An exceedingly rare HSV GTSR W1 Maloo ute has shattered the previous sales record for a Holden production car, selling for $1.2 million this week.

The car went under the hammer at Lloyds Auctions last weekend but the final price of $1.2 million was only reached by private agreement two days after the auction.

The sale price eclipses the previous benchmark for a Holden road-going vehicle, the $1.057 million paid in 2021 for a Peter Brock owned and driven 1985 Holden Commodore VK SS Group A road car, and the $1.05 million achieved at Lloyds Auctions for another GTSR W1 Maloo ute, also in 2021.

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“This $1.2 million result not only obliterates expectations but proves Lloyds’ unrivalled expertise in delivering record-breaking sales for Australia’s rarest automotive treasures,” said Lee Hames, Lloyds Auctions’ Chief Operating Officer.

The never-registered GTSR W1 Maloo with just 26km on the odometer, is powered by a supercharged 474kW V8 engine, making it the most powerful Australian production car ever made.

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The record-breaking car is build #01 of just four examples ever made. It’s believed the four cars were built-to-order for HSV top brass and loyal customers and were never made available to the general public.

Build car #01 is the only example finished in ‘XU3 Yellah’, the iconic colour made famous by the original HSV VS GTSR.

While this week’s $1.2 million is a record price for a road-going Holden, it’s a long way off the all-time record for an Australian car, the $2.1 million paid in 2018 for the Holden Commodore race car driven by the King of the Mountain, Peter Brock, to back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins in 1982 and ’83.

It also fell just short of the highest price ever paid for a road-going Ford, the $1.3 million shelled out in 2021 for a 1971 Falcon GTHO Phase III finished in Yellow Glo topped with a beige vinyl roof.