HSV axes plans for super-coupe

Holden Special Vehicles has ditched plans to build the HRT427, the fastest and most expensive production coupe in Australian automotive history.

The go-fast arm of Holden Australia has been forced to back down because the 400kW (500bhp) car can't be built to satisfactory safety and engineering standards for the money.

HSV earlier this year got the go-ahead to build the car and talked of a retail price of $230,000 for it.

More than 50 orders from Australia and New Zealand were placed. But now it concedes that the price would blow out considerably in order for the car to meet build specification and safety levels.

The Monaro-based model is named HRT after the Holden Racing Team and 427 after the cubic-inch capacity of its 7-litre V8 engine.

The HRT427 was going to be powered by a hand-built Corvette racing engine. Prototypes met engineering, performance and safety levels, according to HSV. "The unfortunate and disappointing decision was one purely of business case economics that could not be made viable given our price and customer studies," HSV general manager Chris Payne said.

"The decision is particularly disappointing as the prototypes already demonstrate the engineering prowess of HSV to develop and build supercars that can compete with the best in the world," Payne said.