Brock’s HDT gets a new home at Bathurst
Words: Richard Edwards
The HDT name made famous by Peter Brock is moving to Bathurst. New owner Kenny Habul has announced plans for a workshop, museum and showroom in the New South Wales city.
Habul is an Australian-born businessman and racing driver based in the United States. In September he bought the HDT brand from Peter Champion, including HDT Special Vehicles. He confirmed the Bathurst plans at a launch event in the city’s CBD on Monday, joined by former HDT race team members.
To start with, the business will focus on modifications and performance upgrades for existing HDT Special Vehicles models.
“This is about building world-class performance vehicles in Bathurst, the home of Australian motorsport and the spiritual home of HDT,” says Habul.
“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.”
What’s planned
The Bathurst headquarters will have a workshop with panel and paint facilities, plus a showroom for significant display cars and cars for sale. A separate museum will cover the Holden Dealer Team’s history on the track and in its road car division. Habul says the factory will also take on restoration work. HDT is hiring staff for the Bathurst project.
HDT is also in the early stages of developing a new “Reimagined” HDT car. Prototypes are being tested in Australia, Germany and the US.
“There is a lot of work to do before we have a HDT reimagined car to present, but there is a fundamental recipe that I think will be very impressive,” says Habul. Further details will come later.
The HDT story
The Holden Dealer Team was formed in 1969 under team boss Harry Firth. Brock won eight of his nine Bathurst titles with the team, and New Zealander Jim Richards shared five of those wins with him.
Holden pulled out of motorsport at the end of 1979. In 1980 Brock helped set up HDT Special Vehicles, which built high-performance road Commodores partly to fund the race team. The first was the HDT VC Commodore, which had a tuned 5.0-litre V8, a race-inspired body kit, upgraded suspension and imported alloy wheels. HDT went on to build 4246 Commodores between 1980 and 1987.
Holden ended its partnership with Brock in 1987 after a dispute over the Energy Polariser device and the HDT VL Calais Director. The business then passed through several owners. The Collorafi family bought it in 1988 and sold it to brothers Len and Sid Pennisi in 1994. Peter Champion, a close friend of Brock, took over in 2007, and almost 500 HDT models based on the VE and VF Commodore were built while he owned it.
HDT Special Vehicles models are now among the most collectable Australian cars. Brock’s own VK Commodore SS Group A is known as the “Blue Meanie” and carries build number 005, his race number. When it sold in 2021 it fetched more than A$1 million, a record for a Holden.
“After nearly 20 years of owning HDT Special Vehicles, the brand that was made famous by Peter Brock from 1980 to 1987, I felt it was time for me to move on and sell it to someone who is just as passionate as myself, and that person is Kenny Habul,” says Champion.
Who is Kenny Habul?
Habul was born in Sydney in 1973 and has a law degree from Bond University. He moved to the US in 2005 and founded the solar energy company SunEnergy1 in 2009. He is still its president and CEO.
He knew Brock personally and worked around his race team as a young man. He has won the Bathurst 12 Hour twice, in 2022 and 2023, and owns property in Bathurst.
The announcement was part of a series of events during the Bathurst 1000 marking 20 years since Brock’s death. Cars from Habul’s HDT race car collection were on display through race week. The HDT logo was also carried by two Camaros in the race: the Garry Rogers Motorsport wildcard driven by James Moffat and Nathan Herne, and the Team 18 car of David Reynolds and James Courtney.
