VF Sandman wagon and ute

[HK1837]

I fully understand what is being said about the sports wagon but for some silly reason I recon they look great. Don't know why. As for the 2015 Edition plate, well yeh it does make you wonder

I'd be putting money on it! GMH and later Holden have always done it. 500 x HK GTS327. Final build near 1200. 100's of HQ Sandmans as a limited thing. As we know they were built until later 1979 and became a mainstream special vehicle package. 300 x VS SS utes as a limited edition. Then another 300. Then they have been built ever since!
But in 40 years time if they are even still maintainable and operable the first of the new Sandmans will be the ones people will want, so if you still have it then you'll be happy!

[davegmh]

Jesus HK, I'll be 95.

[HK1837]

Joe Hockey reckons we'll be living to that average age by then! I can't see it, as I reckon the oldies today lived off the land, grew their own food and didn't have McSpew style food. But if they are right in their modelling then you may have that Sandman parked at the nursing home!

[davegmh]

I do ask myself why at my age am I doing it and the only answer I got is 'your a long time dead'

[Jeza]

Some really interesting comments and opinions coming in thick and fast on here and out in the public. I guess that you could say that there isn't a lot of value in the Sandman package based on the extras. Would I be right in saying that effectively other than stickers you're paying extra for alternate (not extras) features to the SS, therefore extra dollars for the Sandman features on top of the extra price already paid for the SS extras?? However if I were in the market for a new wagon or ute, or had the disposable money and had the 'I just want one' factor I would be able to justify the additional spend. Not for the features but for the 'Sandman' brand value. My thoughts would be that the 2015 plated Sandman will be desirable and collectable now and in the future, and likely not to genuinely depreciate as much as the other wagons and utes - with the same/similar features. Will there be more than 250, hopefully, although if I were buying one of the first ones I'd feel a little ripped off when what I thought was going to be 1 of 250, turns into 1 of 1000 and not quite as limited (and collectable) as first presented.

One thing for sure, its certainly grabbed the media attention and a focal point at the moment. We took our HZ out this morning and noticed the extra eyeballing and finger pointing, my son also said that he saw about 50 people looking at it.

The new Sandman model gets my vote! Would I have liked to see a van (or ute with canopy) over a wagon - yeah probably, but in reality a wagon is more practical and usable with the extra seats at least for me and probably for the majority. My last 4 new'ish cars have been Commodore wagons (VE, VZ, VY and VT)- they are awesome, and I would buy a Sandman wagon over a ute if I were in the market for a new car. Would I buy a new Sandman panelvan (if it were available) over a wagon, only if I could open up the cabin to the rear and put a seat in the back. But that's just me and where I'm positioned in life (young family) at the moment. If I were younger or older and didn't have the young family, I'd probably go for a panelvan if it were available.

All good, gets my vote

Cheers, Jeza

[rocky]

love the ute going to see it next saturday

[Innuendo]

So how long before we see VE Ute's and Van (or even Sportswagons) up stickered up with the 2015 Sandman livery?
Possibly even the VY-VZ's also. Although the Mambo Sandman styling is still more to my taste.

[Big Rob]

That is essentially true, but the optional items weren't already standard on the base vehicle (wheels, dash, buckets, 4spd). Stripes were only a mandatory part of Sandman for less than an approx. 12 month period (start of HX to whenever DL7 was added) . Whereas all this stuff is already on the SV6, SS and SS-V as compared to the base ute. The Sandman was a sports utility, which is what the SV6 and SS already are. So all the new Sandman really is, is a numbered plate and stripes added to an already "sports utility" plus a couple of other optional items to give it some uniqueness. I'm not criticising the car, as it is the sensible way for Holden to do it - it would be essentially silly to add all the good stuff to a base ute as it is already there on SV6 and SS-V. My only criticisms are the wagon (which is a joke to me) and the stripe treatment isn't appealing to me. So I don't see the value in a VF Sandman ute - you are paying $53k when you can buy a bog standard SS-V for $45-$46k that has everything on it that you'd want considering why you'd have bought a HQ Sandman ute in 1974.

Thank you, That was the point I was trying to make and you said it perfectly.... An SSV is already what the original Sandman concept was trying to achieve, a sports ute and van for the panel van craze.

Sure you could order all the options (OK, most) on a standard Belmont, but it cost a lot more.

Sandman was a GTS van or ute sold as a package and was cheaper than optioning up a lower model. That's not what this new one is. And the orange seat covers are an insult.....

[sanman]

I'd be putting money on it! GMH and later Holden have always done it. 500 x HK GTS327. Final build near 1200. 100's of HQ Sandmans as a limited thing. As we know they were built until later 1979 and became a mainstream special vehicle package. 300 x VS SS utes as a limited edition. Then another 300. Then they have been built ever since!
But in 40 years time if they are even still maintainable and operable the first of the new Sandmans will be the ones people will want, so if you still have it then you'll be happy!

Time will tell, I would be thinking as others have said that if they sell out they will make more, its not as if they are outselling supply these days. My opinion is that IF there is going to be a 2017 run, then they would be more collectable. I would prefer one of the last Monaro's over my V2 ser2. Anyway wife has said I can investigate new Sandman because she knows I like them but downside "you have to get rid of 2 cars to get it" .

[Alien DNA]

The more i look at them, the more im liking what i see. So its a wagon......big deal. You have to ask yourself, would you rather a wagon or nothing at all. Its great the Sandman name lives on.....goes to show what an impact it had back in the day. Whether it makes the older models increase in price is anyones guess. I'm just bummed im not currently in a position to buy one......when the time comes that i am....i think ill be going for the wagon. it just makes more sense when you have kids. Whatever opinions are out there, i'm diggin it