He claims that what he has is a 2005 Holden Monaro CV8 Z, a limited edition vehicle of which only 1100 were made. Monaros were sold in the U.S with left hand drives and rebadged as Pontiac GTOs. What makes me suspicious about his car’s origin are
His car has a left hand drive, unlike the CV8 Z limited edition which was only sold in Australia with a right hand drive
The Badging on the back has “CV8 Z” on the left, but it also has “LS2 6.0L” on the right, and the CV8 Z came out with a 5.7 Litre edition
It’s missing the commemorative CV8 Z wheels
It’s got the Monaro CV8 Z steering wheel…albeit on the wrong side of the car.
It’s got the seats that almost match those in the CV8 Z, but are more red than orange. Can fabric get darker over time?
It doesn’t have the sunroof that I think all CV8 Z models came with
So, is this just a case of massive modification of a rare vehicle, or is this a Pontiac GTO in a Halloween costume?
The plate in the car should show the country of manufacture. If it is a rebadged Monaro as a Pontiac, it should still have been manufactured in Adelaide South Australia.
I’m asking if it is a Pontiac GTO poorly rebadged as the much more rare CV8 Z Monaro. Both were made in the Adelaide plant, but the CV8 Z special edition was the last thing to come out of that plant before it closed down, and it considered to be a find.
The fact that it’s LHD is really all you need to know. He’s a big fat phony. In theory you could convert a CV8 Z to LHD but he didn’t and you already know that.
It’s not currently legal to import a 2005 Holden to the US; it would be an extremely risky, extremely expensive process. Only a die-hard collector would even try, and no die-hard collector would then hack up the interior with a bunch of GTO parts to make it LHD.
Incidentally, while phonies may be everywhere, as a “car guy” with extensive internet experience, I’ve come across several compulsive liars who insist that their cars are something they’re not. Including one, oddly who insisted that his G8-with-a-bunch-of-Holden-parts was actually a Holden.
Incidentally, it looks like there’s a company selling LHD Holden Utes in the US. I’m not sure how they’re doing it legally, since they explicitly say they’re using the uncut Holden unibody (and therefore the Holden VIN stamp). I wonder how they’re titled…
yeah, it’s a badge swap. pretty common; I’ve seen plenty of Scion FR-Ss where the owner has taken off the Scion badges and put on the Toyota GT86s badges instead.
I’ve never heard of someone trying to bullshit a backstory as bad as your co-workers, though.
if it’s not a design which was certified to US standards (safety and emissions) it can’t be imported until it’s 25 years old. So even though e.g. a Ford Fusion and Ford Mondeo are the same basic car, you can’t import a new Mondeo since various parts e.g. lighting, restraints etc. will have been designed for EU standards and won’t be NHTSA/EPA compliant.
but they all were, so there’s no need for GM to encode place of manufacture, if its a 2005 GTO or 2005 Monaro, then its made in Adelaide.
The 6 litre was put into CV8-Z , so while you could get a Holden Monaro in 2004 and it would have to be 5.7 litre - no 6 litre at first - the 6 litre was in there fore the end, and the car is meant to be a tail end car.
The missing special CV8-Z rims are what indicates its not a real CV8-Z.
Also the CV8-Z should be a 2006 car.
There was never a question whether or not it was imported from Adeliade to USA … it was always the question of whether it might have carried the CV8-Z badge when imported and sold as a Pontiac… NO it never would carry the Holden badges, it would only carry the Pontiac GTO badges. There’s no “special CV8 Z” model for Pontiacs
