Yeah i would think the same, pre production, but not the first. Good spot on the vents!
I suspect the thermo fans are the same deal as that silly pod filter placement and the stickers... The current owner "modifying" it.
Yeah, think it may be legit as a "test mule" but not as the first VN. Even IF it was assembled as parts, the UK would not be Holden's first choice of place for assembly for a car that was at the time, the company's last ditch effort on a family sized car.
There where plenty of test mules while the VN was being developed. Most were scrapped or smashed according to the official story in the book "Project VN"
There were test mules in America, but none are mentioned about being in the UK. TWR or otherwise. I'd say it started life as a test mule here in Australia, then was shipped to the UK for the bodykit work a few months before the VN's release in 1988.
There's no other reason to have a test mule over there, Holden brought the Opel senators to Australia for measurements and tests, long before a shell for the VN was made. So that rules out a mule being built in Australia and assembled in secret in the UK for measurements and design.
Also, the first of the VN shape where built on the VL body, and the inconstancy's of the two designs where easy to spot. Especially around the rear 1/4 windows and vehicle wheel track length.
So, first VN - No. Surviving "test mule" - a possibility.
