Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 82 i Australian Muscle Car

The feedback our Sacred Sites section generates never ceases to amaze me. Dedicated to telling the stories of defunct racetracks of the muscle car era, Sacred Sites has really struck a chord since its introduction 10 issues ago. The hallowed ground revisited this edition, Caversham, was the epicentre of Perth’s racing scene in the 1950s and ’60s. Hope you enjoy the history lesson from page 112. Skipping across the continent – and 47 years forward – it’s incredible Sydney Motorsport Park turns 25 this year. It’s a milestone that will be celebrated at the 11th Australian Muscle Car Masters on Father’s Day with a 25-minute Heritage Touring Cars race. Fittingly, as Fred Gibson explains in his column, the pole-sitting car from 1990’s Nissan Sydney 500 is entered for September 6’s…

As the waiting list for the Ford Mustang swells to more than 2000 eager future owners, Holden is still yet to go public with its plans for a V8-powered American muscle car. Stefan Jacoby, who is ultimately responsible for the Holden product plan and led the push to put Opels from Europe back into the red lion lineup, has confirmed there is a rock-solid commitment from Detroit to a muscle car hero after the death of the Commodore. Now the questions are which one, when, how much and how will it get to right-hand drive. The two obvious and only contenders are the latest Camaro and Corvette, with Holden Special Vehicles as the potential pivot point for any deal. It has the engineering expertise, the manufacturing space and – once…

Retro speed test The Sydney Retro Speedfest wowed fans in June at Sydney Motorsport Park with an amazing display of classic sportscars and open-wheelers. Alex Davison and Tom Tweedie’s F5000s were pacesetters, with the two swapping leads and lap records, followed closely by John Bowe in a beautiful ex-Hans Stuck March 74-1 in an eye-catching Jägermeister livery. The March F1 car was pitted next to the star of the sportscars field, the 962 Porsche of Peter Harburg – another car in Jägermeister’s stunning orange colour scheme. The 962 was driven by former Glenn Seton Racing Sierra co-driver, Wayne Park, who proved he still has what it takes. Other sportscars of note present were Duncan Mackellar’s ex-Vic Elford and Sam Posey M8E McLaren Can-Am machine, Tim Berryman’s SR3 Matich, George Nakas’…

Hunting cars from the four Mad Max films has become an obsession for some. AMC has even had a crack, putting the call out in 2011 for the whereabouts of Max’s yellow Main Force Patrol XB Falcon sedan from the original flick. Leads received at our office were flimsy at best – understandable, really – and, at worst, laughable. One well-meaning chap called excitedly to tell us he’d met the yellow MFP XB’s owner at the Narrabeen Sands pub, suggesting we shouldn’t waste any time getting onto him. Caller: “Mate, he told me he owned it. I think he said his name was Williams. I know he lived on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. You should look him up in the phonebook.” Us: “There would be lots of Williamses – if that’s…

Once HDT Special Vehicles had produced the 500 cars required for homologation, an additional 48 Group 3 ‘limited edition’ cars (known today by Brock Commodore enthusiasts as ‘LEs’) were produced. Key changes included front seats with additional padding and map pockets, Brock signature steering wheel centre, availability of five-speed manual, rear headrests, rear centre armrest, upgraded sound system, additional flush Cobra alarm, availability of 90-litre fuel tank and Group 3 body kit. The latter ran to low profile rear spoiler and side and rear skirts. A bonnet scoop was also offered. “With the Group 3 LEs there was quite a bit if variation in mechanical spec and variation in body kit,” the BCOAA’s Dave Sciberras says. “Some came with bonnet scoops, others without. Some came with the Group 3 boot…

The Devil R and Enforcer In early 2005 Ford offered two limited edition Falcon XR8s to celebrate back-to-back V8 Supercar championship wins by Marcos Ambrose, and Stone Brothers Racing’s 1-2 finish in the 2004 titlefight. The BA Falcon MkII-based ‘Devil R XR8’ borrowed Ambrose’s Devil Racer tag, while the ‘XR8 Enforcer’ was named after his teammate, Russell Ingall. The Enforcer did his bit to boost the value of the 125 Envi green machines that wore his nickname by winning the 2005 championship, giving SBR three wins on the trot. The 125 Devil Rs were only available in Shockwave blue. Each car featured unique 18-inch shadow chrome alloy wheels, premium brakes, a leather-wrapped sports steering wheel, unique sports leather seats and carpet mats embroidered with either the Devil R or Enforcer…

There are not many historic Group C Toranas as significant as this one. Equally, though, there are not many historic Group C Toranas as obscure as this one. Even some older AMC readers will have trouble recalling this particular Torana L34. After all, it made only two race appearances in Australia, both of them at Bathurst. And then it left the country, never to return. Its Bathurst record is pretty good: third in 1974; eighth the following year. A 100 per cent top 10 finishing record is not bad for a privateer team from New Zealand running one of the most notoriously unreliable Holden models ever to take on the race. But that’s not what makes this car special. What’s significant is that this is the car which introduced Jim…

Warning. Don’t show this edition of AMC to that mate of yours who steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that Peter Brock ever sat his bum in a car other than a Holden. It will only upset him. We’ve all met Brock supporters like this. Indeed, AMC’s #05 related Facebook posts inevitably draw responses such as “Thank God Brock never drove a Ford,” from online Brock disciples whose devotion to their hero outweighs their knowledge of his career. They’re out there; in significant numbers, too. So this edition we thought we’d have a bit of fun highlighting the non-GM machines he punted around competitively. And yes, there is one notable absentee, which would have been out of place in a light-hearted article wearing the ‘top 25’ label. Our list also includes road…

Howard Smith Several readers contacted us expressing sadness at the passing of Frank Matich. However, Howard Smith’s email was unique in featuring a series of images taken by the sender that span Matich’s career. The shot of Matich’s SR4 approaching Reid Park at the Easter 1969 captured our attention for the high-mounted wing, the view of Mountain Straight in the background and the fact that young Bevan Gibson lost his life on Conrod Straight in the Mount Panorama Trophy race on April 7, 1969. If you can draw your eye away from this stunning colour image, check out the moody black and white image from Warwick Farm’s February 1973 meeting. “My photo of Matich was taken during Saturday’s practice,” Howard writes, “which was held in extremely wet conditions that knocked…

Our mission here is simply to locate the one-off ‘signature edition’ specials mentioned elsewhere in this issue. Easier said than done, but worth a crack. One genuinely unique Brock-built Ford that’s alive and well is the red Falcon Ute commissioned by the late Robert Shannon for promotional and tarmac rally support work in 1988. The Austech Automotive Developments-built XF is now in Western Australia, owned by David Bryan. David and his nephew Patrick are the driving forces behind brockfords.com.au – an online registry using info originally gatherered by Terry Walsh. As you can see from the photo above, the ‘B’Ute’ is in good nick. So a big tick there. Pickings are slim, however, when it comes to the other one-off Brock Fords from the same era. The story behind the…

The Masters Tourist Trophy Touring Car Masters returns to the race program for 2015, with the big field of Aussie and Yankee muscle boasting some stellar names. TCM’s touring car maestros include John Bowe, Jim Richards, Andrew Miedecke, Glenn Seton, Greg Crick and, hopefully, Steven Johnson. The tin-top heroes will perform live on stage – that stage being Sydney Motorsport Park’s 3.9km Grand Prix Circuit. This traditional layout will host all races across the six categories. This is the only 2015 TCM round in Sydney. Birthday bash 2015 sees Sydney Motorsport Park celebrate its 25th birthday. So a 25-minute race for Group A/C Heritage Touring Cars will act as a nod to the first major race at the Eastern Creek venue, the 1990 Nissan Sydney 500. Owners of the 36…

The release of a special edition turbo model next year will put the exclamation mark on 50 years of fast, locally produced Falcons. A bungle in the final run-out of the Falcon XR8 has prompted an aggressive approach to the last XR6 turbo at Broadmeadows. Ford Australia severely under-called demand for the XR8 and, despite doubling production to 2800 cars through to the end of the line in late 2016, admits it has a sellout success that means some potential buyers are unlikely to get a car. It will not repeat the mistake with a super-hot XR6 that draws the best bits from the Ford Performance Vehicles’ parts bin, just as the last XR8 is a thinly disguised FPV GT at a bargain price. Ford sources confirm for the first…

The Ford Everest, the seven-seater SUV based on the mechanical package of the Ranger ute, is nearly ready to go. It hits the road in October as the blue oval brand moves to replace the Falcon-based Territory in 2016 and mount a serious challenge in the family SUV class. The starting point is a priceline of $54,990, well up from the Territory but a reasonable ask for the size, comfort and quality that Ford promises with the engineered-in-Australia, built-in-Thailand newcomer. Ford says about 6000 people have preregistered for the Everest, which is the highlight of the offshore engineering work – and the $2 billion in investment – at Broadmeadows over the past six years. “The Everest SUV represents the very best of Ford’s Australian design and engineering capabilities,” says the…

For many of us car nuts, showbiz and cars go hand-in-hand. We often consider the automotive cast members to be the biggest celebrities on the entertainment stage. Memorable names like Interceptor, General Lee, Eleanor, Bullitt, Herbie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang immediately evoke images of iconic machines rather than people. In the vein of headline act rather than supportive sidekick, Meguiar’s MotorEx Sydney is hosting Movie Car Mania – Australia’s biggest, ever gathering of everyone’s favourite TV and movie cars. The captivating, 30-strong display will host several genuine examples used during actual filming. They include; Herbie the Love Bug (Herbie goes to Monte Carlo), Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am, Superman Crown Victoria, XY ute (A Country Practice), Blues Brothers Dodge, El Camino ute (My Name is Earl), Mercury Custom…

You would think that when you put your name to a special edition vehicle that you would have an intimate involvement in the development of the project. That was definitely not the case with the Dick Johnson Grand Prix Falcon Turbo. We asked the Ford hero to set the record straight. AMC: How did the Grand Prix Falcon project come about? Dick Johnson: James Faneco (of CDT) approached me about doing a special version, all Tru-Blu. AMC: Were you paid a fee or royalty from CDT? DJ: I didn’t get a zac, I can tell you! I was young and naïve back then. AMC: Was there any involvement from Ford? DJ: Not from the factory. This was an independent effort. Some…

Our feature car, #256, has been owned by Paul Kerr since 2004. The Novocastrian fell in love with VK Group As while completing his apprenticeship in Young and Green Holden’s service department. “This was right in the middle of HDT’s glory days,” Paul explains, “so I got to see and drive some great cars. But it wasn’t until late 1985 that the car that I dreamed of owning one day came into the dealership. “When it came in it was sick. The engine had a lost a cam lobe, which I now know was a common problem, and I helped remove the engine, strip it down and reassemble the new ‘short’ motor supplied under warranty. Then run the cam in as instructed by the HDT procedure supplied with the short…

A two-time Bathurst 1000 champion who is best known for the moment of madness when he punched Paul Morris in the helmet at Winton? That’s Tony Longhurst. “I’d have to say that’s a pretty fair comment,” Longhurst admits now. The crash that triggered his explosion came in 1994, when Longhurst was racing in a four-car BMW team in the 2-litre touring car championship with Morris as one of his team mates with backing from Diet Coke. As he pushed his Benson & Hedges-backed BMW into the lead, after light contact through the esses on the old track, the two cars’ front wheels touched and both speared into a concrete wall. “He squeezed me out a little bit, the wheels locked and it was all over,” Longhurst says. He flew out…

In a curious way, Caversham owes much of its success as a racing circuit to one of the motor racing world’s most tragic crashes. Up until the mid-1950s, Western Australia’s motor racing was mostly conducted on street courses. The trend started with a Monaco-style street race in Albany, deep in the state’s south in 1936. With that event, the ‘Round The Houses’ era was born. Street circuits quickly became all the rage for the WA Sporting Car Club. Both before and after World War II, events were staged in country towns all over the state, with the likes of Narrogin, Northam, Pingelly and Bunbury becoming bustling hubs for local and interstate drivers. The Narrogin street circuit even staged the Australian Grand Prix in 1951, the first of four grands prix…

1970 Ford XW Falcon GT-HO Phase II One of three firsts from Biante in this spread, this 1:18 scale diecast model of the iconic GT-HO Phase II, in the rare Surfer Orange colour, features a range of new tooling upgrades to make this the ultimate replica: separate chrome finishing on all trim, metal etched badges, intricate detail and fully opening doors, bonnet and boot. Available to pre-order at biante.com.au 1974 Holden HQ Sandman Panel Van It was popular in the 1970s and it’s even more popular with collectors today. Now Biante announce the forthcoming release of a totally new 1:18 version of this uniquely Aussie fun machine, showing all the special HQ features and finished in eyecatching Chrome Yellow. As with previous Biante Sandman models, this one comes with a…

Newcastle-based Falcon restorer, modifier and parts supplier Cameron Manewell is still pinching himself. It blows his mind he ended up supplying a pair of coupes that starred in Mad Max: Fury Road as the bare-metal ‘Razor Cola’. What’s more, Manewell was also employed by moviemakers Kennedy Miller Mitchell to build them into recycled versions of the famed Interceptor. As dream jobs go, this was pretty hard to top for a bloke who’d already built many Mad Max replicas over the years. One of the hardtops Cameron sold to KMM, an XC model, was destined for the drag strip until ‘Hollywood’ called, while the second was an XB that was “laying around” his workshop. “I got the XC drag car around 2007,” Manewell explains of car in the strip of images…

Business is brisk for the Mad Max 2 Museum at Silverton in outback NSW – and it’s only going to get busier this November, when the Aussie Muscle Car Run hits town. Mad Max: Fury Road has heaped plenty of attention on the museum which has become the epicenter for the quartet of post apocalyptic flicks since it opened its doors in 2010. The driving force behind the MM2 museum is Adrian Bennett. His passion for all things Mad Max began in his hometown of Bradford in Northern England in 1982 when he was dragged by mates to see a screening of the original and the sequel. “Life for me then changed completely for me,” says Adrian. His interest – he says obsession – led to a move to Australia…

One good turn... Seeing the photo in Out Of Action (AMC #81) of Justin Rooke’s John Goss Special Falcon, I know just how Justin feels. I had a similar occurrence with my 1973 HQ GTS Monaro sedan while giving way at a roundabout in Georgetown, Tasmania back in April. A young learner driver got it wrong while going around, came over the median strip and into the right-hand front of my HQ. Did I tell the young girl off? No. The damage was already done, so there was no point. I just gave her a hug, told her it was all right. She was upset and felt bad enough as it was. Luckily her grandfather was insured through Shannons, who I am with too. The damage is nowhere near that…

If you’re wondering why the split of VK Group As to VK Group 3 LEs is 502/48 rather than 500/50, there’s a simple explanation. Back in 1985 one dealer didn’t get his allocation of two VK Group As. Thus, cars 501 and 502 were hastily built to pacify an understandably stroppy Queensland dealer. That’s why Rod Campbell’s example carries today the startling glovebox plaque of ‘502 of 500’! “Eagers in Toowoomba had two cars on order, but they never arrived,” Rod explains. “As I understand it, one of Eagers’ big wigs approached Brock while he was in Queensland at a race meeting, expressing his annoyance and demanding that the two cars were delivered. Otherwise Eagers would pull its sponsorship contribution.” A confrontation would have just added to the HDT’s miserable…

covered in 15.6 seconds. Suspension modifications were extensive: new springs fitted front and rear, specific gas shock valving, uprated anti-roll bars, modified top strut mounts and spring pads and suspension bush tweaks. The exterior featured fibreglass lower body extensions and a small rear spoiler. The 16-inch wheels were sourced from CSA. The obligatory Brock leather wheel and gear lever knob could be found inside, with the reworked and retrimmed standard seat courtesy of Paratus Industries. The 120-odd B8 Falcons/Fairmonts produced between in the late 1980s and early 1990s were enjoyed by their owners and got good reviews in the press. No article on Brock signature cars of the late 1980s would be complete without addressing one question: Did he bring his controversial Energy Polarizer with him from the HDT Commodores?…

Larren Charlton’s white 1996 VS Commodore Series II started life as a ‘humble’ SS model, delivered to Suttons Motors in Sydney. From there it was purchased by Wayne Gardner Racing Pty Ltd and taken to the race team’s Wetherill Park base. It was soon transformed into S1 #002. Given that the VR-based prototype was #001, this car is the first production-spec example to be completed. It was also the Wollongong Whiz’s own car for a spell. “I remember #002 well,” says Matt Cousins, who was charged with bringing the road car project to life. “It was driven by WG and as the first production vehicle was used to show dealers what we were offering.” Matt recalls Wayne being given the opportunity to lap Mount Panorama at speed during raceweek to…

Ford fans have fantastic memories of the various Falcons that flew their blue flag high at Mount Panorama across the amazing decade that was the 1970s. Honours were even between the blue oval mob and ‘The General’ with five wins apiece at Bathurst across the period. On the Ford side, it was Allan Moffat who did the majority of the winning, claiming all four of his Bathurst crowns in this fondly remembered decade. But it’s also a decade that has some holes in its history. The very nature of life is that heroes of the day grow old, get ill and depart or unexpectedly pass away with Ian Geoghegan (1973) and Peter Brock (1972, 1975, 1978, 1979) winners from the decade no longer with us. Gone too are some of…

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…