Stocks are unpredictable at the moment. Interest rates are anyone’s guess. Anything but a one-bedroom fixer-upper is out of reach. Chances are, you’re looking for somewhere else to put your money.

Well, we have good news (if you have money).

Yes, it’s a car. But this isn’t just any car.

Not only is this vehicle one of the last three manual Holden Commodores to come off the Australian production line in 2017, but it also served for many years as ACT Policing’s show car – the one that led the escorts for diplomats, country leaders and governors-general.

The car is said to “present very well”. Photo: AllBids.

‘Bronze’ – as it was called on account of its glowing orange paint – even got a full, front-cover-worthy feature in Street Machine Magazine in 2021.

The 2017 VF Series-II Commodore SS-V Redline has now gone up for auction on CarBids.com.au, an online auction house based in Fyshwick.

With about 75,000 km on the clock, the listing notes that the car still retains its original number plates and “all the marks and holes” from the various pieces of police equipment, including breathalyser tubes in the boot.

A description by the seller, himself still a serving officer within ACT Policing, outlines how it actually came to Canberra by “mistake”.

“The internal fleet management of ACT Policing accidentally ordered three automatic VF2 SSs, much to the ire of the traffic sergeants,” the officer told CarBids.

“Given our metropolitan roads, our ‘Category 6’ pursuit cars have always been manuals in order to achieve the dynamic stability that Australian-built automatics were never able to deliver.”

A nationwide search ensued, but given that this was during the last few months of 2017, when Holden’s factory was shutting down, only three V8 manuals could be found – two at a dealership in Western Australia and one in the Northern Territory.

The car was one of three manual Commodore SS-V Redlines to join the police fleet in 2017. Photo: AllBids.

All had the 6.2-litre V8, manual transmission, Brembo brakes, and sunroof of the SS-V Redline model, but came in different colours: Nirate Silver, Heron White, and Light My Fire Orange.

“On the day they arrived, Billy, one of the aforementioned traffic sergeants, walked us out into the car park while he smoked a cigarette and posed the question to me and two other pursuit car drivers: ‘What colour do you prefer, boys?’,” the officer says.

“It was an easy choice for me – the metallic bronze-orange metallic was and still is a standout colour, and I was lucky enough to earn the keys for it.”

The SS-V Redline models came standard with meatier Brembo brakes. Photo: AllBids.

At the time, ‘Bronze’ had driven just 3 km, and due to “staffing issues” at the time, this particular officer became the “sole caretaker for the vehicle, in charge of cleaning, maintaining and servicing”.

In case you’re thinking it’s been flogged, the officer notes that “while we drove our cars spiritedly during their service, vehicle sympathy was always a key aspect of our training”.

“This wasn’t something to be taken lightly, as the gateway into Traffic was to first undertake the Pursuit Motorcycle course. This was an intensive six-week program with an incredibly high failure rate.

“With six students per course, there were some instances where one or none would graduate. Once you have completed this course, motorcyclists would then need to spend at least two years on the bike before ever getting behind the wheel of one of the pursuit cars.

“This was the rite of passage to become a top-tier pursuit car driver, and it wasn’t something earned easily.”

But pursuit driving wasn’t this car’s only calling.

“Given the high visibility of the orange, Bronze was designated as the ‘sweep’ car for Guest of Government tours,” the officer recalls.

“Essentially, it was the front-runner for any police motorcades required for foreign and domestic dignitaries visiting the ACT. The sweep is often required to travel at high speed at the front of the motorcade to identify intersections or areas of road that may be accessible to normal road users.”

As a result, the officer “lost count of the times I would find myself in the car park of the station on a frozen winter’s night, hosing the suds off to make sure that my car was ready for my next shift”.

The car’s driving officer loved it so much he bought it when it was retired from service. Photo: AllBids.

By the time the car had reached the end of its service with ACT Policing, the officer was so enamoured with it that he decided to bid for it when it went up for auction. He won, and as a result, the car has really only had the one owner since new.

The sales description notes that the interior presents as “clean and tidy”, with “some holes in trims and wear and tear from use”, and a cut boot carpet from a previous battery installation. The exterior also “presents very well” except for worn paint where the light bar was mounted and a “few paint chips”.

In action. Photo: AllBids.

CarBids CEO Ben Hastings expects it to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 based on recent figures from similar cars.

“It’s hard to say, because obviously it’s a pretty soft market at the moment with the economy – that’s why we set the auction to close after the election – but the last Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo Interceptor we had sold sold in the mid-$90s,” he says.

“They [Commodore and Falcon prices] peaked in COVID, they came right back down, and probably still haven’t hit that high again.”

Ben says collectors are likely to battle over Bronze as “an investment”, and it will likely live out its days in a museum somewhere, much like the Falcon that ended up in the National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst.

Or maybe your garage?

The ‘Bronze’ auction closes on AllBids on 14 May.