Buying an HR Holden Special (1966-1968)

[jwilson]

There's a 40-odd year history in my family with regard to owning an HR Holden.

With the GTO off to get it's Twin Turbo setup, I've been thinking about buying a car that would possibly share the daily driving duties with the GTO. Something I can take out when I'm in the mood for something different. Something old-school, without all the fancy technology and huge power of a twin turbo GTO.

The obvious choice might be something like a VX commodore exec, or a smaller car. But, I've been there and done that. :)

So, I'm thinking of continuing the tradition and finding myself a nice 1967 or there-abouts Holden HR Special 186.

For those not familiar with this era, here's some fine examples:

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588021.jpg

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588030.jpg

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588108.jpg

(The above is from this car (http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/private/HOLDEN/HR_HOLDEN/details.aspx?__sid=119B594AA74A&Cr=1&__Ns=pCar_PrivateSpecialFlag_Int32|1||pCar_ImageCo unt_Int32|1||pCar_LastModifiedDate_DateTime|1&State=All%20States&distance=25&silo=1003&seot=0&__Nne=20&Model=HR%20HOLDEN&R=5665252&__N=4294965857+0+834+285+257+4294960749&Make=HOLDEN&state_id=0&trecs=22), which is currently listed for sale)

Has anyone else ever owned an HR, or similar from around that era?

[Drewie]

We had one in the family back in the late 60's early 70's, was maybe a couple of years old when we got it, during the next few years it was lowered, deep dished crommies, cammed, exhaust and was treated to a set of tripple 1 3/4" SU carbs, it went quite well and was a pretty quick car in its day. It was driven very hard for many years, bordering on what I would call thrashed, what amazed me the most when it was time to sell it was put back to standard, cam carbs etc removed put completely back to standard and it was the quietest sweetest running HR you could imagine, it was very reliable you would have thought it was owned by a granny. Never had an once of trouble with it.

[scott w]

nothing wrong with old school 186 lumpy cam aussie 4 speed fragile banjo diff the days when you had to save for a car rather than walk into a car yard and get finance p plates are a bit of a worry make sure that fresh looking paint isn't hiding any nastys

[TimmyG]

yeah love the old school holdens my personal fav is the eh its a beautiful machine the old man and my self are thinking of buying one and fixing up but yeah nothing concrete lol. the old man had a few good ones, they went to but back in those days u could get away with anything.

cheers
Tim

[chevy1]

Looking at doing the same,probably a prem or lash out a bit more for a nice x2.

[Wonky]

I love EHs and HRs! My first car (bought in 1972) was an EH and I loved it. It ended up quite warmed up (of course) but unfortunately cars of that era even then were prone to bad rusting problems, not just panels but also below the windscreen and floors etc..

If you can find a good rust free one (hard to know for sure unless you can pull up floor linings, seats and dash) then I'll be very envious!! :D That one you've linked to looks good but something doesn't look quite right to me about the fit and flushness of the doors. Still, I guess to find a car that has survived 40 years without a major accident would be a miracle!

[jwilson]

nothing wrong with old school 186 lumpy cam aussie 4 speed fragile banjo diff the days when you had to save for a car rather than walk into a car yard and get finance p plates are a bit of a worry make sure that fresh looking paint isn't hiding any nastys

Yeah, that is one thing that turns me off a little with that white one. Still, I think it's worth me checking out. There is not a great selection available in NSW.


Looking at doing the same,probably a prem or lash out a bit more for a nice x2.

Personally, I don't like the HR premier... there's something awesome about the look of an HR Special in the original factory green.

One of my uncles still has his, just recently supercharged it. Beautiful car.

[zeus111]

Great cars mate.

My first car was a hr sedan speacial and since then have had a hr premier sedan and hr ute. Also an eh an fj but thats another story.

If you are looking try and get one with the 186 these are a good reliable donk and not as heavy on the juice. But any of the straight sixes are pretty good.

I personally would get one that had the original interior wether its the bench seat or prem buckets they always look better than later model seats that have been retro fitted.

Rust in the front and rear quarters is prob with this model and the sills should be checked as well.

Check that it has the disc brake front end as some of the early 66 models didnt come with the discs.

Other than the basic checks enjoy.

[VY2ENJOY]

I am currently in the middle of rebuilding a 66' HR windowless Panel Van. Great fun and easy to work on, metal everything! Just have panel and paint to go, re trimmed interior (leather bench seat and matching door trims) Custom dash, freshened motor, kept the 161 3 on the tree, rebuilt front end and drums all round! Parts are getting a bit harder to find, but you just have to search a bit more but there out there. If you want to ask any questions PM me and ill see if I can answer them for you.

Fletch

[Delft Maloo]

nice looking car mate, just check for the normal rusty spots and if there all right it could be a good buy.
I myself was raised an EH boy and iv got 2 atm, 1 dad got a few years befor i was born and its been in the family ever since.

[SS Enforcer]

I had a Hr in 1979 and thought it was a great car. A Ford Cortina hit me and wrote it off. :bawl:

I would love to have another one though or even a drive of one occaisionally.

cheers

[heavychevy]

There's a 40-odd year history in my family with regard to owning an HR Holden.

With the GTO off to get it's Twin Turbo setup, I've been thinking about buying a car that would possibly share the daily driving duties with the GTO. Something I can take out when I'm in the mood for something different. Something old-school, without all the fancy technology and huge power of a twin turbo GTO.

The obvious choice might be something like a VX commodore exec, or a smaller car. But, I've been there and done that. :)

So, I'm thinking of continuing the tradition and finding myself a nice 1967 or there-abouts Holden HR Special 186.

For those not familiar with this era, here's some fine examples:

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588021.jpg

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588030.jpg

http://liveimages.carsales.com.au/private/3588108.jpg

(The above is from this car (http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/private/HOLDEN/HR_HOLDEN/details.aspx?__sid=119B594AA74A&Cr=1&__Ns=pCar_PrivateSpecialFlag_Int32|1||pCar_ImageCo unt_Int32|1||pCar_LastModifiedDate_DateTime|1&State=All%20States&distance=25&silo=1003&seot=0&__Nne=20&Model=HR%20HOLDEN&R=5665252&__N=4294965857+0+834+285+257+4294960749&Make=HOLDEN&state_id=0&trecs=22), which is currently listed for sale)

Has anyone else ever owned an HR, or similar from around that era?

Anything tarted up like that looks crap IMHO.
May as well get the Adidas Romes and the skinhead happening. The HR was the car of choice for skinheads in the 80's

Folks that admire cars love a clean restoration, but I know good examples are hard to find. Part of the fun in having a sledgehammer like an LS1 is being able to enjoy the other end of the spectrum... three on the tree, wind up windows, rubber floor mats, a radio that barely works.

That's 1966-1968 and it should be kept that way... needs some venetians on the back window

[tim_k]

I'll disagree

Yes, stock looks better. Looking at that one, it doesn't appear too difficult to make it stock looking again. I'd be hunting for a Premier though.

[Dacious]

Set of nice ROH Chromies would set that off nicely. My family had a run of HD-HRs in the late 70's, starting with Dad's first Aussie car, an X2 HD Special. Tehy also look good with 6" black wheels and good chromed standard hubcaps.

My brother had one written off in a rear-ender with a RAAF bloke who was not looking WTF he was going (RAAF were pricks, 'bring it here, we'll fix it in our maintenance section'). I had a white HR owned by my dad written off when I was on P's by a lady who went the wrong way up a divided carriageway.

Nothing like drumbrakes, crossplys, wobbly suspenders and a single-spinner diff on a wet day.....

Bad spost for rust on HRs, as well as sills, the splash apron under the windshield and the guards is the rear panel under the boot and the sills, especially. The square-edged panels are a bit of a nightmare, lots of places where the metal is stretched thin.

[Pickles]

Yeah, well everyone's always "raving" about how good EH's are-well we had one, & couldn't believe the difference when we replaced it with an HR Premier---a far smoother vehicle--MUCH better.
In my day, (1967!), having a 186S 4 speed HR Premier would be like having a Calais V today.
The HR is a great car, I like the Premiers myself, but the secret will be in finding a good one, that's not full of rust, or had the rust simply replaced with bog. So the first place I'd be looking at is underneath.
I also like original cars, but I have to admit that some of the modified cars are really good, & when they do come up for sale, the person that's done the mods very rarely gets his money back, so they can be good value.
But make sure it's what you REALLY want--you may be just getting all "romantic", as the actual driving experience may not be something you'd like, on a reasonably regular basis!
Good luck, & keep us posted.
Cheers, Pickles.

[ACT_Cross8]

My first car was a HR sedan, rebuilt it as a project with the old man while still in high school. Spent about $7k, sold it for $4.5k. Great fun, great times.

My second HR I was recently "convinced" to sell and replace with a Nissan Pulsar. Still not over that one just yet...

[old holden V8]

Whilst I did not have a '66, I had a '77 HX ute. Things I found out (sometimes the $$$ hard way) were..

Rust. Tin-worm. And I know my particular ute came from the Mallee country - so it should have been better than average. Floors, sills, doors, Quarters, even plenenum chambers, cross member(!)...*sigh*. I basically had a yearly appointment with my panel beater to repair/replace/paint bits (and I garaged her..)

Repo parts sometimes are no where near as good as they make out to be...ill fitting, wrong profile, incorrect gauge, not mention expensive. N.O.S (New Old stock...the holy grail..) if you can find it, is better, but costly.

Past butcher jobs. Not talking about paint/panel, but electrics! I had miles of bare twisted pieces of wire in the engine bay/dash! Lucky i knew a reasonably priced Electrician..:eyes:

Finally, as a daily you have to expect below par brakes/handling/ride/night illumination/ease of driving/cabin cooling/light controls (my clutch was extremely unfriendly...the infamous HX 'rat-trap') Also, I used to worry about getting hit, as a repair meant that some panels would be reproduction, and never as good as the original item.


Buy another? Space permitting...in a heartbeat, in fact I did similar and buy a 33 year old motorcycle, with most of the above mentioned problems...luckily BMW still have parts available through the 'mobile tradition' part of the marque - so I don't have issues with parts quality.


My 2c. YMMV

Laurie.

PS. Join a club for loads of resources, etc..

[lowriding]

well the HR's are not bad ,the Ehs are cool too but of that mid sixties era the Valiants are where it's at ! . It wasnt until the late sixties and seventies the Holdens and ford surged ahead of the local Chrysler's . While the Ford had a pursuit 170 ci and the HR generally a 161 or asthmatic 186 the Val packed 225 of slant 6 with 145 horse :) I have had a few and if daily duties are any thought the vals are a better bet imo. Just look around Today and you will see heaps of early valiants still cruising the daily duty role in most cities ,lucky to see any HR's and very few early Falcons .

[Wonky]

well the HR's are not bad ,the Ehs are cool too but of that mid sixties era the Valiants are where it's at ! . It wasnt until the late sixties and seventies the Holdens and ford surged ahead of the local Chrysler's . While the Ford had a pursuit 170 ci and the HR generally a 161 or asthmatic 186 the Val packed 225 of slant 6 with 145 horse :) I have had a few and if daily duties are any thought the vals are a better bet imo. Just look around Today and you will see heaps of early valiants still cruising the daily duty role in most cities ,lucky to see any HR's and very few early Falcons .

I agree the Valiants went really well and held up well, but without trying to be stereotypical or disrespectful, these days most of them are driven by people of Mediterranean descent (with a surprising proportion painted purple etc :spew:).

[lowriding]

I agree the Valiants went really well and held up well, but without trying to be stereotypical or disrespectful, these days most of them are driven by people of Mediterranean descent (with a surprising proportion painted purple etc :spew:).

Marrickville mercedes :) ? c'mon wonky ,they aren't really considered wog chariots anymore! :rofl::rofl:

[shaneo69]

hi guys i have a 1967 special in exellent nic 4 sale in s.a minus engine.