If you were a Holden fan in 1986 you could be forgiven for thinking that things were starting to look up. Holden had finally started to draw itself out of its near bankruptcy and with the help of Peter Brock’s Holden Dealer Team, had managed to turn around its successes on the race-track.

However, bad times were once again on the horizon at the start of 1987. The Commodore SS Group A that was so successful the previous year had almost overnight become uncompetitive amongst the wave of newly developed turbo European cars like the Ford Sierra RS500. At the same time, HDT was starting to make some pretty controversial changes to the performance Commodores they were building. Without the approval of Holden’s engineering department, Brock was using a new device called the DB Energy Polariser which claimed to align the molecular structure of a motor vehicle thus giving it better handling and performance.

In the end for whatever reasons Holden decided to end their relationship with HDT and Peter Brock. This meant that Holden was now on the lookout for a new performance partner to build their Group A homologation models and run a factory race team.

Enter the Scotsman.

Tom Walkinshaw had already made a name for himself in Australia. His TWR Jaguar XJS V12s had completely dominated the 1985 James Hardie 1000. In 1984 he and his Group A Rover Vitesse saloons had taken out the BTCC and in ’86 were smashing their opposition in the ETCC. They were only outpaced when Allan Grice walked right by the three car team down the long straight at Monza circuit in his privateer VK Commodore. It was this encounter and others during the ‘86 ETCC that brought the Aussie V8 to Walkinshaw’s attention. So when Holden came knocking on his door, he was ready to listen.

Holden Special Vehicles officially opened its Clayton HQ to the public in February 1988, although work had been going on behind the scenes during the latter half of ’87. TWR had been hard at work developing the VL Commodore’s new aero and drivetrain package at the MIRA automotive test facility in England. The TWR engineers developed a twin throttle body EFI system for the venerable 5 litre Holden V8. This was a similar design to the twin throttle manifold that TWR had developed for the Rover Vitesse’s 3.5 Litre V8. The VL’s new aerodynamics package would cause plenty of controversy. The original design was initially knocked back by the FIA and the finished product would polarise the opinion of Holden fans across Australia earning itself nick-names such as “The Batmobile” and “The Plastic Pig”.

Meanwhile back in Australia, John Crennan had been appointed managing director of HSV and now had to sign up approximately 30 people to help run the company and build the forthcoming SS Group A and other special Holden performance cars.

One of the people jumping on board was former HDT Special Vehicles second in charge and HDT driver, John Harvey. John would become a very important member of the HSV family, creating their longest running and best selling model - The HSV Clubsport.

In March 1988 the Holden SV Commodore SS Group A (to give its full name) was released to the public. Initially only 500 examples where built, all in a coat of the aptly named “Panorama Silver”. The Group A’s newly developed fuel injected 5 litre V8 produced 180kW or 241hp at 5200 rpm. In race form it would spit out over 450 horses.

In the same year HSV also built 2 other models based on the VL. The luxurious Calais based SV88 and the very rare F20. The SV88 utilised Holden’s standard issue 5 litre V8. Using a Rochester carburettor and choked by anti-pollution equipment, it produced 136kW or 182hp. The F20 was the brainchild of John Harvey and got its name from the fact that it was to be a very limited run car built from the Final 20 VL Commodores to go down the production line.

Each of the F20's were ordered by dealer principals only and sourced from John directly. During this time most of the dealers were still holding onto Group A and SV88 models for potential customers and as a consequence, only two dealers decided they wanted to sell these vehicles which resulted in a low number of only four F20s being built. The F20 came with the wonderful Nissan built 3 Litre inline six that put out 114kW or you could option the cult favorite turbo version which gave you 150kW of power. Of the four F20s built 2 became HSV company cars and the other 2 were sold to the public, making the F20 quite possibly the rarest HSV of all.

With the introduction of the new VN Commodore in late 1988, HSV would really get down to business. They introduced the two long running favorites of HSV fans, the Clubsport and the Maloo. They would also build the final Group A homologation car ever with arguably the ultimate version of the Holden V8. Producing 215kW and sending it through a six speed gearbox (a first for an Australian car) the VN SS Group A is considered by many to be the last true Aussie muscle car. It’s also this writers personal favorite HSV.

In 2008 HSV unleashed their ultimate weapon. Touted as “a 20^th anniversary gift to the auto industry”, the W427 has claimed the title of Australia’s first “Supercar”. Costing nearly $150,000AU when new the W427 uses the 7 litre 375kW (503hp) LS7 V8 from Chevrolet’s Corvette Z06 road racer. It is the fastest, most powerful and most expensive Australian sedan ever built.

Today Holden Special Vehicles truly is a builder of world class performance cars and with the recent introduction of the “E2” series; they have once again raised the bar.

Just like the VL Group A the E2’s new body kit has divided opinions, but no one can argue with the GTS sedan’s stomping 325kW of power. Today’s HSV range runs from the entry level Clubsport and Maloo R8, to the luxurious Senator Signature and Caprice based Grange right through to the flagship super sports sedan – the GTS.

What does the future hold for HSV? Only time will tell, but whatever rolls out of the Clayton based Holden hot-rodders garage next will certainly be powerful, fast and well appointed. And you can be certain that where ever a HSV goes it’ll divide opinions, start fights between school boys and will cause drivers and V8 fans everywhere to cry out “I just want one!”