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1988 Holden VL Commodore Group A SV

The SS Group A SV was produced in 1988 and was only available in one colour, Panorama Silver (named after the renowned Australian Mount Panorama Circuit). It was assembled at Dandenong, Victoria (Holden) and modified at Clayton, Victoria (HSV).

The car carried Holden badges because of Group A racing homologation regulations, which necessitated at least 500 road-going versions to be sold to the public.

TWR developed the famous Walkinshaw bodykit that was stated to reduce drag by more than 25% over the previous Holden Dealer Team SS Group A. Due to its high use of plastic in the bodykit, it was nicknamed the "Plastic Pig"[citation needed] and "Batmobile". Other, less derogatory nicknames included the "Walkinshaw" and the most common of all, "Walky" (after TWR's chief Tom Walkinshaw).

The engine, although rated at five litres and 180 kW (241 hp), was specially made to withstand racing conditions. The block was specially cast and crankcase was fitted with four bolt main bearing caps. The heads were revised with high-flow intake ports and roller rockers. Special connecting rods, crankshafts, and pistons were fitted as well as a custom exhaust. The key feature though was the fabled Walkinshaw twin throttle body inlet manifold, which had been specially developed for the Group A and featured sequential setup with a smaller and larger throttle body. This was fitted with a restrictor plate on the larger, secondary throttle body, which actually let less air through than the smaller throttle body. Some reports have indicated that as much as 50–60 horsepower can be gained from the removal of the restrictor plates.

The Group A SV was made as a limited run of 500 from March to November 1988, but HSV subsequently decided to make 250 more units to meet demand. However, these were slow to sell with some examples having their appearance modified by dealers in an effort to get them out of the showrooms and others sold years after their launch. Slow sales were also impacted by Holden releasing the new generation VN-series Commodore in August 1988, though a new Group A homologation special (the VN Commodore SS Group A) would follow only in 1990.