Very first HQ Sandman

[RodneyHZ253]

Wb u can smell a ute anywhere

[HK1837]

Reckon that is a bit of red pillar you can see near the seat adjuster Byron.

That's it!

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So the ute you have found is it Brisbane built with xx7 or complies with xx7 spec what do you think is written on the steering cap it may be sandman but the word looks longer

No it is Dandenong built as most pilots or specials were. The paperwork it turned up on lists all option codes applicable to the cars on it.

[buickzz]

Rodney, most of that is normal HQ:

HQ's didn't have fell length headlining. Console was flat. HQ readrests are adjustable, aircleaner is normal for earlier HQ (pre stove pipe), Mph/km/h speedo also common in HQ. The engine picture is probably generic HQ also.


The car we found is a Red with black trim HQ Kingswood ute XX7, 12/72 compliance. Meaning 10E interior which I think that brochure car with black trim is 10E. I also reckon that bit of body colour you see on the brochure car is red. Doesn't look like it on the electronic image, but on the original brochure i'm sure it is red. AND it makes sense that the pilot car would appear on the brochure. The dash photo would be a generic picture of any HQ, but they wouldn't have had a console shift HQ commercial so would have to had to use a Sandman in the picture. The 12/72 car in question hung around within GMH until late 1974 so would have been used for photos. I reckon the van might possibly be a mock up, ie buckets and console added to a normal Belmont van. Possibly not though.

I agree that any mock up used in the brochure pre-dates the actual production units. The flat topped console and the engine pictured in the brochure are not those used in the production vehicles released in 1974. I had always assumed that the brochure was made up from bits and pieces of previous brochures touched up where necessary. Byron, you may well have solved the mystery of the brochure.

[HK1837]

The red HX ute used in the HX brochure has turned up (a long time ago). And it looks like I have details of the first HQ XX7 have now been solved (the ute anyway, i'm not yet convinced the van is a Sandman). I just have to find some of the HJ and HZ brochure vehicles.

@buickzz, by the flat console do you mean the lack of floppy seat belt holders? I'm not sure why it wouldn't have it as the Ewe't has the right console and it was 3/72 production. If that ute in the photo is the one I have details of it was 12/72 from the same assembly plant. BTW, what does a HQ Sandman console have at the back where the ashtray goes on sedan/wagon/statesman/coupe? I picked up a really nice floppy seatbelt HQ T-bar console on the weekend which was from a Premier/LS/Statesman and it has an ashtray at the rear. The woodgrain has come off the storage lid and the chrome scale is underneath, T-bar is still woodgrain.

[Sandaro]

Holden often used file photos and touched them up for brochures (compare early HQ brochures to late ones and you'll see the addition of headrests and amber blinkers to the same pictures) . Buickzz is probably right in assuming Holden used photos from different sources. It wouldn't suprise me if the dash shot is actually an earlier GTS with the horn rim photo shopped to sandman.

The interior shot also looks like a premier door armrest?

I would be hesitant to assume that any car in the brochure is actually a sandman mocked up by trhe factory. If the'd gone to the effort of mocking up a car that far in advance of production- why no actual photos of a complete car in the brochure? (The HQ sandman brochure is the only one I can think of that the cars are just drawings?)

[mauser]

BTW, what does a HQ Sandman console have at the back where the ashtray goes on sedan/wagon/statesman/coupe?

Byron, the HQ console in a commercial had a blanking plate at the rear. You see these on the short consoles coming up on ebay sometimes. Basically its a square plate with rounded corners. I havnt got one yet but due to the fact I havnt seen a seat seperator that is trashy enough so I dont pay a lot for the console. The console needed the ashtray hole to screw it to the rear bracket unlike the HJ/Z one where the screws are in the armrest hole.

Have you seen a survivor HQ Sandman with the floppy seatbelt console? I think they might of just used everything from the GTS/4 bin... haha Anyway any young bloke in the 70's left the seatbelts clipped up there whole life. Who cared about finding the floppy end..haha
http://www.mysandman.com.au/forums/s...ght=hq+console

It might be significant in that most of the adverstising pictures of the HQ Sandman are handdrawn. They might of preceeded the production and as it was a model runout sort of thing and the marketing area just mocked them up.

Mauser

Ill put up a picture later of the rear plate on a console. :-)
I vaguely remember a HQ console with the hole and seat belt holders behind when I was young but Im probably mistaken. It might of been a short one without the lid but. :-S

[HK1837]

Holden often used file photos and touched them up for brochures (compare early HQ brochures to late ones and you'll see the addition of headrests and amber blinkers to the same pictures) . Buickzz is probably right in assuming Holden used photos from different sources. It wouldn't suprise me if the dash shot is actually an earlier GTS with the horn rim photo shopped to sandman.

The interior shot also looks like a premier door armrest?

I would be hesitant to assume that any car in the brochure is actually a sandman mocked up by trhe factory. If the'd gone to the effort of mocking up a car that far in advance of production- why no actual photos of a complete car in the brochure? (The HQ sandman brochure is the only one I can think of that the cars are just drawings?)

The 12/72 ute details we found is a real XX7 and has to be the prototype. It is probably slightly different to production examples in many areas (hence why I think it is the brochure photo). It probably wouldn't have stripes or blackouts but would have all the other already produced items (buckets, steering wheel, guards etc), hence probably why there is no exterior shots of it in the brochure. The XX7 code first appeared in the Production Option Availability documents on 2/10/72 and the Ewe't was built in 3/72 so a 12/72 Sandman prototype is about right.

Photo shop in 1972-4! Back then cut and paste involved scissors and glue!

[Alien DNA]

Photo shop in 1972-4! Back then cut and paste involved scissors and glue!

Bet me to it

[mauser]

Byron, Why do you think there is no blackouts on the beaver panel of the PV in the pictures?

The tailgate is hanging all the way down on the short hinges. The tailgate bottom lip is sticking up covering and sight of the beaver from the picture. The blackouts, I thought, went across the bottom where the bumperettes are and as such the lip bit going into the rear of the cargo area would still be the body color. In fact on this photo the vynacote cream extends past the opening. It also looks to have no upper tailgate rubber for aesthetics. I can't see the tailgate straps and hooks hanging on the sides either.

It is a Belmont van and the taillight surrounds are body colour and thats it for black I thought. The seats do have the wooden backing plates painted in cream as well. I did notice the console might be chestnut and any pictures I have seen of non-30B Sandman interiors have the black console to go with the black steering wheel.

It also looks a bit like it to me that indeed someone ran around the van picture with a razor blade and stuck it on the copy because the tailgate to bumperetts are too straight an edge.


Mauser

[Sandaro]

Photo shop in 1972-4! Back then cut and paste involved scissors and glue![/QUOTE]

HAHA, yeah I didn't mean the computer version. Some of the photo doctoring I've seen I'd guess would have been done by fine painting/drawing on the original, as per the headrests I referred to.

I don't have brochures in front of me but I'm convinced some HJ and HX brochures use the same shot of a van and reuse it in both sandman and base model brochures (with stripes/without stripes and the car in different colour even)

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Byron, when you say it is a real XX7, are you going by the various differences you have noticed, or have you a copy of its build sheet?