HX Kingswood Ute

[wbute]

One little letter short of a Sandman ute. Nice options though.
HX 8WN80 ute. 5 litre M21 Deauville Blue, 2 seater.
Would make a great replica.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HX-HOLDEN...ht_1190wt_1219

Genuine factory 308 motor 4 speed manual with white needle GTS dash & GTS steering wheel, bucket seats with full length console. 3.08 diff. Metallic Deauville Blue, CURRENTLY IN ACRYLIC PRIMER

GTS guards, premier twin headlights, new radial TA’s on reconditioned GTS 8x14 rims. UNDERDASH AIR CON & POWER STEERING NEEDS FITTING.
REGISTRATION - March 2013
VIN/Chassis - AHX13432B
Engine Number - QT910521
COMPLIANCE PLATES
Long skinny blue tag 8N80TGH423493X
Square blue tag MODEL - HX8WN80
BODY No. 423493B
TRIM - 1898 18V
PAINT - 567 15944
ENG - L31 TRANS - M21 RRAXLE - GV4
Square Silver tag,
Holden
HX coupe utility
7/77 AHX 13432B
GVW 2200kg Seating cap 2
0402 481 106
I drive this Ute on weekends and I have been slowing rebuilding it over the past few years. I would not hesitate to drive it on a long road trip.
GTS RECONDITIONED 14X8 RIMS WITH NEW RADIAL TA's. FRONT TYRES 225/60/14 REAR TYRES 235/60/14.
FITTED - New rochester carbie, New DSM electronic distributor & coil, New water pump, New clutch cable.
NEEDS FITTING - new door rubbers, door windows with new tint, new tailgate, wheel arch trims, original sill moulds, original black door cards and handles. Complete HX premier twin head light frontend with GTS guards and original doors which been taken back to bare metal and primed are in storage and never been on ute.
New sills replaced by professional. No rust in cab or tray and very straight body for age. It will look perfect when finnished.
please call above number if interested.....

[Robbo]

That is a very nice ute, well worth the effort. Go for it James.

[wbute]

Nah mate I don't want it. One Holden is enough for me. Cant justify the rego or the money on more than one. Never get time to drive it anyway.
Just thought it was an interesting ute. Fully optioned but not a sandman. Still can't see why you would not just buy a DL7 Sandman. Those kingswood strips and the chrome strips on the cab can't have been that much of a deal maker surely lol.

[HK1837]

People must have wanted them as there are plenty of V8 manual or auto bucket seat HX Kingswood or Holden vans and utes. Just ask Taily about his HJ.

[wbute]

The big stripes on Sandmans must have been a huge turn off for a lot of people.

[HK1837]

It would have been for me! You couldn't order a HX Sandman as delete stripes either, and I think this was the driver behind DL7 becoming available on HZ. Personally my preference would have always been for a Sandman over a Holden or Kingswood but in HX I would have taken a Kingswood to avoid the stripes. HJ if I ordered new i'd just have asked for them not to be fitted, but would have taken one if they'd already been done as HJ stripes are not that in your face. HZ I would have just ordered it as DL7, although the Kingswood ute is more appealing in some ways as it doesn't have the twin headlight nose or the chin spoiler of the Sandman. In those times I would have been more about making the car look plain to avoid scrutiny rather than not liking the look of the HZ Sandman!

[wbute]

Ah I see. I didn't know there was no DL7 in HX. Makes sense now.
That ute does have nice options though.

[Taily]

The big stripes on Sandmans must have been a huge turn off for a lot of people.

My grandparents bought the HJ ute that I now own brand new in 1975. It was ordered early in the year and wasn't delivered to them for around 4-5 months. The primary reason two people in their 60's ordered a ute was to accept the slide-on Freeway camper that they ordered at the same time, so they could see out their golden years with a bit of travelling and they wanted to be comfortable doing it. They ordered and optioned-up a 308, TH400, floor shift T-Bar and buckets, A/C, PWR STR, LSD, Heavy duty radiator, carpet, full instrumentation dash, tow bar etc etc... absinth yellow ute. We have the original options order form for the vehicle which clearly shows what they ordered. From talking to my father and my uncle about their recollections of when the ute was ordered (apart from the fact the vehicle was ultimately not purchased from a Holden Dealer in the family - that is a story all by itself, which has more to do with the Hillsdon's salesman telling them the only way they could get what they wanted was to buy a Sandman and that they wouldn't budge on it) they both mentioned that the Sutton's salesman (where the ute was ultimately bought) did say they would have to accept other options on it if they wanted the floor shift... but they could have a "Kingswood" ute in the spec that they wanted if they were prepared for the dealer to build it for them.

Doing some detective work with Byron, my father and my uncle and now uncovering the painted-over blackouts, yellow over spray in the arches and under the rear valance, the side strips that were entirely affixed with rivets in the doors, rear guards and tailgate but the front guards had the lugs on them point to the entire walk-off front being replaced by the dealer, the blackouts painted over and the stripes either removed (or maybe they were never fitted from the factory) before the dealer fitted the side strips. The vehicle always had the front console mount, the T-bar, the GTS dash and wheel, the GTS wheels fitted from new and other Kingswood items were optioned and added, such as bumper strip front bumper with over riders, badges etc.

Looking at the ute in the ebay link above it would appear that my grandparents were not alone wanting a ute with the works, just not with the stripes or guards in the bargain. I'm tipping there were some nice one tonners, Kingswoods and Prems getting around with some GTS guards at the time also....

It still presented well, never had a major accident of any kind (my dear old grandmother occasionally clipped the gatepost at Merrylands though) and has around 155,000km on the odo. I thought it time to clean it up before any major rust got hold of it. I'm going to fit GTS guards back on it but still umming and ahhhing about the sandman stripes etc.

IMG_12411.jpg

(Edit): You'll note the hideous over engineered attach points for the slide on camper on the outside of the well body.... It was time for them to go...

Regards,

Dave.

[wbute]

Wow thats an interesting story! So it is a sandman then. Amazing what a dealer would do in those days. Looks like a great ute!

[HK1837]

Wanting the T-bar caused them to do that, amazing isn't it! Knowing what we know today we'd have just taken a column shift HJ Kingswood ute with L31 M41 air, steer, U17 dash and N66 rims and buckets (which you could order), and fitted a spare part console, harness, associated column bits and T-bar. The rear mount would have been there for the console under the seat separator. Just needed the front one and gas axe the T-bar hole. T-bar harness would have plugged straight into HJ's harness and worked straight away. You'd think that would have been much easier than changing the nose, painting the whole thing over the blackouts and fitting the side strips. My guess is this car was in stock somewhere and they modded it, rather than ordering one.