This $360K, 636 HP Super Sedan Would Make A Corvette Z06 Cry

The new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is going to be a special thing. A 670 hp, 460 lb-ft of torque flat-plane crank V8 wedged inside the body of a C8 Corvette will, of course, be utterly rapid. But. There is a bit of a catch. That’s largely down to the fact you can only scare the hell out of one person at a time. This is a Holden HSV GTSR W1, and it will seat a total of five people for you to scare the hell out of.

And scare them it will. The four-door sedan is motivated by an equally crazy motor: a 636 hp, 601 lb-ft 6.2-liter supercharged V8. That comes to this humble Holden courtesy of a Chevy Corvette ZR1– a C6 generation model if you want to be specific. If that’s not enough to make you laugh out loud, how’s this for a paint color: this shade is called “Son of a Gun Grey.”

Let’s get this out of the way now. This is, if you hadn’t guessed, an Australian car, being sold in Australia. That said, if you’ve got the $324,000 USD you need to buy this monster, odds are you have the cash to federalize it and DIY your own US-legal Holden. The high price tag is there because only 298 of these Holden Commodores were ever built, 23 for New Zealand, and 275 for Australia. These are the last of the breed, some of the final Holden Commodores to ever roll off the line.

As such, HSV (think BMW M but for Holdens) fitted that ridiculous ZR1 engine. Evidently, HSV didn’t stop there. The LS9 had to be modified to meet Euro 5 emissions, and a dry-sump oil system was custom designed and built for this car only. Apparently, this car also comes with a custom-tuned suspension setup, which is said to be a massive 220% stiffer than the regular GTS or GTSR’s GM-branded MagRide setup. No thanks. Then again, you might need it given the power figures.

Changes don’t stop there, either. The GTSR W1 also gets a unique Tremec TR6060 close-ratio six-speed manual, carbon air inlet, active exhaust, and PZero Trofeo R tires. Finally, there are those giant brakes, which frankly ought to be carbon-ceramic given the speeds this thing will pull. Apparently, these are limited to “only” 155 mph, but some creative-if-not-highly-illegal-tuning could allegedly solve that.

Inside, it’s standard go-fast fare. Giant bucket seats sit inside the right-hand drive cabin, and the eagle-eyed among you may recognize some spare parts off the Chevrolet SS, this car’s long-dead American cousin. The wheel and seats are trimmed in Alcantara, and frankly, we couldn’t give a damn about the rest because this car has 670 hp. Frankly, that’s all you should care about too.