Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 94 i Australian Muscle Car

How good’s this? Earlier this year that little gem of a track in Hobart, Baskerville Raceway, was entirely resurfaced for the first time in 60 years. It’s the realisation of the Baskerville Foundation’s four-year fundraising campaign to completely refurbish the 2.01km Tassie track. Yet it was much more than just a fund-finding exercise, with just as much physical hard yakka by the Tasmanian motorsport community put into revitalising the boutique state-level track. Watching from afar it was still clear that this was a real team effort by people who cared about preserving a special piece of our racing history. Appropriately, resurfacing was completed by local company, Roadways. “It was only seven years ago there was talk of abandoning the circuit all together, but instead we are introducing a beautifully-resurfaced racetrack,”…

In another twist to the uncertainly future faced by Holden, General Motors brands Opel and Vauxhall have been sold to Peugeot and Citroen parent company PSA Group. Opel and Vauxhall have been loss making brands for GM’s European division and the purchase by PSA is set to return them to profit. The sale makes PSA the second-largest car maker in Europe behind Volkswagen. The move has medium and longer term implications for Holden’s model line-up. But for the next few years at least, in the wake of the closure of Holden’s Australian manufacturing operations scheduled for October 20 this year, the local GM brand’s models, including the Opel Insignia-derived next-generation Commodore, will be sourced from Opel and Chevrolet. A statement issued by GM confirmed that the long standing ties between…

Following on from the global reveal in January of the Kia Stinger at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Korean brand has presented the fastback sedan in European specification at the Geneva international motor show. Given that the rear-drive sedan is a dying breed in new-car showrooms, we’re disproportionally interested in Kia’s new machine. Said to “channel the spirit of historic grand tourers” – think original Maserati Ghibli; Kia’s designers did, apparently – with its long, low body, classic cab-rearward proportions and fastback, the big, rear-wheel drive, four-door is set to fill the high-performance niche that’s soon to be entirely bereft of local muscle. The Stinger is designed to deliver comfortable grand touring progress for five, with engaging rear-biased chassis dynamics, says Kia. Three engines will be…

John Bowe is off to a flyer in the 2017 Touring Car Masters series, having claimed the overall honours at the Adelaide opener. Bowe (LH Torana) won two of the three TCM races in the South Australian capital and finished sixth in the feature race on Sunday. That third and final race was a crash and bash affair with the cars of Terry Lawlor (ex-Don Dimitriadis-owned, Glenn Seton-driven Mustang), Jim Richards (Javelin) and Cameron Tilley (Pacer) eliminated at the first corner. Tilley’s brother Brad (Mustang) was awarded the race three win after Tony Karanfilovski (Mustang) was disqualified for a Safety Car restart infringement. Bowe, the reigning champ, heads to round two at Winton, May 19-21, as series leader.…

Anew Australian auction record was set for a HK Monaro GTS 327 when a Warwick Yellow example sold for $302,000 at Shannons’ Late Summer Auction in Melbourne. A prolonged duel amongst floor, phone and online bidders saw the Monaro easily outstrip its guiding range of $200-230,000. Equally impressive was the $92,000 paid for a restored Silver Mink 1968 HK Monaro GTS 186S coupe, while a Tangerine 1973 HQ Monaro w GTS 308 four-speed manual sedan made $60,500. Strong results were achieved by a trio of ‘Bathurst-influenced’ Commodores: $81,000 paid for a 1988 HSV VL Walkinshaw, $70,000 for a 1988 HDT VL SS Group A sedan and $61,500 for a 1984 VK HDT SS. On the Ford side of the ledger, the standout was a 1972 Ford Escort Twin Cam 1600…

Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team Bathurst Commodore racecars are undoubtedly pieces of Australian motorsport history. Whether it’s the two-time winning car that carried him home in the 1982 and 1983 James Hardie 1000s, or the pair of amazing day-glo Big Bangers that ran 1-2 across the line together a year later, the terms ‘Brock’, ‘HDT’ and ‘Commodore’ paired together instantly put these cars in the spotlight – and rightly so. Yet there’s one Commodore that he took to Bathurst in the Group C era that rarely gets mentioned, seemingly overlooked and forgotten by history, likely due to its lack of a Bathurst win. Maybe it’s the fact it’s one of very few Brock Bathurst racecars that no longer exists that has consigned this third-built HDT Commodore racecar to being absent…

One great appeal of Sports Sedans is the sheer level of freedom the rules allow. A Sports Sedan can be pretty much whatever anyone wants it to be – whatever engine takes your fancy can be fitted to almost anything you please, as long as it was a road-going sedan at some point. Likewise the driveline, suspension and brakes and bodywork aero and guard flare additions are all a matter of personal choice – unlike most other categories these days where a set of control specifications are mandated from above. The result is a wonderfully diverse array of sedans-on-steroids. Some of them were designed and built by some of the brainiest motorsport engineering minds in the country; others were knocked up out the back shed with the help of a…

With the Mr Holden Championships almost exploding in popularity it seemed only reasonable to listen to the calls from the opposition Ford camp for a race event and championship of their own at Sydney’s Castlereagh drag strip. Despite the almost universal appeal of a hot Holden, the Ford devotees were as loud and as proud, and Ford V8s were second only to the Holden ‘6’ in powerplant popularity. The long-running sidevalve engines had powered Blue Oval vehicles since as early as 1932 and the more modern overhead valve engines in the Customlines from 1955 were widely available through the 1960s. With the Mr Holden titles, which kicked off in 1967, serving as a template, it was relatively easy to come up with a race format to suit the Fords. Initially…

Winston with an ‘I’ Big dollar tobacco sponsorship was a mainstay of Australian motorsport for 30 years. From Irish brand Gallaher, sponsor of the Bathurst 500 in 1966, until 1995 when it was outlawed, most of the major brands have played in our sport. American tobacco giant RJ Reynolds had a presence with its Camel brand in the early 1970s, initially on Jim Smith’s Rover and Chevrolet Camaro sports sedans and later in the decade with Allan Moffat. Its other major brand, Winston, which was NASCAR’s series sponsor for an unprecedented 33 years, had a much briefer exposure to these shores. In a very low profile ‘toe in the water’ exercise, the Winston brand turned up on an unassuming sports sedan and drag car from sleepy Adelaide. John Kay and…

“Celebrating our performance heritage” “Racing the cars you grew up with” For the first time in Muscle Car Masters history, a six-hour production car endurance race will test the mettle and metal of Production Touring and Production Sports Cars as an addition to the more traditional MCM annual programme. Nicknamed the ‘Double-Three’, the 6 Hours of Sydney will be spread across two three-hour legs across the Australian Muscle Car Masters weekend, October 28-29. The first leg will start as the sun starts to go down on Saturday afternoon. The race resumes early on Sunday morning via leg two. Punctuating the Double-Three is a Saturday evening Australian Muscle Car Masters/6 Hour ‘pit party’, with invitations thrown open to all competitors, fans and officials. “The introduction of the 6 Hours of Sydney…

Ford has revealed details of its new and improved Mustang, which gets a more powerful 5.0-litre V8, a new 10-speed automatic transmission, fresh styling and colours, an upgraded cabin, and a raft of crash-avoidance technology. We held over news of the Mustang update given the rush of final Holden and HSV machines that were unveiled just as last issue, AMC #93, went to press. The wait to get behind the wheel will be even longer, with right-hand drive production of the facelifted Mustang scheduled to start arriving in Australia in 2018. Left-hand-drive deliveries, meanwhile, will start flowing from Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan plant in the North American ‘Fall’ (September/October) 2017. New colours including the signature Orange Fury (pictured) and a redesigned front-end will herald our 2018 Mustang. The new nose…

The DeKon designed and built Chevrolet Monza was a gamechanger in American IMSA racing as well as a pioneer in Aussie Sports Sedan competition in the hands of Allan Moffat, as outlined in issue #86. Here was a wild-looking aerodynamic silhouette of a machine with a simple spaceframe chassis and bulletproof Chevrolet small block hardware. It was the recipe for a plethora of Monza copies downunder. Everything from the sophisticated Bob Jane Monza (with rear IRS) to, well, home-built specials created by enthusiasts like John White in Queensland. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the White Monza – spaceframe, Chevy 6 Litre V8, Muncie 4 speed and a fully floating Ford 9 inch live axle. Built in 1978-79 and first raced in 1980, it won plenty of local…

Reader: Steve Moloney Car: 1973 LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Hometown: Pakenham, Victoria What is it? “A September 1973 Bathurst XU-1 in Sunburst, the most expensive colour you could order. I’ve seen numerous Holden colour charts from 1973 with $35 written next to the Sunburst paint swatch. It has a Juniper interior,which is a very dark green. So metallic yellow with dark green, what were they thinking?! Being one of the last XU-1s built, I’d say the factory was just using up the leftover, not so popular trim colours. In fact, according to the PSN, L252674, it is the last XU-1 to come off the Adelaide production line.” When did you buy it? “I bought the car in 2006. I had known the original owner for many years and every time…

Even by Peter Brock’s standards, this was bizarre. We’re not sure what the advertising agency creatives puffed on as they dreamt up their pre-Bathurst 1981 television advertising campaign, but we’re betting it wasn’t Marlboro Special Milds. The Philip Morris cigarette company’s ‘Brock’s Racing Like the Devil at Bathurst’ TVC made quite an impact when it was on high rotation ahead of that year’s James Hardie 1000. Featuring Brock and a ruddy-faced, three-horned character clutching the glowing steering wheel of a jazzed-up Firethorn Red (!) VC Commodore road car as it lapped Mount Panorama, this was clearly an exercise in circumventing the ever-tightening restrictions on tobacco advertising. The narration, by a three-pack-a-day Chivas Regal-drinking voiceover guy, was as comical as the jerky-camera vision it accompanied: Brock’s racing like the Devil at…

Past AMC issues have shown the increasing number of racecars with Australian connections, in particular the cars of Allan Moffat, being produced as slot cars. These are in addition to the many, many diecast scale models produced commercially of the most famous touring cars raced by the four-time Bathurst and ATCC winner over his long career. Of course, not all of Allan George Moffat’s racing machines are available in miniature, especially those from early in his career. That’s why it’s been fantastic to showcase the custom model-making talents of Geoff Wood in these pages. Geoff’s mini recreations of Moff’s Sports Sedans like the Capri and Monza are nothing short of works of art and treasured by Allan himself. Now we’re pleased to show you the handiwork of Brett Jurmann, another…

It’s difficult to imagine the Bathurst 12 Hour getting any better. The 2017 event featured a diverse 50-car field which provided an entertaining and drama-filled day’s racing that kept AMC – along with record television and trackside audiences – riveted to the action throughout. Yet, things should only get better when Japanese marques finally join the field en masse. So far only Nissan has taken on the European manufacturers in this new-age, once-round-the-clock Mountain classic, its efforts rewarded with victory in 2015. Other makes from the land of the rising sun have been conspicuous by their absence in FIA GT3 competition globally. They are coming, though, with both Lexus and Honda (through its Acura brand) on the grid in the United States’ premier GT3 series, debuting in January’s Daytona 24…

1971 XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III – Jewel Green Due for release later this year from Biante is a 1:18 scale Ford Falcon XY GT-HO Phase III in striking Jewel Green livery (prototype pre-production sample shown above). You can pre-order yours now at Biante stockists or purchase online at www.biante.com. The Jewel Green XY retails at $250.00. Torana LX Hatchback “Prowler” Something a little different from Biante is this 1:18 scale Holden LX Torana A9X Hatchback Street Machine “Prowler” finished in Satin Ghost Grey. You can pre-order yours now at Biante stockists or purchase online at www.biante.com. RRP is $250.00; preproduction model shown here. 1972 Ford XA Falcon RPO83 sedan – Polar White The XA Falcon ‘RPO83’ was fitted with a lot of the performance goodies intended for the ‘72…

The Geneva motor show provided the first look at the 2018 Holden Commodore in the flesh, in the form of the 2017 Opel Insignia which will go on sale in Europe in the middle of this year. Both the Insignia Grand Sport liftback sedan and Grand Tourer Sportwagon versions were shown, ahead of the Australianised versions being revealed later this year. Previously released images of the liftback sedan, including the Holden-badged vehicle shown in AMC #91, were GM-supplied com-gens. “We’re excited to finally be able to show what is a truly global vehicle to media and customers over the course of the Geneva motor show and we’re more than confident everybody will love it,” said GM Australia design director Richard Ferlazzo. “We’ve been in discussions with Mark [Adams’ – Opel…

Ford has yet to feel any sales impact in the wake of the Mustang GT’s ANCAP two-star crash rating, which was revealed at the end of January. February’s result of 577 units amounted to a steady tracking of sales compared with preceding months, though given the waiting list to secure a Mustang in Oz, any downturn may well be reflected in subsequent months. However, in a blow to sales volumes, the Mustang, which was undergoing evaluation as a highway patrol vehicle, is now off police radar as a result of the ANCAP result because it does not meet procurement rules for government vehicles, which call for five-star safety. The Australian New Car Assessment Program revealed in January that the Mustang offered poor occupant protection as a result of incorrectly inflating…

Lakeside Park hosted the opening rounds of the 2017 Australia Trans-Am series and its modern day counterpart, TA2, over March 18 and 19. In the classic-era Trans-Am category Shannon O’Brien won three of the four sprints to take the weekend honours at the Lakeside Tribute meeting. The only other race winner was Camaro driver, Cam Wilson. Meantime, in the TA2 races, Russell Wright scored a quartet of victories in a Mustang (#50). Fellow Mustang drivers Craig Harris and Ian McCallister were the best of the rest. Wright was a busy boy that weekend as he did double duty in the (older) sister class. His best result was second in the opening race to O’Brien. The best of the Camaro drivers was Cameron Sendall. The weekend saw the Australian debut of…

Digging up the past The 1971 XY Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III displayed on these pages is well known to ve Falcon GT scene for decades. It’s a stunningly presented and impeccably credentialed example of the granddaddy of all Australian muscle cars. So much so, this matching-numbers Phase III has won countless awards at the bi-annual Falcon GT Nationals and other GT gatherings over the decades. Yet for every awards judge who crawled over the car and every enthusiast who lusted over it, none knew the finer details of its early history. That’s because the story of its first private owner and how he came to take possession had been lost in the sands of time. Until now. Or more correctly, until the current owner Billy Karantonis bought the car…

As the Marlboro advertisement’s script (see previous spread) predicted, October 4, 1981 did prove to be a thousand kays of thrills for Brock. Although not in the way he had hoped. His Commodore was bedeviled by a clash with Kevin Bartlett’s Camaro in the early, frantics laps that was followed by a broken axle. The #05 VC lost over 20 minutes in the pits and was running leading Tru-Blu Falcon when the race was stopped after 120 laps when the track was blocked at McPhillamy Park. Bathurst that year really was the work of the devil! As Dick Johnson and John French lifted the winner’s trophy on the Hardie Centre balcony, below them a cheeky Ford fan sported a top declaring, “COME TO BATHURST AND WATCH DICK PISS ON THE…

Is years motorsport was at Symmons Plains and 57 since the lamb cutlet-shaped circuit on the same site hosted its first race meeting. The continuously operating track has long been Tasmania’s premier racing facility, hosting a round of the Supercars/Australian Touring Car Championship on 45 occasions over the last five decades, inclusive of the 2017 event held from April 7-9. Only Sandown has a longer history as an ATCC venue. Its annual tin-top round is the largest sporting event in Tasmania, with fans flocking to see the action on the short and fast layout. Symmons Plains, located just south of Launceston, has a well-earned reputation as brake-breaker. This is easy to understand when you consider it is the series’ fourth fastest circuit – only Pukekohe, Bathurst and Phillip Island have…

The world of classic rally cars, like so many aspects of the enthusiast car sector, has really taken off in recent times. While some argue that nostalgia isn’t what it use to be when it comes to rallying, many believe the epoch of the sport came in the late 1970s and early 1980s when manufacturers were falling over themselves to be involved, producing an array of diverse, interesting and exciting cars to tackle events across the globe, including the fledgling World Rally Championship. Most know the stars of the era; the Ford Escort RS 1800s, the Fiat 131 Abarths, the Lancia Stratos, the Datsun Stanzas and 710s, Mitsubishi Lancers, Toyota Celicas, Opel Asconas, Triumph TR7 V8s, Vauxhall Chevettes and the Renault R5s. These led into the all-conquering Audi Quattros, Peugeot…

Tony Liddle “Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside... Steal away, hide away.” So sang Australian Crawl. We’re singing the praises of these late 1960s images from Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside, Queensland, received from Tony Liddle of K Craft Bullbars in Welshpool, WA. We believe they depict scenes from meetings between 1964 and the 1966 Australian Grand Prix meeting, which doubled as that year’s Tasman Series round. Tony writes: “A salesmen that comes to our business noticed I was interested in racing, got talking and said he has his Dad’s photos of when he had a Neptune service station, although I don’t know where. Teams used the facility when racing in that city.” That explains the makeshift hoist for the Neptune Racing Team cars of Norm Beechey, Jim McKeown and Peter Manton. Looks like the…

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…