Two million dollars can buy a lot of things.
It could purchase a three-bedroom apartment in Mosman, buy you more Tesla shares than a month prior or bribe a disgraced politician.
As an army of front-end loaders continue to demolish GM Holden’s engine plant in Port Melbourne — making way for expensive three-bedroom apartments, ironically – a 34-year-old Holden has been tipped to earn $2 million at auction at the 2018 Bathurst 1000 on October 6.
The Holden in question is an HDT-prepped 1984 VK Commodore Group C race car with undisputed provenance, given the ‘Big Banger’ was driven to victory in the 1984 Bathurst 1000 by the late, great Peter Brock and co-driver Larry Perkins.
The brutal-looking mid-1980s Holden Commodore also won the Sandown 500 and Surfer’s Paradise 300 with Brock at the helm.
The iconic Holden race car will be sold alongside what is claimed to be “the world’s largest and most iconic collection of Peter Brock race cars” ever assembled.
The ‘Big Banger’ is one of 30 other Brock cars in the collection, which can be seen together for potentially the last time ever as they are displayed through NSW, Victoria and South Australia, before returning to their spiritual home at Bathurst, where they will be auctioned on the weekend of the big race.
Given a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III once owned by cricketer Jeff Thomson recently sold for $1,030,000, setting a new record for an Australian-built car, auctioneer Lloyds Auctions reckon Brock’s Big Banger will set another record by doubling the Ford’s worth at a cool $2 million.
Lloyds head auctioneer, Bill Freeman, says Brock’s VK Commodore is generating massive interest and expects prices to go beyond $2 million.
“We’ve had thousands of enquires every day since the collection has been announced, including enquiries from overseas. We expect it [Big Banger] to sell in excess of $2 million, which will break all Australian records.
“Cars of this calibre are hard to find and with its substantial motorsport and celebrity heritage, it’s no wonder the ‘Big Banger’ is expected to sell for more than any other Australian produced car,” said Freeman.
HDT owner Peter Champion sold the Brock collection to a mystery buyer in June, before it was split up and confirmed for individual auction by Lloyds in July.
Champion has raced the ‘Big Banger’ — named after its big-bore V8 — several times and said “…she still goes like a beauty and that’s what this entire collection is about — enjoying the cars is what Peter would have wanted.
“This car has a lot of great history and even better stories that come along with it. This is not just an ordinary car — it’s a very special piece of history,” said Champion.
Lloyds believes there are investor partnerships and syndications angling to buy the entire Brock collection in order to keep it together, but each vehicle will be sold separately at the auction, so it remains to been if that eventuates.