- HDT relaunched as racing world marks 20 years since Peter Brock's death.
- New facilities to be based in 'spiritual home' of Bathurst.
- HDT will care for classics, but 'reimagined' new model also in the works.
The iconic, sometimes-controversial Australian HDT brand is coming back. How excited you are about that might depending on how old you are.
Australian-born US-based businessman Kenny Habul is the new owner of HDT. He has announced a reboot of the HDT brand in the town of Bathurst with new facilities. The operation will initially focus on the care, preservation and modification of existing HDT vehicles, but there's also a "reimagined" new-model HDT in the pipeline. What form that might take is yet to be disclosed.
“This is about building world-class performance vehicles in Bathurst, the home of Australian motorsport and the spiritual home of HDT,” says Kabul.
HDT Special Vehicles produced 4246 high-performance Holden Commodores between 1980-87, starting with the HDT VC Commodore that featured a tuned version of the 5.0-litre V8 engine, a race-inspired body kit, upgraded suspension and imported alloy wheels.
“We are respectful of what this brand means to people, and we recognise these cars need to be preserved and improved. If you own an HDT you will be able to come to us for parts that we will have on the shelf, plus we will also be offering performance upgrades that will be HDT-approved with increased power outputs, better brakes and enhanced safety.”
The Holden Dealer Team was the official factory-backed racing operation from 1969, and fostered many up and coming young drivers, including Peter Brock.
But the "modern" (such things are relative) era of HDT began with in 1980, after Holden withdrew from motorsport at the behest of parent company GM. HDT was rebooted with funding from 54 dealers, partly in response to the promise of a series of high-performance road cars from the Special Vehicles division that would help fund the racing team. Owner Peter Brock was very much the face of the operation.
HDT did indeed build a series of legendary go-fast Holdens from 1980-87, many of which are now extremely collectible and valuable. Everything came crashing down when Brock clashed with Holden over his "Energy Polarizer" device, a crystal/magnetic box fitted to some models that he believed improved performance by aligning molecules.
Holden severed ties with HDT and created HSV in 1987 as a joint venture with Tom Walkinshaw Racing. HSV continued as the brand's official performance division until the demise of the parent brand in 2020.
Kabul was a personal friend of Brock, who was killed in a racing accident in 2006. He worked on Brock's racing teams as a young man and is an accomplished racing driver himself, winning the Bathurst 12-Hour in both 2022 and 2023. He lives in the US, where he founded solar energy company SunEnergy1.
Habul’s extensive collection of HDT race cars formed part of displays honouring Peter Brock’s legacy throughout Bathurst race week this month, with several additional rare HDT Special Vehicles road cars shown at the launch event.
The brand’s distinctive red-and-blue logo also featured prominently on two cars: the Garry Rogers Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro wildcard entry, driven by James Moffat and Nathan Herne in the 2026 Repco Bathurst 1000, and the Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro driven by David Reynolds and James Courtney.
