driver, or has a few km on it, it will not meet that collector market, maybe 1 in 1000 will be collectable, the others will be "average" thus only getting "average" coin on resale

You just need to look at what is selling, and for how much, even average HSV's take a big hit in resale, a HSV badge does not make it a good car

In the end it is the owners car, if they want more performance then it's up to them, if your thinking about resale then leave it unmodified and in a garage

As for HSV and Walky badges, I would rather get a base SS/SSV and drop "some" of the spare coin saved on it on performance parts, but then I'm not buying cars for resale, I'm buying them to play with, and use, I cannot see the point in owning a performance car that rarely gets out and/or never gets used in anger, or, when it does get out, and they give them a hit, all they get is gapped by a base model with smart mods

I've also never been impressed with the stock power of a HSV, or, other "badge builds" (Walky)

Meh, opinions will always vary, much like owners wants and needs

In my opinion:
Well modified=good (and quick)
Standard=bad (and slow)

In saying this, if I had a mint VF HSV (which I wouldn't', I would probably go a Calais), I would drop coin into it to make it a real performance car, why, because I would want it to be actually quick, because stock, even the ones with the LSA, are, what I call, lack luster for a "performance" car

 

[panhead]

When I bought my Redline Ute I was at pains wondering what to do with my Poison Ivy VE Ute, I hate parting with my cars but I already have another 3 Utes and didn't need 5.

So I showed it to the dealer and asked what they give me for it.

It wasn't surprising that the offer was painfully low and made even worse by the fact the car was immaculate, I'd just had the front bar resprayed to remove some chips, plus all other marks on the car were fixed, the car had a complete up to date service history and it had low kilometres.

It was low, it was very loud, and it looked good on wide rims with 255 & 295 rubber and there was the problem for the dealer.

He said there would be some young fellows who would cum in their pants at the thought of owning it, but they would be either on their P's or wouldn't have the funds to purchase it and other perspective buyers would be worried about, how it had been driven, the insurance and was it a Cop magnet.

I took it home and stripped off the rims & tyres and put the OEMs back on, removed the full 3 inch exhaust & headers and fitted the original with manifolds and removed the OTR to make the engine bay look stock.

A 32 year old fellow bought it off me for $10,000 more than the dealer offered.

It was a manual, still had the tune, it looked stock except it was still lowered and I threw in the stock springs and it jumped to life at the touch of the throttle compared to the stock cars.

When I started to change the new Ute to my taste, I left it untuned with the stock exhaust and just did the rims and ride height, the rest of the car is how I ordered it from the factory.

The original suspension, rims and tyres are stored in the shed.

I won't be selling it but my children will, and whoever buys it knows that with a day's work, it can be easily changed back to stock factory settings.

It won't be as desirable as some of the fancier spec Utes out there, but it will have appeal as a stock example in a short lived colour.

I still have my E Series Clubsport but it's a manual, cammed and obnoxious and not worth much these days, I haven't properly driven it in years.



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[Ron Burgundy]

Agree with couple post above. I tinkered with my car over the last few years but never abused it and have been looking after it as if it was my 3rd child. It's usually easy to spot abused vs well looked after car.

I ll make Ron Burgundy edition badges for mine and hope this increases its value down the track hahaha

In saying this, if someone dropped 50k on me I'd part with it...

 

[daves8]

When I bought my Redline Ute I was at pains wondering what to do with my Poison Ivy VE Ute, I hate parting with my cars but I already have another 3 Utes and didn't need 5.

So I showed it to the dealer and asked what they give me for it.

It wasn't surprising that the offer was painfully low and made even worse by the fact the car was immaculate, I'd just had the front bar resprayed to remove some chips, plus all other marks on the car were fixed, the car had a complete up to date service history and it had low kilometres.

It was low, it was very loud, and it looked good on wide rims with 255 & 295 rubber and there was the problem for the dealer.

He said there would be some young fellows who would cum in their pants at the thought of owning it, but they would be either on their P's or wouldn't have the funds to purchase it and other perspective buyers would be worried about, how it had been driven, the insurance and was it a Cop magnet.

I took it home and stripped off the rims & tyres and put the OEMs back on, removed the full 3 inch exhaust & headers and fitted the original with manifolds and removed the OTR to make the engine bay look stock.

A 32 year old fellow bought it of me for $10,000 more than the dealer offered.

It was a manual, still had the tune, it looked stock except it was still lowered and I threw in the stock springs and it jumped to life at the touch of the throttle compared to the stock cars.

When I started to change the new Ute to my taste, I left it untuned with the stock exhaust and just did the rims and ride height, the rest of the car is how I ordered it from the factory.

The original suspension, rims and tyres are stored in the shed.

I won't be selling it but my children will, and whoever buys it knows that with a day's work, it can be easily changed back to stock factory settings.

It won't be as desirable as some of the fancier spec Utes out there, but it will have appeal as a stock example in a short lived colour.

I still have my E Series Clubsport but it's a manual, cammed and obnoxious and not worth much these days, I haven't properly driven it in years.

I know I ask this question often…

How many total cars do you have mate?

I’m often astounded at the cars you list you own!

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[panhead]

How many total cars do you have mate?

I’m often astounded at the cars you list you own!

19






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[vr304]

19






.

Bloody hell! where do you store that many vehicles?

 

[NJD-1992]

The only modifications I've seen increase the value of a Commodore is the fitment of genuine HSV parts, but it has to be done to appear an HSV upgrade. Anything else generally devalues the car particularly engine mods seem to be worse. I've removed a few camshafts over the years for people selling chasing top dollar.

Fitting genuine Holden parts from higher level model variants if done right can increase value also. I'd be pretty confident to get more for my SV6 wagon modified with OEM parts than stock for example.

Id agree with you on that, only OEM parts will fetch more money in most cases. HSV no doubt would, but I also see some very odd things out there. On marketplace recently was an Evoke with a full genuine GTS bodykit, including front/rear bumper and side skits. Why on earth the seller chose to sell the car with that on it astounds me, he would have easily got $5k for the bodykit alone.

I always like to build my cars as if when my car was getting ready to go down the line at HVO, I was able to go into the parts warehouse and choose whatever selection of OEM bits and pieces I liked from their entire parts catalogue.

Frankly, I can't help but think that the collectability of the VF's is very overinflated. COVID really screwed up the market, and with many people stuck with cars they payed way over what they should have, they either have to bite the bullet now their cheap money evaporated, or just keep driving it. Things like the W1's will certainly hold their value, and other HSV's. But given probably 95% of people choose a car based on price and if it has CarPlay/Android Auto, id argue there is alot less auto enthusiasts these days compared to years past

But many people call themselves enthusiasts, or that they'll have the VF for life. And yet probably 90% of those people are going to move it on once the novelty wears off for the modern Fourby or wankerteer SUV

 

[Nando.]

The history of car collecting proves it's usually the unmolested cars that will draw the most attention and bigger dollars.

Walkinshaw is not a manufacturer, they are an aftermarket supplier like any other performance shop and in their case, they on-sell their brand name to other shops to do the work and rebrand components they buy from competing companies for their own use.

Walkinshaw may have a loose association with HSV through ownership but if you want the real thing, then purchase a HSV.

I've only had one Walkinshaw enhanced vehicle, an E Series Clubsport, what was I thinking?

I was very disappointed that the performance didn't match that of other vehicles with similar mods, and after a few months decided to cut my loses and sent the car to a well know Sydney tunning shop to have it redone.

I keep the Walkinshaw badge in a draw to remind me not to make the same mistake again.

I don't necessarily believe a modded car has been punished any more than an untouched one, as both can be equally abused and modding a car doesn't make you a hoon, many people mod their cars to improve them, not to destroy them.

But when I go shopping for an older vehicle, it's the untouched ones that I chase.



.

Yes, I do agree at some point but it is not any different theen purchasing a car with low ks than one with higher km.
Sometimes the car that has the lowest km might just be that it is the one that is going to give you headaches.

 

[RevNev]

The history of car collecting proves it's usually the unmolested cars that will draw the most attention and bigger dollars.

Absolutely! Back in 2020 when I shouldn't have sold my GenF R8 but got an inflated price for it at the time, it was modified with springs and shocks, Simmons wheels, a black roof lining conversion and 15% window tint and was otherwise stock.

The father of the young guy who bought it, a lifelong enthusiast who had a restored HQ 350 Monaro asked me immediately when looking at the car, if I had the stock springs, shocks and wheels. Surprisingly, he didn't ask if I had the stock cream roof lining, funny that!

I didn't have the stock wheels, hated them and sold them for a reasonable price but I had the stock springs and shocks and gave them to him. The other thing of interest to him was it tuned, and no it wasn't, the tune was the stock 340.

The bottom line was, to pay the inflated asking price at the time, the young guy's father who lent him money to buy the car was happy to do so with a mint unmodified car only. He accepted the Simmons wheels but if it was cammed and tuned as many are, he told me he wouldn't buy it. That's always been my experience consistent with panhead's statement, "the unmolested cars will draw the most attention and bigger dollars".