The family of a late Bundaberg cane farmer has sold his old rust-bucket Holden Monaro – which sat for years covered in empty corn bags and a pool liner in the corner of a shed – for $200,000.

Darryl Scherer bought the 1968 Holden HK GTS Monaro 327 for his wife, Vivian, who used to drive the local kids to school excursions in it.

But when she died in 2006 Scherer moved to a block of land on the outskirts of Bundaberg and put the car in a shed. He planned to restore it but never got around to it.

He died in December 2021 at the age of 82.

An auctioneer, Bill Young, has now sold the rare 327 Monaro – the first Monaro to win Bathurst and only one of two to win the historic event – for an astonishing $200,000 but believed it could have fetched more.

The car attracted 300 to 400 inquiries, with interest from as far away as Bangkok. About 600 people attended the auction in person.

The car was eventually sold to a Sunshine Coast man.

Scherer’s daughter, Noeleen Schulte, said the family car had provided an amazing legacy. “Dad [was] a hard-working cane farmer, born and bred in Bundaberg,” she said, adding: “It was the first car he ever bought that wasn’t his father’s. Usually Pop would buy a new car, then Dad would buy his old car off him.”

“It was Mum’s car. She took it everywhere – she was the main driver of it.”

02:17

She said she has fond memories of the day her father brought the car home.

“I can remember the day he bought it,” she said. “We were waiting to be picked up from school and here’s this bright, shiny car that looked really cool and then we look in and it was Mum in there!

“Me and my three sisters were the coolest kids at school, basically, because every kid wanted a ride in the car.

“Mum would always transport kids in it – if there was ever an excursion, Mum put her hand up.”

She said the family had always been aware the car was special but were stunned by how much it was worth.

“It’s been parked in the garage but not forgotten, we all knew it was there,” she said. “We were always made aware of what it is and what it meant to him.

“It’s just sad that he didn’t get to restore it. He was a man with a list and it was always on his list to do but he’s never got to it.

“We knew it would be amazing but we never thought it would go to what it went to. So we were very happy with the outcome.”

Young said it was his biggest sale in 25 years.

“The car was parked in a corner covered in empty corn bags with a pool liner thrown over it,” he said. “Rats and vermin had been living in it. There was a shelf built in front of it so you couldn’t even move it.

“It hadn’t run in 16 years and we were told to leave it like that for the auction, so it was covered in dust and dirt. But it was all intact and that’s what made it special.”

He said he originally thought it would fetch $50,000 to $80,000.

“It was just a family car, it drove the kids to school,” he said. “What was probably worth nothing went for $200,000.

“In the initial stages we thought it would get $50,000 to $80,000. Then once it got advertised and promoted, we sort of had expectations of $120,000.

“And then inquiries started coming in from every capital city, especially Sydney and Melbourne. We even got a call from Bangkok.

“The inquiries blew me out of the water. My phone never stopped ringing.”