Holden to your hat

Holden Special Vehicles is moving into the lifestyle arena with a sporty surprise, reports ALASTAIR SLOANE.

Product branding, lifestyle marketing ... call it what you will. Most carmakers have their names on caps and T-shirts, jackets and scarves, golf umbrellas, pens and pencils.

The premium brands have catalogues. Alfa Romeo's catalogue has Italian leather handbags and silk scarves to order. BMW's has all sorts of men's and women's clothing to go with the "ultimate driving machine."

Mercedes-Benz' catalogue is as thick as two Auckland phone books and might even contain a collar for your dog.

Porsche has precision instruments. Ferrari and Bentley have the ultimate in picnic baskets. Saab and Volvo have briefcases made of moose leather. Lexus has boxes of goodies. So does Audi.

Many of them have bicycles, too. Lightweight mountain-bikes mostly. But none has a boat to go with the car. Not like Holden Special Vehicles, anyway.

HSV calls its V8-powered ski boat the Response R8, after the Clubsport R8 sedan and Maloo R8 ute. It will be unveiled at the Sydney Motor Show tomorrow, signalling the company's move into the lifestyle arena.

HSV will unveil another product at a special lifestyle pavilion tomorrow morning. The only clue is that "it's got wheels."

Other HSV products with wheels over the next few years are likely to include a turbocharged two-door version of the Holden Astra, a Corvette convertible, and possibly even the Lotus Elise-based Opel Speedster.

A four-wheel-drive station wagon based on the next-generation Commodore is on the cards, too.

The ski boat is the result of an arrangement with boat builder Malibu.

"Malibu and HSV have worked on the project for about six months," said HSV general manager Chris Payne.

"The boat is a trial exercise to gauge public interest. Whether we go ahead will depend on public reaction.

"If we get orders for 20 at the motor show we will talk to to Malibu and decide our long-term strategy. We may just build 20 and individually number them to order."

The Response R8 uses the same 5.7-litre V8 engine used in HSV road cars. Tell-tale signs that the boat is from the HSV stable are found in the instrument panel, steering wheel and matching trailer with 18-inch wheels and premium brakes.

The paint job was inspired by the Holden Racing Team cars that competed at Bathurst last Sunday.

The boat follows another limited edition HSV Commodore car, also on show tomorrow. It is a six-speed manual-only model called the SV300, powered by the 300kW version of the 5.7-litre V8, an engine developed for General Motors' Corvette division by American tuning specialist Callaway.

The limited-edition $128,000 Senator 300 - of which four came to New Zealand - uses the same Callaway engine.

HSV is building 117 SV300 models - 100 for Australia and 17 for New Zealand. No word yet on the price this side of the Tasman.

HSV has given the SV300 its own identity. Bold frontal treatment features a crosshatched lower intake grille with colour highlights matched on the rear facia.

The car sits on 18-inch alloy wheels and SV300 badges adorn the side skirts and boot lid.

Colours are phantom black, HSV racing green and Hackett gold (after Australian swim star Grant Hackett).

The bold theme continues inside, with the leather seats featuring mustard leather highlights and SV300 logo.

The contrasting treatment extends to the door trims, steering wheel, gear lever and floor mats.

Traditionally, SV series cars have been some of the best HSV models in on-road performance. The engine develops its 300kW at 6000 rpm. Peak torque of 510Nm is available at 4800 rpm.

The SV300 comes with Series II enhancements, including improved safety, multi-link rear suspension, new cross-drilled brakes and exclusive Bridgestone tyres.

The new rear suspension set-up is a stand-out feature of the Series II Commodore Clubsport, refining ride, handling and overall accuracy.

Standard equipment includes climate controlled air-conditioning, power windows, central locking, headlamps that turn on and off automatically, 10-stack CD audio system and cruise control. A power glass sunroof is optional.

Along with all Series II HSV models, the SV300 will benefit from new anti-theft technology using about 10,000 microscopic data dots.

The dots carry identifying information and are sprayed throughout the vehicle. The authenticity of any Series II HSV vehicles or components can be quickly checked using a magnifier.

Sales of HSV vehicles in New Zealand this year are expected to exceed last year's 304, the best since the launch of HSV in 1989.

Of that number, 66 per cent were Clubsports, 18 per cent were Senators, 9.5 per cent were GTS, Grange and SV99, and 6.5 per cent were XU6 models.

In the past 12 years, 2234 units - or 7.5 per cent of the 30,000 HSVs produced so far - have been sold in New Zealand.

Buyers of the Series II models get an HSV aluminium briefcase and a vanity kit as a thank-you gift.

They can also buy an HSV golf bag, a portrait-sized replica of their car's actual HSV build plate, a suit carrybag and an HSV watch.

It's called branding or lifestyle marketing ...

* The new Holden Monaro, the coupe version of the Commodore, is being unveiled in Sydney tomorrow morning, three years after the concept stunned showgoers. Holden says it is holding more than 900 deposits on the Monaro in Australia and New Zealand.