Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 93 i Australian Muscle Car

So that’s that. Never again will Australians get the thrill of seeing the wraps come off a newly revealed locally-built model. The top-line GTSR W1 – as part of the 2017 HSV range’s unveiling on February 1 – had the honour of being the lucky last. It’s fitting, too, being the quickest and most powerful Aussie muscle car of all time. My earliest recollection of the jolt of excitement that came from seeing a new model or limited edition being launched was seeing the first pics of Ford’s XC Falcon Cobra. Those in-your-face blue stripes really had ‘wow-factor’ whether you were eight-years-old, as I was at that time, or 88. I have even stronger recall of the first Holden Commodore’s launch, a month or so later, in late 1978. I…

Prodrive Racing Australia is keeping its cards close to its chest over which model it will race in the 2018 Supercars Championship, as sister company Tickford began 2017 by announcing road car enhancements for Mustang. “We haven’t decided on what (racing model) or what package it will be in 2018,” PRA marketing director Peter Trevaskis told speedcafe.com in January of the Melbourne team’s planning. “We have to work with the Penske boys [fellow Ford squad DJR Team Penske] to formulate a plan and work through some engineering stuff. It’s still in the development phase,” he says. The Mustang is firming as favourite to replace the Falcon on track with Roger Penske keen to push ahead with the coupe as the Queensland-based team’s 2018 mount. This despite Ford Australia’s stated disinterest…

The ex-Bob Jane 1963 Jaguar E-Type factory lightweight has set a new auction record for a car with Australian competition history. The Jag, with which Jane won the 1963 Australian GT Championship, sold at Bonham’s Scottdale Arizona auction earlier this year for US$7.37 million (A$9.7 million) including buyers premium. It was one of only 12 Lightweight purpose-built racing E-Types built by the factory in 1963 and ’64. Jane, as a Jaguar roadcar dealer in Melbourne, developed close ties with legendary Jaguar competition chief Lofty England, as he explains in our Muscle Man profile this issue, that helped him land the car. He campaigned it in Australia for six months, posting several wins, before it was shipped to England in mid 1964 for a gearbox and fuel tank upgrade at Browns…

Those in the market for an original shape Monaro GTSs should bookmark Shannons’ Melbourne Late Summer Classic Auction on February 27 when two will go under the hammer. For the ‘V8s or nothing’ set there’s a Warwick Yellow GTS 327, while a Silver Mink Metallic example of the often-underrated GTS 186S coupe is also up for grabs. It’s rare for one Monaro GTS to come up for auction at any one time, so for two to be available amounts to a smorgasbord. Then there’s an HQ GTS 308 sedan and a well-presented HR Holden. Fans of HDT/HSV Commodores should note the following trio – a 1984 VK SS, a low-kilometre 1986 VL Group A SS HDT sedan and an HSV Group A Walkinshaw sedan. The Walkinshaw is expected to bring…

When the Holden Dealer Team’s Peter Brock triumphed in the 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500, the Torana GTR XU-1 became an instant icon. This against-the-odds victory in the first ever wet Bathurst, overcoming the Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase IIIs, ensured that the XU-1 badge would take on an almost mythical motoring status. The fact the LJ XU-1 quickly became a fan favourite in the early 1970s is also partly explained by the fact that Aussies have always naturally gravitated to the underdog, quickly fell under Brock’s spell, and drove Holdens in greater numbers than any other marque. The XU-1’s story begins in August 1970, just in time for that year’s endurance classics, with the release of the 186ci-powered LC model. That original LC XU-1 changed the face of domestic motoring and motorsport…

Anyone with a passing interest in Group N historic racing or the Touring Car Masters series will know the name Tilley. Brothers Brad and Cameron Tilley have been around the historic touring car racing scene pretty much ever since there was an historic touring car racing scene. Their involvement started in the early 1980s with their legendary S Series slant-six model Valiants (push-button automatic and all), before eventually progressing through to Falcons, Mustangs and Pacers. The brothers have been hugely successful over more than 30 years and they’re still racing today. And still winning. About the only thing that’s changed is that they’re now providing others with the benefit of all they’ve learned over the journey, be it building cars or engines, or helping others to get the best out…

Mike Terakes We have Mike to thank, not only for the magnificent pics he took at the 1969 Rothmans 12 Hour, but also for putting us onto today’s owner of the winning car featured elsewhere in this edition. Mike operates Pit Stop Models at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast and he put us in touch with XT owner Warren Olieric, a customer of his. We especially love Mike’s shot of the event’s Le Mans start with drivers dashing across Surfers Paradise International Raceway’s main straight to their cars. Photos of the tatty-looking #13 GTS 327 Monaro of Bruce McPhee – the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 winning car – makes us wonder if Holden’s first Bathurst-winning chassis will ever resurface. As an aside, we understand it’s most likely in regional WA…

It’s the fastest, most powerful and most expensive Australian-made car of all time – the HSV GTSR W1. February 1, 2017 goes down in the history books as the day the ultimate Aussie muscle car broke cover. Ultimate in every sense of the word: speed, specifications and finality. The GTSR W1 bookends 50 years of locally-built V8-powered high-performance motoring that began, for Holden, with the Monaro GTS 327 of 1968. All roads have led to this point. The W1 – the shortened alphanumeric label immediately becomes part of the local motoring lexicon – is the final product of the partnership between Holden Special Vehicles and Holden’s Australian-made Commodore. It is the culmination of 30 years of experience modifying mainstream Commodores into performance cars. HSV has certainly saved its best till…

Last issue we brought you the story of 1960s and ’70s race ace Brian ‘Yogi’ Muir. We dubbed this big bear of a man the greatest Australian racing export many motorsport fans have never heard of. That’s because in moving to the UK he largely fell off the radar here, despite 23 outright wins in the British Saloon Car Championship, sharing a works GT40 with Graham Hill at Le Mans and victories for BMW satellite team Alpina in the European Touring Car Championship, partnering Niki Lauda. His efforts earned him a place in Pommie motorsport bible Motorsport’s Top 20 Tin-Top Drivers list a few years ago. AMC scribe Paul Newby carried out no fewer than seven interviews for his Muir profile career to get an accurate picture of him. This…

Over the course of one glorious year, the now iconic BMW M3 in E30 guise wrote itself into motorsport folklore. Throughout 1987 it was the high-revving thorn in the side of the exhaust-popping turbos and the thundering V8s, taking most of the silverware worldwide. Here in Australia, our minds picture that incredible season in front of massive crowds in pure black and gold. As colour schemes go, they don’t come much more iconic than the black and gold of the John Player Special cigarette brand, but the real gold came from Munich in the form of a little homologation special. What a bunch of guys in the Sydney suburb of Terrey Hills then did with the M3 turned it into an unexpected force in arguably the toughest battleground in the…

First things first. This isn’t one of those cringe-worthy ‘show-off journalist self-impressed with own driving skills tests racecar’ stories. Far from it. In the six years I’ve been in the editor’s chair I’ve never done anything like this. When TA2 Racing Australia head honcho Peter Robinson first invited me to Queensland Raceway to sample a Chev LS3-engined space-framed TA2 car – a proper racing car with a 6.2-litre powerplant – I had to come clean. I’m an upfront kind of guy and I reckoned Robinson had a case of mistaken identity. He had to be made aware of my almost complete lack of relevant experience. Apart from some slow Formula Ford laps at Winton a decade ago, the odd V8 Race Experience outing and social karting, my on-track experience was…

Last issue we looked at some of the more notable metropolitan speedways enjoyed by spectators and racers alike. This issue we go bush. Well, beyond the major capital cities, at least, to examine a selection of regional and country speedways that have long since gone to God. In some cases these venues were located in areas once considered to be ‘out in the sticks’ but sites now developed courtesy of the ever-encroaching urban sprawl. Therein lies the reason many rural speedway venues disappeared, while others were lost for myriad reasons including dwindling crowds and increased land values. Speedway was one of the most popular sports of the early seventies, when it appeared that just about every town in Australia wanted a piece of the action. During this period there were…

Some muscle cars are bought by loving owners who pamper them like members of the family. Other muscle cars, though, aren’t so lucky. Some get stolen, smashed or thrashed. Some get parked and lost under a layer of dust in an old shed, others get left outside to brave the elements and slowly rust away. Sad, but true. We eyeball plenty of beautifully maintained and/or fully restored muscle classics in AMC, but as serious car pervs we have to admit there’s few things more intriguing – or exciting – than spotting an old classic in a paddock, or a shed, or under a shady tree, that’s seen better days and in need of some TLC. Some are beyond saving, but they all have a story to tell. So, get out…

What you see here are the limited edition versions of the last high-performance rear-wheel drive Commodore models Holden will ever build in Australia. With GM-Holden set to pull down the shutters on its Australian manufacturing facilities on October 20 this year, the just-released MY17 Commodore range models represent the end of the line for local Holden production – literally as well as figuratively. If there is good news in any of this, it is that Holden has at least chosen not to go out with a whimper. Three all-new, high-performance, limited-edition models top the 2017 Commodore range: the Motorsport Edition, Director and Magnum Limited Edition. The Motorsport Edition sedan and the Magnum Ute are based on the SS-V Redline; the Director is derived from the Calais V. The SS-V model…

Our issue #90 story on rally enthusiast Anthony Edwards’ replica HDT Repco Round Australia Trial service van prompted AMC reader, Steve Jaksetic, to drop us a line with images of his own tribute panel van – ‘Harry’. Jaksetic’s van, named after legendary Holden Dealer Team chief Harry Firth, has an entirely different purpose to Edwards’ version. While Anthony’s van is a meticulously presented replica that doubles as an actual service van when he goes bush helping out rallying mates today, Steve’s is his everyday work vehicle. “I originally planned to run it in charity bashes,” Jaksetic explains, “as it seemed the perfect fit – a rally tribute to be used in rallies. Unfortunately, my employment circumstances changed in late 2013 and the bash idea was put to rest. I then…

Challenging Challenger Recently I purchased what I was led to believe is a 1977 XC Falcon 500 Continental. Mine is the yellow car. Upon further research (of the very limited info available), I found that it wasn’t a Continental but was an SE Challenger. I know the Continental and Challenger were a dealer pack option, but I can’t find any info on this dealer pack. Is there any way that you would have any info on this vehicle: where they were built and sold? I’ve found a couple of pictures on Google on the Challenger but everything else is on the Continental. So I assume this Challenger dealer pack is a rare thing. Any info that you could find or lead me to would be amazing. Josh McDougall…

The Candy Apple Red Falcon GT you see on these pages is undoubtedly the unsung hero of Ford’s storied Series Production race history. It reached the pinnacle of endurance racing in its day and, thanks to its three careful owners, is now an important piece of our motor racing history, beautifully restored and preserved for the future. In the hands of Jim Bertram and Bill Gates it won the 1969 Rothmans 12 Hour Classic at a stinking hot Surfers Paradise International Raceway on January 5 that year. The full story of the two Rothmans 12 Hours run to Series Production rules was told in detail in issue #41. This fascinating account highlights that entrepreneur and circuit owner Keith Williams promoted these events as being both bigger and more demanding than…

With our recent focus on the burgeoning Group U Historic Sports Sedan scene, and some of the magnificently restored old beasts we are beginning to see returning to the track, a top 25 list of Sports Sedans is long overdue. But narrowing it down to just 25 cars from the broad church that is Sports Sedans over the past half century – which is how long they’ve been around – was no easy task. We’ve listed the category’s heavy hitters and the high achievers. We’ve also recognised those which either set new standards for others to follow, or which came up with an initial idea which others then went on to perfect. And others which maybe weren’t all that successful, and which maybe didn’t break any new technical ground, but…

If there has been one constant in Australian motorsport over the past 50 years it is the deadly serious rivalry between arch rivals Holden and Ford. It isn’t just played out at corporate level, but permeates to the farthest margins of the Australian persona, seeping into the very bones of our cultural soul. Yet, surprisingly, as a marketable proposition to be packaged and served up to Joe Public, it has a relatively short history, and can be traced back to only the late 1960s and early 1970s and to a series of drag racing events designed to determine exactly who owned the quickest Holdens and Fords. At Bathurst, Ford began the war with a win from their new XR Falcon GT in 1967, prompting Holden into retaliating with its new…

1973 ATCC Charger R/T E49 Following the Supercar Scare of June 1972, Chrysler Australia withdrew support for racing. And although the E49 Charger was the most powerful six-cylinder production car of the day, Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan – a previous ATCC winer – found it hard to keep up with factory-backed Fords and Holdens. However, he pushed himself and his car to collect 21 points and sixth place in the 1973 ATCC. Classic Carlectables’ new 1:18 scale diecast model of his E49 Charger replicates the 265ci Hemi engine with etched metal air filters on the triple Weber 58DCOs. Open the doors and you’ll note the tilting vinyl seats, three-spoke steering wheel, soft-fabric race harness, fire extinguisher and rollcage. The operational front suspension even features the unique Chrysler Valiant torsion spring set-up.…

Hot on the heels of the John McCormackbuilt Charger and Celica racetrack returns is more good news – another historically significant Sports Sedan’s restoration is complete. No less a vehicle than the first ‘works’ BMW to race on Australian soil, one of the three Sports Sedan/GT cars campaigned by the legendary JPS Team BMW in the early 1980s. Back in 2014 this page highlighted that the car was slowly coming back to life in the USA. The painstaking two-decade project by its owner – Cory Muensterman – finally bore fruit when the ex-IMSA car competed at North America’s premier Historics meeting in late 2016, the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion. It was the culmination of a long, hard road for the Californian. Before we go any further, it’s important we recap…