Holden Special Vehicles, (HSV) is the official performance vehicle division of Australian motor automobile manufacturer Holden. Based in Clayton, Victoria and established in 1987, HSV modifies Holden products such as the Commodore, Caprice and Ute giving them unique body-work and alloy wheels, up-spec interiors, and improved all-round performance thanks to upgraded engines, brakes, transmissions and suspension.

HSV was created in 1987 as a joint venture between Holden and TWR – an operation owned by Scottish racing car driver and entrepreneur Tom Walkinshaw. HSV took over from the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) special vehicles operation run by Peter Brock, after Holden severed its ties with HDT in February 1987 following some controversy.

The first car produced by HSV was the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV in 1988. It had a distinctive body kit with a large rear wing and was powered by a modified version of the Holden 5.0 litre V8, which had dual throttle body electronic fuel injection and was rated at 180 kW in road car form. It was built as a touring car homologation package for Group A racing and in racing form, managed to win the 1990 Bathurst 1000 race in the hands of Allan Grice and Win Percy for HSV’s racing arm, the Holden Racing Team.

Over the years HSV have built an array of modified vehicles, most of which have been based on the Commodore and powered by either Holden or GM sourced V8s. Notable HSV models include the SS Group A (both the 1988 VL and 1990 VN Commodore versions), the SV 5000, Clubsport, Senator, GTS, GTS-R, XU6 and the Grange. Prior to the introduction of Fords FG FPV Falcons, the 2006 HSV GTS was the most powerful production vehicle in Australia, producing 307 kW (417 PS; 412 hp) from its 6.0-litre Chevrolet V8, and can get to 0-100 km/h in just 5.2 seconds, and do a 13.5 second 0-400 metre sprint.

HSV use GM engines in recent models, making use of the LS1, LS2, and LS3 powerplants. The VR series of HSV sedans was the last model to use Holden’s own 304ci 5.0 litre unit. It was bored and stroked to a new 5.7-litre displacement and was called the ’350 Harrop Stonker’. Originally available on the flagship GTS-R the engine was mated to a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual gearbox because the then current Borg-Warner T-5 5-speed could not reliably handle the prodigious amounts of torque (475Nm). Power was rated at 215kW with the HSV VS GTS-R model receiving a blueprint option to produce more power at around 230 kW.

-Some content sourced from Wikipedia