It’s now been 20 Years since the first VN SS rolled out, marking a new era in Aussie V8’s.

As one bloke said on another website, “it took an imported US small block, designed in the 1990s, to better it.”

I find it amazing that in Australia, which has long been fascinated with the V8, we did not continue the development and refinement of the 5.0 EFI V8.

The fact that so many blokes – young and old, still like tinkering with their beloved Aussie V8 says a lot about us. Sure there are some nice new cars on the market, but nothing beats the sound, and feel, of the Aussie V8.

My VN SS only turns 18 this year (July), but to celebrate her ‘model release’, I’ll take her out for a little cruise and give her the nourishment she needs, a full tank of premium.

Long live the VN SS.

I get quite a lot of traffic on this website, for all different kinds of reasons, and I’m happy that people take their time to have a look around and hopefully enjoy what I’m doing. 80% of the visitors to this website stay for between 15 minutes and 1 hour, so that tells me that there are a lot of people out there that like the VN SS. That much, I can understand.

What I don’t understand though, is that although there are lots of blokes out there (sorry girls, I’m assuming it’s the guys) looking to buy a VN SS (I know this because of the keywords used to find this website), but nobody wants to pay the asking price of the cars on offer.

The VN SS Commodore is now in its’ 20th year and naturally it is going to begin showing its’ age.

Now, not that this matters to anyone, but I get emails every week asking me if I’m keen on selling my car with many people making genuine offers but my car is not for sale. I could have made a 3K profit last November (I bought the car in August), but I didn’t buy it to make any money.

Now, I don’t want to come across the wrong way but it’s come to my attention that a fellow VN SS owner that is selling his car has been offered only two thirds of what he wants to sell his car for!

The reason I’m bringing this up is because his car is a very good example of the VN SS and spending perhaps $1500 on it would add approximately 4 to 5K to its’ worth.

There are a lot of VN SS’s available if you look, and the prices of Stock Standard cars are on the rise. Due to the fact that so many blokes have changed the look of their cars with wheels, mild engine changes and so forth, a small amount of time and money can get the cars back to the standard that collectors want – Stock.

Do yourself a favour if you’re in the market, because if you keep waiting for prices to keep dropping, I’m sure that you’ll eventually miss out.

Now, I know it’s been out for a while but I just managed to go and watch the movie today (which was made by Eric Bana).

What I like about the movie was that regardless of your choice of car, be it Holden, Ford or anything else for that matter, it’s movie you should probably take your other half to see – if they don’t understand why you Love Your Beast.

For more information about the film, go to the Official Website and check it out.

I wrote off to Holden several weeks ago requesting a build sheet for my VN SS. Along with all the relevant mechanical information about what the SS was fitted with, it also provided its’ birth date. July 2, 1991.

So I thought I’d let the whole world know.

Happy Birthday, baby. 18 years old today.

Are you interested in buying a Holden VN SS Commodore ?

Well, I’m assuming you either like the VN SS, own one, or are looking at buying one, because that’s how you would have came across my website – right ?

The VN SS is kind of ‘being found’ right now by a whole new breed of Holden enthusiasts who are either looking at buying a VN SS to keep as Stock or as a lot of people now enjoy doing – modifying them to their own taste.

My own personal choice is to keep it stock standard, but at the same time, I do enjoy the VN SS modified without touching the body and interior. Engine mods are really the rage on the VN SS, so you’ll definately find a few VN SS’s out their with major engine work done – but be prepared to spend some good money though, engine mods aren’t cheap!

OK, what models are there, did they come with ‘Optional Fittings’ ?

If you don’t know anything about the colours the VN SS came in, or what years they were built – here is that info.

• Atlas Grey
• Phoenix Red
• Alpine White

The VN SS was built between 1989 and 1991. Vehicles built from mid 1990 until late 1991 were Series 2 models. Most of the changes to the car were very minor and mainly cosmetic.

With the Series 1 Model, you had a ‘Power Pack’ option, which consisted of -

• Front and Rear Power Windows
• Electric Antenna
• Power Mirrors
• Air Conditioning

The main ‘problem’ with buying a Series 1 now though, is that many people are opting to install these options and finding that the installation wiring (Looms) are not in place, so you will also have to source all the Looms if you now want to install the optional fittings.

The bonus though of buying a Series 1 VN SS, is that they are generally cheaper than the models that are already fitted with the Power Pack options.

Series 1 and Series 2 VN SS’s had different Front Seats, with the Series 2 having a more padded seat up front.

As with any Sports model that is released by a car company, most go to good homes, but unfortunately some don’t. Most owners have taken pride in their VN SS’s over the years, regularly washing, polishing and maintaining them, once again though, some have not.

You may come across a VN SS that seems to have low kilometres on the odometer and think it’s alright. Look further. I could get into my car and go through a dozen set of tyres without even adding 1 kilometre to the odometer, so be careful. Have the car thoroughly checked over by someone you can trust – and know what they are doing.

Paintwork on the VN SS was pretty good overall. Once again though, if owners looked after their car by washing it, parking in shady areas as well as keeping it polished, the paintwork should still be in good condition. If an owner has failed to properly maintain their VN SS’s paintwork, you may be up for a respray which can cost upwards of $4,000 for a good job.

OK, how much should you pay ?

If you have looked around already, you may see a huge difference in prices. The problem is, many people know that the VN SS is becoming what I call a ‘semi collectable’, that is, demand for the VN SS is out-pacing the supply – you need to remember that as the years go by, there will be less available to buy but at the same time, demand will still be at its’ current level, if not greater. (That’s why prices will go up)

You have two different types of sellers. On the one hand  there is the bloke who does not really want to sell it, unless the right money comes along – these are the high prices you see. Then you have the seller who ‘needs’ the money, which can be for all kinds of reasons – a new baby, buying a house, pay off debt and so on.

At the end of the day, the real value of the VN SS is up to you. But you must keep this in mind. The average prices of the VN SS is going up, there is no doubt about that.

What do I believe to be the value of the true value of a VN SS ?

• Completely Stock VN SS
• Average of 20,000 per year (360,000 km’s over 18 years)
• Original Paintwork 8/10
• Original Interior 8/10
• No PowerPack Options fitted
• Original Fog Lights fitted
• Between $5,000 & $7,000

• Completely Stock VN SS
• Average of 10,000 per year (180,000 km’s over 18 years)
• Original Paintwork 9/10
• Original Interior 9/10
• PowerPack Options fitted
• Original Fog Lights fitted
• Between $8,000 & $10,000

• Completely Stock VN SS
• Less than 150,000 km’s over 18 years
• Original Paintwork 9/10
• Original Interior 9/10
• PowerPack Options fitted
• Original Fog Lights fitted
• Between $9,500 & $12,000

• Completely Stock VN SS
• Less than 100,000 km’s over 18 years
• Original Paintwork 9/10
• Original Interior 9/10
• PowerPack Options fitted
• Original Fog Lights fitted
• Between $12,000 & 15,000

There are surely going to be people who don’t agree with what I’ve listed above, but as I said, this is a guide to what I believe are the prices. Some sell for more and some sell for less.

Whilst there are many modified VN SS’s on the the market, just remember that the money is in the original setup.

If you buy a VN SS that has non-standard -

• Seats
• Wheels
• Fog Lights (originals can cost up to $700)
• Door trims and ;
• Paintwork

You may decide to restore it to original condition. To do all that I have listed, it may very well cost you close to $10,000. You need to remember that if you do actually buy a standard VN SS and modify all the things listed, it may make it harder to sell in the future – because there may not be too many people who have your taste, with regards to what you might like.

I hope this helps you a little bit in your search for a VN SS, or if in fact you already own one and are looking at selling it.

Hi there guys,

As you can see, I’ve been busy updating VNSS.com.au.

I haven’t got everything right just yet but I’m getting there. I’ve added a heap of photo’s to the site but I’m not totally happy with all the images I’ve uploaded so when I get the time, I’ll definately add a few and delete a few of the bad ones.

So, back to business, well kind of. I’m a member of the VN SS Club, a place where owners of the beautiful VN SS gather online and chat not only about their cars, but also about life in general and have a few laughs along the way. There are also cruises organized through the club that you may be interested in. Merchandise is also available at the club site.

If you decide to join the VN SS Club, don’t forget to mention that I referred you!

For more information, visit www.vnssclub.com