Random Car Spotting: HSV GTS-R.

2003.

Photographer: Rohan Phillips

Camera: Canon EOS 3000 film SLR
Lens: Canon 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6

Film: Fuji Superia 400 colour negative

 

I stumbled across this rare 1996 HSV GTS-R somewhere in the Adelaide Hills. As it was so long ago I can't really remember where it was, apart from the fact it was a shopping centre carpark in one of the small towns.

HSV only made 85 of these, and I don't recall having seeing one 'in the wild' before or since. 74 were made for Australia, while the remaining 9 were shipped over to New Zealand.

They have a 5.7 litre V8 engine, which produces around 215kw/288hp. This was a lot of power at the time, but now you can buy a current standard V8 Holden Commodore with 270kw, while the new E-Series GTS puts out 325kw/435hp from its 6.2 litre LS3 V8.

You can read more about the GTS-R on HSV's official site here:

 http://www.hsv.com.au/e3/see/Classics.aspx?PageID=Performance&Series=VS&Model=GTSR

Random Car Spotting: HSV Senator

2011.

Photographer: Rohan Phillips

Camera: Nikon D90

Lens: Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

Exposure: 1/60 @ f/2.8, ISO 1250

This was an amusing plate on its own, and I was planning to grab a shot of the car if we stopped at the red light ahead, heading home from a short walk on the jetty at Semaphore. Then I saw the police car alongside, and they both pulled up at the front of the intersection. My girlfriend Sally was in the passenger seat holding my D90, so I quickly grabbed the camera while sitting in the turning lane, firing off a few shots as I madly changed the exposure settings from what I'd used for taking sunset photos at the beach. I was able to get a few clear shots before their light went green. 

Couldn't have asked for better timing of a red light, and the very low-odds coincidence that a car with a plate like that would pull up next to a police car, complete with a clear view for me to take photos from the ideal spot. Any other position around the two cars wouldn't have been as good.