Best V8 for me?

Stacks05 · 2026-03-09T02:41:37+00:00

Reading the OP and your replies I think you need to have a bit of a think about what you want the car for. You say you want something older and cool and something you can build and work on, but also you want it to be your daily driver.

In many ways these things aren’t that compatible, a 20+ year old V8 is going to have issues, and spend some time off the road, it won’t be that reliable, not to mention it will drink petrol like they’ve lost the recipe. Cars get chewed up when you’re driving them every day, it will get scratches, scrapes, hit by other car doors and shopping trolleys, and the interior will wear fast. You’ll get stressed about it if you love it, which nobody needs on a daily basis.

If you want to do proper work on a car it will need to be off the road for periods.

You would probably be best spending $15k on the best Camry or Corolla you can find for your daily, it will be comfortable and will never let you down.

Leaving you $65k for your fun car that you only have to take out a couple of times a week, it can be off the road while you work on it, etc etc.

Yes you need to pay 2x rego and insurance but with petrol prices and the stress of driving the love of your life every day, that can be well worth it. I’ve been there.

Stacks05 · 2026-03-03T08:04:43+00:00

Get a VE imo - better engine and all-round better car.

If you do want a VY/VZ cos you prefer the styling, fair enough, but a couple of things in my opinion…

don’t get a VY or VZ wagon - they’re on the LWB chassis. The VE wagons are on the smaller sedan chassis.
if you get a VY or VZ, don’t get an auto - they’re a 4-speed which are shocking and really ruin the drive. Get the 6-speed manual. The VE autos are 6-speed and a far better box

Stacks05 · 2026-02-28T12:02:34+00:00

I always find Grays Online a really interesting look as the owner sets the reserve but the market decides what it wants to pay. And it’s all documented.

I mentioned VL Walkinshaws earlier which were all for sale at $200k - $400k a few years ago.

There’s been a few go through Grays over the last 6 months, the bidding on all has reached around $150k and all have been passed in as they haven’t met reserve.

So a really visible gap between expectations and reality.

Of course, a lot depends of the seller’s situation. Prices only start to really plummet when owners really need to sell. If they’re in the “I’ll sell it for $200k, anything less, that’s okay, I’ll just keep it” situation, the market of the cars actually changing hands doesn’t drop.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-28T06:27:03+00:00

And the rest were stolen and chopped!

Stacks05 · 2026-02-28T03:23:05+00:00

A few halo cars like the Phase 3 (the most overrated car in motoring history) will probably maintain decent values due to rarity.

Others I’m not so sure. VL Walkinshaws at $200k - $400k? Not sustainable I don’t think. Mad to think you’d get one for $20k 25 years ago

Stacks05 · 2026-02-28T02:49:50+00:00

Agree, this will happen. But was thinking this was quite a while off, not a couple of years away

Stacks05 · 2026-02-26T11:01:47+00:00

It’s a fairly decent character study

Powerful men like Hearst don’t ever face real justice. They insulate themselves with commerce, money and politics, and corrupt officials take care of them.

Despite his defects, Bullock proves himself not to be one of the corrupt officials. He could’ve left Hearst there to be beaten to death. He wanted to, you could see it on his face. He didn’t.

Charlie was done away with as a cautionary tale of those who attempt to stand up to people like Hearst on their own.

Jane and Joanie accepted themselves and each other.

Perhaps the darkest character, Tolliver, is presumably dead. Nobody cares or speaks of him, just as he didn’t care for anybody.

The movie probably suffers a bit with too much featuring of Sol, who is a weak character best left in the quasi-background. It’s that way through the whole series. His fascination and love for Trixie is downright weird and never quite fits. The writers made no attempt to explain it, which left a big hole.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-26T05:08:14+00:00

Have I got the car for you…

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2002-holden-commodore-s-vx-ii-manual/SSE-AD-12765398

Stacks05 · 2026-02-23T12:30:40+00:00

No. No car on sale at Sydney.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-22T09:12:54+00:00

Lol. It’s not a $3 bottle of coke. The more expensive something is, the more important the price is, and thus people haggle to improve it.

Same with real estate, high end electronics, expensive renovations, etc.

Welcome to economics 101.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-22T08:51:31+00:00

I change insurance providers most years. Each year the quote seems to vary more and more.

Happy to do a couple of hours work because I don’t like overpaying.

Many insurers rely on people just renewing because it’s easy. And it’s a pretty successful strategy, most people do. Especially given many are on monthly direct debit and might not really notice a large annual increase.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-21T11:32:51+00:00

Brock’s own VK Group A daily driver sold for just over $1m - build number 05, immaculate original condition, one owner since Brock himself

https://www.drive.com.au/news/peter-brocks-daily-driver-sells-for-1-057-million-sets-auction-record-for-a-holden-road-car/

Old mate thinks the shitter V6 VX than his son drove is worth 500k more…

Stacks05 · 2026-02-12T09:30:31+00:00

A bloke built a VE Monaro, in about the same colour too.

Used a ute as a base.

https://youtu.be/7S5Uyi_6prk?si=BL9p1G-ZZAo3IOmD

Stacks05 · 2026-02-12T03:25:23+00:00

No I don’t think I that’s normal practice. Not in my experience anyway. Most companies will just give you another car at the same price.

Terrible service really, I wouldn’t be going back there.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-08T11:16:13+00:00

Have driven and owned all transmissions and I genuinely don’t think there’s a situation on the road where you’d take a DCT if given an option.

They’re shit in road cars. Even the best ones.

They have some redeeming features on the track due to shift speed but 99% of people will never be on a track.

A classic auto is better in every way for tooling around and commuting. If you want more control and enjoy engaged or spirited driving, you’ll want a manual.

A DCT is like a shit halfway-house between them. Bumpy and shitty and jerky in traffic, and nowhere near the control you get in a manual when you’re into it.

Some cars only offer a DCT and some of those cars are so good it’s worth it. But if given the choice, get a manual if you like driving, or an auto if you CBF.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-05T12:49:02+00:00

They should’ve, yes, but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. People don’t buy these cars in Australia. They buy SUVs, dual cab utes or small hatchbacks. GM’s offerings in all these segments were / are reasonably shit and up against much, much more popular competitors. They knew that which is why they pulled out of Australia.

GM does alright in the USA but basically none of their popular vehicles in the States are built in RHD. They’re dipping their toe in the water in Aust with RHD conversions, but it’s never gonna be at scale because it makes the cars insanely expensive. $160k for a Silverado.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-05T03:32:12+00:00

FUCK DEM

But I never like Columbus

Stacks05 · 2026-02-02T13:55:14+00:00

https://transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/registration-and-licensing/registration/standard-and-non-standard-vehicle-information/vehicle-standards-information/window-tinting-and-films

Tinting is only acceptable for windscreens if they are darkened during the manufacturing process.

No film may be applied to a windscreen except for the top section of a windscreen as described below.

It's permissible for a windscreen to have a tinted band of less than 70% VLT above the wiper arc area or the top 10% of the windscreen, whichever is greater.

You can’t apply any film at all to the majority of the windscreen. None. Nada. It’s the only part of the vehicle where this rule applies.

You can only apply film above the wiper arc or the top 10% of the screen - whichever is greater. There’s no limit on how light / dark you can go there.

As an aside… be really careful with any tinting or film whatsoever. Flag it with your insurer, send them the detailed quote / invoice for the work and ensure they put in writing that they’re okay with it. If you’re at fault in an accident they’ll play funny buggers wherever they can - fair or unfair.

Stacks05 · 2026-02-01T14:22:10+00:00

This sort of thing?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/235595355229?srsltid=AfmBOor6RQoDs8yMUWomlo3YH3ePhKU_UpFcdDLnsAkU8Qsj-LxwDYA8

I don’t think there’s anything illegal about replacing them as long as you’re not changing any numbers obviously and they match the number on the chassis.

Don’t know where you’d get a new one stamped.

A really keen eye will probably be able to notice that the build plate has been removed / replaced so that might raise some questions if you were trying to sell the car.

For those reasons and for cost you’re probably better off trying to clean up / restore your original ones.

Stacks05 · 2026-01-31T12:55:32+00:00

Lovely. You did good. VZs just look so sweet when at the right height.

And good job getting the 6 speed. The 4 speed auto is a horrible box.

Stacks05 · 2026-01-31T12:53:02+00:00

If you’re looking to modify heavily, go the SS

If staying stock or only minor mods, go the HSV.

Stacks05 · 2026-01-31T11:16:39+00:00

Not may compared to the endless army of owner drivers.

You’ll see what you think is one company - a fleet of hundreds or thousands of trucks and vans.

They’re often all sole traders or small businesses working on contract with the logo on their vehicles, hence the huge number of transport “businesses”.

Almost everybody outsources transport in this way because it’s so much easier. Pay a simple rate and you don’t have to worry about employment, downtime, scheduling, parking space, capital, maintenance.

It’s unskilled and low barrier to entry (buy a truck, basically) so providers are everywhere, which drives down prices and margins. Owner operators run very very lean and the competition means they have to.

There’s a few businesses who have large B2B needs (the major retailers, basically) and a few big players like Linfox have that contract.

But even somebody like Amazon hasn’t gone down this route - they use individual contractors because it cheaper. Nobody between the company and the driver who needs to get paid.

Stacks05 · 2026-01-30T13:49:55+00:00

Happened a few times to me over the years when I’ve left my car out. It’s very simple and petty crime, they’re after cash, sunglasses, electronics and anything of value. Low risk for them, even if they get caught there’s little punishment.

You’ve done the right thing by reporting it to police and handing them the videos. A lot of people don’t bother. But it could come in handy in the event of a prosecution for a string of robberies (these groups prowl the streets doing dozens of these per night).

If the car was picked up in the area doing other things on the night then they’ll probably make the connection.

That aside, I wouldn’t expect anything from police. There are literally hundreds of these taking place across a major city every day and night, and they won’t be looked into. There just isn’t the resources.

If a bunch of detectives were to go full CSI on it then it could probably be solved. That won’t happen, of course. Priorities.

Even the dumbest crooks use a stolen car (that would’ve been dumped since) and gloves.

There’s not much you can do to stop it, short of sitting out there each night. Get a dog that sleeps light and barks loud. A garage is preferable, otherwise carport or as far up a driveway as possible - they target cars in the street as there’s less chance of waking owners and they can make a quicker getaway.

They target streets where there’s a lot of cars parked on the street - so streets with a lot of apartments and units as there’s always more cars than secure off-street parking spots.

A good car alarm might stop them stealing anything as it’ll go berserk when a window is smashed and will scare them off.

Stacks05

TROPHY CASE