After quite a few years looking into this I thought it'd be interesting to find out just who has the oldest surviving VL turbo going by chassis numbers. July 1986 was supposed to be their release date but there were at least a few built in May 1986 for road tests which may have escaped to the public at a later stage. More may have been built earlier for police testing but it's possible they weren't plated as turbo's and would have probably been returned to the GM test fleet. Below are the earliest Adelaide (AVL013958A) and Melbourne (AVL014651M) built cars I've come across. Chassis numbers run seperately in Adelaide and Melbourne. The red car is plated July 1986 but the build sheet lists it as being started 18/6/86. You'll see both are also plated A8Q, as the A8R code for an Executive Turbo hadn't been invented yet. Anyone out there got anything earlier ?

I'm in talks with the 1st one very keen to purchase it was wondering why it was an A8Q but still lw5 plated andvthe vin also states it's a turbo model A8Q isnt lw5 ms1 however Vltwhite1 - what's the story here

Nothing serious there. The A8R code didn't come into existence until some time after August 1986 (I have the exact date here somewhere) so all of the very early Exec turbo's are plated A8Q. See the red car above too.

Where is the red car for sale pm if you like thanks

Sorry, the red car is in my backyard. It's a parts car unfortunately. Years ago it looks like it had a big enough hit in the side to push the panhard rod up through the boot floor...and it was still registered when I bought it ! Gotta love SA. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by Katsa [View Post] I'm in talks with the 1st one very keen to purchase it was wondering why it was an A8Q but still lw5 plated andvthe vin also states it's a turbo model looks alright that one Chris, remove and sell the front

What a shame another genuine turbo shell gone Is it repairable do you think? Maybe make the parts car the project car lol ---------- Post added 30-05-12 at 06:42 ---------- Quote: Originally Posted by aus880 [View Post] looks alright that one Chris, remove and sell the front Ye and the vn diff and the manual, it needs alot of love it has the vl diff n auto there but shipping would be a fortune

Quote: Originally Posted by Katsa [View Post] What a shame another genuine turbo shell gone Is it repairable do you think? Maybe make the parts car the project car lol Ye and the vn diff and the manual, it needs alot of love it has the vl diff n auto there but shipping would be a fortune It'd be repairable, but at a price, and they're just not worth that kind of money. Boot floor, left rear panel, windscreen frame, rear window frame and other dodgy repairs over the years. Plus it's red and every second Exec turbo seems to be red. I do own it's sister car as well though which is in White Gold. Its body was started 9 cars after the red one so they may have both been built on the same day. That Qld car though in Blue Ice is a very rare colour for an Exec turbo. Freight mightn't be as bad as you think. Have you gotten quotes ?

Not for the auto and diff but Im aware of the prices for the car freight Do you know a company that will freight the auto and diff? Do we know/is there any record/publicity for the 1st vl turbo released?

Quote: Originally Posted by Katsa [View Post] Not for the auto and diff but Im aware of the prices for the car freight Do you know a company that will freight the auto and diff? Do we know/is there any record/publicity for the 1st vl turbo released? Unfortunately no with the freight. The usual bulk freight companies will take it but they'll want it strapped to a pallet. Reason why I started this thread was to try and get an idea of which ones were the first. Apart from new turbo option brochures, the only other very early gear I've been able to come across are mentions of Police testing them as early as March '86 (as I said though, they may have just been converted n/a's for testing) and some cars that are in the August 1986 edition of Wheels mag. These same cars also appear in "Motor Presents - Celebrating 25 Years of Hot Commodores". These early cars were registered in Victoria as CUP-726, CUP-727 & CUP-730.

CUP726 was owned by my cousin.LW5 MX7 SL TURBO GREEN. he bought it in the early 90s from winter and taylor holden in geelong. I had the modern motor magazine which had the PHOTOS of it going round the test track. It was originally bought as a factory demonstator by an old couple and traded a few years later on a brand new vn. What a beautiful car that was. he ended up sellin it to a guy in melbourne for 5 grand. i should have bought it off him. but they wernt that sought after back then ---------- Post added 04-06-12 at 10:08 ---------- oops sorry guys my cousins car was CUP727. CUP726 WAS A BERLINA

So the 3 mentioned above were the 1st vl turbos released? or the first vl turbos documented and promoted? Are the two you mentioned above built pre these 3? P.s VLTWhite1 - the threads you have started over the years have not only been a great read but also very informative, thanks on behalf of all genuine enthusiasts on this site!

most probably the first to be promoted.CUP726 is the blue ice berlina on the cover of aug 1986 wheels magazine. stating, off the clock the commodoe TURBO at 217 km/h ---------- Post added 04-06-12 at 11:22 ---------- Also from memory vl calais turbos were released a few months later than berlinas and sl,s.My mates old man ordered one of the first calais turbo manuals in red that was plated aug 86. he still has it. it was the very first lw5 mx7 to roll out of smiths holden geelong vic.in calais form

Thanks for that. Excellent to have that extra little bit of history. If your cousin has any photo's of it from back then, or the logbook, it'd be great if you could post them up. Even the VIN if he has it on old paperwork would be brilliant. From memory the Calais may have been released a little later when the VL's were first introduced in early 1986 but as the turbo was just an engine option you'd think they'd have been available from the first day you could order a turbo car. CUP-730 is a Calais. Going by what happened wiith my VE wagon in 2008, and talking with a mate of mine at GMH who massaged the car through for me (and got me all 13 pages of build sheets for it), Holden build your normal development cars that are thrashed to death to see how they break. These are never sold to the public and are destroyed. Then they do small runs of pre-production cars over a few weeks (10 or so at a time, then 100 say) to check build quality and if the production line works smoothly. Governent cars and Holden fleet cars usually make up these hand-massaged pre-production batches. Full time production begins after that. The "CUP-" cars are more than likely these pre-production cars as they would have wanted to get some out early for police orders and journalists to get their articles written for release when the cars were in showrooms. The upside is they're no different from production cars, just better inspected, and may have been the first to wear the LW5 tags. The downside would be that the journo's would have given them a pretty hard time. ---------- Post added 05-06-12 at 12:09 ---------- Quote: Originally Posted by Katsa [View Post] So the 3 mentioned above were the 1st vl turbos released? or the first vl turbos documented and promoted? Are the two you mentioned above built pre these 3? P.s VLTWhite1 - the threads you have started over the years have not only been a great read but also very informative, thanks on behalf of all genuine enthusiasts on this site! Thanks for that. It's stuff I've always wanted to know and it's amazing what some people on here have been recording or taking photo's of over the years. The more the merrier I reckon. The two cars I posted above are after the "CUP-" cars. The red one started life mid-June 1986 whereas the "CUP-" cars were built in May. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Ye Vlt white one il get onto my cousin about any info or photos on his car.hopefully he has something of interest. ---------- Post added 05-06-12 at 21:20 ---------- and also as for my mates old mans calais that rego started with cwh its the same car that had a story run on it in the unique cars mag a while ago

Remembered this thread the other day when changing my oil and checked the plates in my Calais Turbo, I thought they were August but they are actually July 86 Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by Oliver [View Post] Remembered this thread the other day when changing my oil and checked the plates in my Calais Turbo, I thought they were August but they are actually July 86 Earlier numbers than what I have listed above ? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I know of a 1985 built VL! Non turbo.... Has VK side mirrors on it factory

I had a Feb 86 Calais... (N/A though, not Turbo) from what I could tell, one of the first Calais' built.. Still got the build sheet around here somewhere. Didn't have something that should have been factory on all Calais, which the build sheet backed up as being not included - Found a Mar 86 Calais that did then have it. Will see if I can find what it was... ---------- Post added 26-06-12 at 18:24 ---------- Found it. Calais came with a "Factory Alarm"... mine didn't. The build sheet does not show the code "A8U" (code for the factory alarm) after "AQ9" where it is with all later Calais. Order date: 24th Jan 1986. Sales Date 10th Feb 1986. Non-Turbo though.. but interesting none the less. Build Sheet:

Quote: Originally Posted by VLTWhite1 [View Post] Earlier numbers than what I have listed above ? Alas no but I'd think I'd be in the running for lowest VLCT built. AVL014909A.