10/05/2026
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Okay, I forgot to mention the LE coupe which was an important if temporary part of the HX story. Because it was the final big coupe that Holden produced (until the V2 debuted in 2001, its story next!) and it carried some extras that were possibly already dated (I’m thinking of you, 8 track cartridge player) many journalists suggested it was a clearance special. Sales exec John Bagshaw apparently would have been happy with a “white sale” to move them out the door quickly and with little fuss and a low(ish) price. Design Director Leo Pruneau, who had seen a similar red Pontiac Firebird concept car on a trip to Detroit, was inspired to produce something much more special for these “last ever coupes”. In 1975 he got a red GTS HJ coupe intercepted at the end of the production line and sent to the Design Centre, where the car was transformed with the LE’s distinctive vivid colour scheme both inside and out. Call it maroon, call it burgundy, call it “LE red” (as I believe Holden did), whatever, it was unique, especially with its gold pinstripes and gold painted honeycomb inserts to the wheels (“honeycomb wheels”, which were a Pontiac invention were a urethane insert to the standard steel wheels but had only been offered in what Holden probably called Argent, a light grey colour).
Leo then organised an almost Hollywood style reveal to Holden management to convince them to build the car this way. His efforts proved fruitful.
There’s debate as to whether the coupe body sets already existed, whether they were actually built up and had to be modified for HX series changes, or what, but it seems to me that there must’ve been enough of the unique coupe components to prompt the idea of getting rid of them.
Numbers produced vary between 580 and 620 depending on the source of your information, supposedly 20 were destroyed en route to Western Australia, cutting down the numbers available sadly.
At $11,000 they were the most expensive Holden at the time, nearing the top of the line Statesman Caprice (which wasn’t really a Holden officially). Holden never actually mentioned how well the car sold originally, although by the time they were available, not only were they HX series cars, it was mid to late 1976 and new HJ GTS and LS coupes had been virtually unavailable for 9 or more months (which nobody seemed to notice much at the time, though motor journalists noted their absence briefly at the HX release at mid year).
The publicity about this being the final coupe that Holden would supposedly ever build probably helped move them off the lot even at such an expensive price point. Cadillac in America had just gone through something similar, offering “the last ever factory built convertibles” where they sold around 20,000 1976 Cadillac El Dorado convertibles, approximately three times as many as they had in 1975. They chose a white exterior with a red interior as the final 200. When factory endorsed (but not built) convertibles returned in the 1980s some buyers, who possibly bought them purely as an investment, tried to sue Cadillac, unsuccessfully. There’s no record of Holden ever facing a similar lawsuit when the V2 debuted.
While not wearing a Monaro badge the LE coupe was celebrated at the Nationals in 2006 (30 years old) and in 2016 (40 years old). As well though not specifically doing so again this year we will acknowledge they will be 50 years old and are an integral part of the Monaro story!
