In a three-part series, motoring reporter Shawn McAvinue asks Wendy and Michael Lobb, of Fairfield, about some of their eye-catching automobiles. For the second instalment, Michael talks about their 1970 Holden HG Monaro GTS coupe.
Q: When did you buy it?
About 20 years ago from a car sales in Dunedin.
Q: Did it look like this?
Yeah, it had been restored five years prior. Since I’ve owned it, it’s had a respray. The purists will recognise that the paint job is off an HT model, not the HG. The HG model had a lighter orange and did not have the vents on the bonnet.
Q: What’s under the bonnet?
A 308 cubic inch and a Tri-Matic three-speed auto.
Q: Was the television show Dukes of Hazzard inspiration for wanting to own a car like this?
No. When I was a teenager, me and my father restored an EH Holden and I had it for 10 years. One day Wendy sent me out to by a run-around car and I came home with this. I told her the HG would increase in value a lot more than the EH, so I had to sell the EH – something I wish I’d never done.
Q: Why is that?
I sold the EH for $2000 and now they are selling for $30,000 to $40,000 but the HG would have increased in value more.
Q: Any plans to sell your HG?
When I bought it I was thinking of investment value but now the kids have claimed all our cars so we’ll never realise any money out of them, so the HG is part of the family.
Q: Why Holdens?
My father was more of a fan of Holdens than Fords. He had been a tow-truck driver and he told me Fords were always breaking down and he didn’t pick up many Holdens. That’s where that connection came from.
Q: How reliable is your HG?
It’s been a pretty faithful donkey. At the start it had a few wee things it needed sorted, including a warped carburettor, and it didn’t run right but I put a reconditioned one on and that sorted it.
Q: How often do you use it?
I try and get it out every two weeks. If you keep using it then it doesn’t require too much maintenance other than an oil change.
Shawn McAvinue, The Star
