Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 101 i Australian Muscle Car

Celebrations have begun to mark the 60th anniversary of Baskerville Raceway – Australia’s oldest continuously operating licensed circuit. Commemorations started at Government House in Hobart ahead of the 60th anniversary race meeting in February, with a reception hosted by Tasmanian Governor Kate Warner, who, along with her husband Richard, attended events at Baskerville during the 1960s. Among the attendees at the function was one of Baskerville’s original founders, Don Elliot, accompanied by two of his former drivers, Sports Sedan star Tony Edmondson and open-wheel ace Mark McLaughlin. Elliot was instrumental in building the circuit, which opened in 1958. He also used his company’s resources to transport the former Longford Bridge to Baskerville and helped saved the track from developers by jointly purchasing it, along with local identity Ralph Bottomley and…

Rally fans at Sydney Dragway saw history made early this year even if they weren’t aware of it. One of the entrants in the Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Series was Mark Taylor – husband and father of ARC champions Coral and Molly – having his first competitive run in 24 years. Coincidentally, he was driving the car he last campaigned back in 1994 – the legendary and much-loved black BP Corse Plus XY Falcon GT nicknamed ‘The HOey. Often described as a GT-HO, the car is technically a GT. That’s how it came down the production line in 1971, but it was generally known as the meaner variety, a fair call because it ran with GT-HO enhancements. It’s the third time Taylor has owned the car. He says there is only…

When Alan Jones fronted at Winton in 1982 to race a factory Porsche 935 Turbo, the recently-retired former F1 world champion made the (inaccurate, though humorous) observation that it was the first time in the history of motor racing that one of the competing cars was worth more than the track… Winton sometimes finds itself the butt of jokes such as this, and certainly there is not any obvious single thing that makes the track special: the layout is tight, not particularly fast and, drivers say, not especially challenging, and it’s a good two hours out of Melbourne. But Winton has never pretended to be a Sandown or a Phillip Island. What Winton always was – and still is today – is the little circuit that could. It had been…

Body Both cars retain the majority of the steel body as required by the rules of the day. Rear guards on both were flared in steel, fronts on both were aluminium with hand-formed flares. Both had an aluminium bonnet, boot and door skins (all supposedly pressed after-hours at the factory) Diffen’s car had a full welded-in roll cage, whereas McCormack’s car only had a half-cage, which has now been upgraded to a full-cage in its recent restoration. It appears that the Diffen car was probably the more structurally sound, or stiffer of the two at the time. Engine D iffen ran a 340ci inch (5.6-litre) Chrysler with Formula 5000-style Lucas mechanical-injection, dry-sumped, solid-mounted in the middle of the car alongside the driver, covered by a fabricated aluminium cowling. McCormack ran…

I’ve always had greater affection for BMW than prestige counterparts Audi and Mercedes. I put that down to ‘discovering’ motorsport as a 12-year-old in 1981, the year BMW entered Australian touring car racing with the JPS BMW 635CSis. Those beautiful black and gold machines remained a feature of the local scene for seven seasons, capturing a couple of ATCC titles along the way. They also captured my imagination due to their exotic appearance and engine note, Gricey’s tash, Frank Gardner’s one-liners and Jim Richards’ cheerful, no nonsense approach to winning races. I have vivid memories of the black M3s circulating like clockwork at Bathurst in ‘87, the World Touring Car Championship round. The local works team was joined on track that weekend by a fleet of M3s run by 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…

“The MARC II’s appearance has raised an intriguing question: what is to stop a Supercars team developing and homologating Mustang without Ford’s involvement?” The reaction was immediate and unequivocal. A couple of weeks before the 2018 running of the Bathurst 12 Hour, spy shots emerged of McLeod Auto Racing Concepts’ new endurance racer. Wow, said the spectators, it’s a Mustang, it’s a V8 and it looks a lot like we imagined a Mustang might look if it was racing in Supercars. Three examples of the new car made their world debut in the 12 Hour. One crashed and one caught fire, but the third won the Invitational class at a canter, posting lap times that would have placed it mid-field in the Bathurst 1000. Many observers asked: why can’t there…

Heritage Touring Cars will provide a valuable history lesson for attendees at the opening national championship-level meeting at the country’s latest racetrack – The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia. The Historic Group C/A category’s opening 2018 round will be held over April 13-15, as part of the Shannons Nationals meeting that includes the Australian GT Championship running on the brand new venue’s full 7.77km ‘GT’ circuit (in orange). The multipurpose venue, located 100 kilometres southeast of Adelaide’s CBD, will cater for circuit racing (across a number of layouts), drag racing, drifting, karting, offroad racing and rallycross. Its pit complex incorporates a 100-room Rydges hotel. It’s the only circuit to comply with the latest FIA Grade 2 and FIM Category A standards, meaning it is licensed to host every class…

A legendary Holden Monaro from New Zealand’s storied muscle car past has been resurrected and returned to the track in its homeland. The rescue and restoration of what appeared to be a lost cause straight out of AMC’s Out of Action section is testament to the dedication of its current owner John McKechnie. The Aucklander has ensured the survival of this fondly remembered beast from his country’s racing history. The Team Cambridge Monaro was originally built by Kiwi saloon racer and automotive parts importer Spencer ‘Spinner’ Black in mid 1969. It was constructed for local racing star Rod Coppins from a cache of high performance parts imported a year earlier. The Aussie coupe, like so many period racecars with cigarette backing, was a beautiful-looking car. And it sounded just as…

Holden chose a revolutionary way to introduce its locally-designed V8 engine to the Australian public – in the rear of the Holden Hurricane concept car. The swoopy Hurricane was unveiled to the press at Holden’s Technical Centre in March 1969 and was never intended for production. It featured an array of styling and engineering concepts, but of most significance to Holden’s future production plans was what it called “the experimental” 253ci V8 powerplant in the rear. Holden already offered a V8, but this was a fully-imported Chevrolet unit which became available with the release of the HK series in January 1968. The futuristic Hurricane’s powerplant foretold of The General’s plans to commence production of its own “bent eight”. Claiming 260 bhp, the engine’s high-lift camshaft and solid cam followers wouldn’t…

Troy Jordan Car: Holden Monaro HT GTS Hometown: Melbourne, VIC What is it? “It’s a HT Monaro GTS fitted with the original 186S engine and original Powerglide automatic. It’s painted in original Kashmir White with the original vinyl roof.” When did you buy it? “I bought the car about four years ago from my uncle. He in turn had bought it from his dad, who purchased it brand new from Preston Motors in Essendon.” Why did you buy it? “My brothers both had Monaros when we were in our early twenties. I myself had a HQ Monaro but I always loved the shape of the first generation. We all ended up selling our Monaros for the going rate at the time, which was only about $3500. It is, of course,…

Off the Beaten Track A few issues ago I detailed my Mt Panorama-styled home circuit, which is a natural setting for Aussie muscle cars. It was built using Ninco plastic track pieces, but of course it is not the only way to construct a track. This month we’re going to take a look at something completely different – a routed wood rally track belonging to Gary Blayney in Sydney’s south west. Emulating the world of rally with a slot track can completely change the parameters of track building. Racing off the beaten track removes the restrictions of circuit racing, such as multiple lanes, armco and asphalt. As a result, it encourages freedom from the limitations of plastic slot track and allows the imagination to go wild. It doesn’t eliminate the…

Colin Bond’s Triumph TR7 V8 Our Top 25 Muscle Cars on Dirt feature in issue #99 featured an eclectic bunch of traditional and non-traditional muscle cars. One car that definitely fell into the latter category but which we couldn’t quite squeeze into our list was the crowd-pleasing and rapid Triumph TR7 V8 built-up by Colin Bond in the early 1980s. Let’s call it #26! Bond’s TR7 V8 was, on paper, an ideal rally weapon that promised a lot in the gifted hands of a multiple Australian Rally Champion.Yet it delivered little in the few events that it contested. While researching the Alfa GTV6 feature that also ran in #99, we couldn’t resist asking Bond and his long-time mechanic John Gray, who built up the Triumph, how the project evolved and…

Supercars series heavyweight Roland Dane has warned that the category’s management must take urgent action to find a replacement for the current Ford racecars. Asked when the current impasse preventing Mustangs from replacing the Falcons will become a crisis, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team boss told AMC, “If we don’t have at least one new shape on the grid next year we’ve got a real problem.” Speaking on the eve of the opening round of the 2018 championship which saw the debut of his Triple Eight Race Engineering-developed Holden ZB Commodore racer, Dane predicted that opposing Falcons, based on the FGX model which ceased production in 2016, would look ‘very second hand. “Whenever you introduce a new car like the ZB Commodore the existing cars around it will immediately…

Tony Longhurst has ended his illustrious racing career on a high after claiming a class victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Appropriately, his farewell race was aboard a BMW, the same marque in which he received his big break 34 years earlier, when he partnered Jim Richards in the JPS BMW 635CSi in the 1984 James Hardie 1000. Adding extra gloss to Longhurst’s Class C victory in his own Boat Works Racing BMW M4 GT4 in February was being partnered by Matthew Brabham and Aaron Seton, the trio dominating the race to win by four laps over their nearest rivals. “To finish 12 hours up here without as much as a scratch on the car, not even a stone chip, is so impressive,” said Longhurst. Longhurst climbed aboard the car…

If you’re a keen Ford muscle car maniac you just have to have all the memorabilia – the jackets, the hats, the models, that photo with Moffat, the piece of trim off Bill Brown’s Falcon that rolled along the fence at McPhillamy Park – the possibilities are endless. They fill trophy cabinets, wall space and studies across the nation. But what about the number plate? Huh!? When you have the genuine XY HO under lock and key in the garage surely it needs something more significant than a set of black and white plates with your initials on them. So, here’s the chance to grab something really special. Ex-Lot 6 employee and builder of Allan Moffat’s Bathurst-winning engine in 1973, Colin Russell, has a truly unique set of Victorian number…

The pages of AMC over the years have showcased many magnificent beasts from the much-loved Improved Production era of Australian touring car racing. Yet never have we featured one of these animals still in exactly the form in which it last competed. That is, until now. This car, with its original paint, bodywork and running gear, is a bit like a mighty creature preserved in a museum through taxidermy – it’s a magnificently original specimen despite showing the effects of aging. In this Falcon’s case, its aged appearance is 46 years in the making. This survivor last raced on May 14, 1972. On that day, at Calder Park, it hit the track against machines driven by the greats of the tin-top scene. When the chequered flag fell to end the…

It’s little wonder the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV road car, with its painfully-long name, had many nicknames: the Batmobile, the Plastic Pig, the Walkinshaw, or simply the Walky. Even longer was the lifespan of many of the racing versions. The first examples gridded up for the Bathurst 1000 in 1988, with seven of the distinctively bodyworked machines entered six years later, in 1994. There was even a single example of the VL Walky entered for the 1995 Great Race. Incredibly, that old porker outlasted many of the five-litre ‘Supercars, finishing a fine 10th outright, a fitting farewell for the enduring model making its eighth and final appearance. Appropriately, many of the VLs live on today. With the model celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2018, it’s a perfect…

Look out you East Coast sports sedan pedallers – a big mover from the West wants a slice of the action,” began a story in September 1975’s edition of Sports Car World. “Perth tyre man Ian Diffen is getting ready to take on the big boys again – in a radically-rebuilt Valiant Charger R/T. Ian Diffen was as Western Australian as the ‘caught Marsh bowled Lillee’ on the WACA’s scoreboard and Quokkas on Rottnest Island. Being a smart cookie and completing a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he was snapped up as an executive trainee by the Ford Motor Company in Melbourne in the 1960s and soon found himself working with the Product Development Committee. This brought him into contact with the Special Vehicles department and his career seemed destined to…

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1971 GT-HO Phase III (with wide rubber) Converting power from the XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III’s 5.8-litre Cleveland V8 to the road was difficult with the standard tyres, so for many owners upgrading to something more ‘suitable’ for the job was essential. Classic Collectables’ latest 1:18 release reflects this practice with its 12-slot rims, a favourite of the period, paired with the fattest tyres that could fit underneath the guards. Remember, not everyone kept their muscle cars standard, and wider wheels were not normally available as an option at your dealer, back then. The XY was such a beautifully built car, with awesome power and handling to match. The fat rubber on this 1:18 scale model looks fantastic – if the racecars had had wheels this wide, they’d have been…