Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 118 i Australian Muscle Car

Ask yourself this: which Great Race victory is the greatest? Easy, some would say: it has to be Larry Perkins’ 1995 last-to-first win. But what about the Holden Racing Team in 1990 – a victory against a huge field of faster turbocars? No one saw that coming. Then there’s Allan Moffat’s 1977 one-two ‘form finish’. Or for sheer breathtaking dominance, what about the Peter Brock/Jim Richards 1979 six-lap demolition job? But how about that combo’s follow-up win the next year? On the surface, the victory for Brock/Richards in 1980 isn’t a Bathurst win out of the ordinary. After all, Brock and his Holden Dealer Team Commodore VB (updated to VC for Bathurst) had won the championship; he Richards were the logical pre-race favourites. There were some other handy Commodores they’d…

In what is possibly the Australian automotive barn find of all time, a Falcon road car which has spent more than 30 years rotting away in a shed has changed hands for an astonishing $300,909. It wasn’t any old Ford, of course, this being a genuine and unmolested (apart from the shed’s rats and the general ravages of time) XA GT RPO 83 Hardtop. RPO 83 was code for the 120 Falcon XA GT Hardtops equipped and sold with the mechanical components that had been earmarked for the stillborn XA model Falcon GT-HO Phase IV. The car was purchased new in 1973, but 15 years later ended up becoming stored in a shed (protected from the local pigeons by rows of chicken wire) at a time when increasing insurance premiums…

We’ve had some more feedback from our lost Dick Johnson Holdens from Whaddayaknow in issue #116. And from some of that correspondence we need to correct the record, because it seems we had some of our facts wrong. We had been under the impression that Dick’s XU-1, the Nixon-Smith car, was the ex-Holden Dealer Team machine shared by Peter Brock and Doug Chivas at Bathurst in 1973. This, however, is incorrect. The Nixon-Smith Torana was not the Brock/ Chivas machine (for more on the Nixon-Smith car, check David Cox’s letter in Muscle Mail). Ian Tate, the HDT mechanic who built the cars in the first place, confirmed to us that the ’73 Brock/Chivas XU-1 did not become the Nixon-Smith car, but rather was sold by the HDT to Graeme Blanchard…

In 1970, Holden’s new Torana XU-1 six-cylinder high-performance/Bathurst 500 challenger could hardly have been more different from its intended opponent, the Falcon GT-HO Phase II. But there was a third contender in Series Production racing that year, a new player with an altogether different machine. Chrysler’s VG Valiant Pacer landed somewhere in between the GT-HO and XU-1: a large car like the Falcon but without the grunt of a V8, and a six-cylinder like the XU-1 but hamstrung by a three-speed gearbox. In these respects it came up short, and yet with a bit of luck a Pacer could easily have finished third at Bathurst behind the two factory Fords. With Chrysler not staying the course in racing in Australia it’s easy to overlook the Pacers half a century on,…

In winning his fifth Bathurst classic, Peter Brock broke the record for most victories in the race’s history. Brock and Jim Richards won their third consecutive 1000, topping an incredibly successful 24 months or so for ‘Peter Perfect, undoubtedly at the peak of his powers. In addition to claiming those Hardie-Ferodo 1000s, his run included a trio of Hang-Ten 400s at Sandown, the ’79 Repco Round Australia Trial and the ’78 and ’80 Australian Touring Car Championships, among other lesser races. Brock was truly living the dream. And, dare we say it, he was living a charmed life, too, at times. That was certainly the case on October 5, 1980. For all his considerable skill and experience, not to mention the Holden Dealer Team’s expertise, even one-eyed fans would admit…

Peter Mather’s immaculately presented FJ Holden is a wonderful tribute to the huge contribution the old 1950s-era Holdens made to the development of touring car racing in this country. But this is not a tribute car, nor a replica racer. This is an original race car, restored by the only man who ever raced it. What makes this rare surviving ‘early girl’ Holden racer even more unique is its unusual racing history. Unlike most of the 48-215s and FJs that raced back in the day, this one is not a track veteran from the 1950s, and nor is it from the Appendix J era (1959 to the end of ’64). Nor was it a Sports Sedan, which was what became of most of the early racing Holdens in the late…

While the 48/215 and FJ Holdens might not have been muscle cars as such, they’re kind of where it all began. In our part of the world they were a critical part of the post-WW2 boom in motorsport and the burgeoning modified car scene. They were reasonably light, simple, easy to work on and responded well to modification, as we’ve seen before in AMC – indeed the ‘Grey’ motor would be a popular race engine for specials and speedway for ages. But what about miniature versions? Well, there’s plenty of good news. All the major players in Australian modelling have produced Humpy Holdens. There are plenty of models from which to choose, for either collectors or modifiers. Dinkum Classics were right there at the start of it all, producing several…

When it comes to featuring Bathurst muscle cars in Whaddyaknow, we’ve run through many Falcon GTs, Holden Monaros, Toranas and Commodores over the years. Our Mopar cousins get a little less love, it seems, even though E38 and E49 Chargers are popular with our readers, and certainly there are a few significant cars with Bathurst racing history out there. The same can’t be said of the Valiant VG Pacer, the subject of our cover story this issue. Why is that? It could be simply that their Bathurst racing history only amounted to the single year (two if you count the solitary VF Pacer from 1969) and though they did win their class, only diehard Mopar aficionados and (AMC readers!) remember. Sure, you could say the same for the Chargers, but…

The deal has been done. General Motors has confirmed it will have a presence in Australia in a post-Holden future, in a new partnership deal with the Walkinshaw Automotive Group. The new venture, set to commence trading at the end of this year, will be known as General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV). It’s expected that a network of around 50 GMSV dealerships nationally will be established, some of which will be former Holden dealers. Helping to smooth that transition is the news that the acrimonious dispute between some outgoing Holden dealers and General Motors over dealer compensation arrangements has now been finalised. GMSV will initially offer the existing HSV range of Chevrolet Silverado utes currently being remanufactured for right-hand by the Walkinshaw group at its Clayton facility in Melbourne. The…

In Punter Pics this issue (page 98) we’re featuring shots taken by AMC reader Gary Nolan when he and a bunch of mates made the pilgrimage to Mount Panorama in 1967 and ’68. One of Gary’s pics from the ’68 Bathurst 500 caught our eye, because it matched up with a couple of unidentified crash shots from that year’s race we had in our own archives. Turns out that the overturning car was the Ford Cortina 220 which was to have been crewed by Bryan Thomson and journalist/commentator and later Ford historian, Adrian Ryan. As Racing Car News reported in its November ’68 issue, Ryan was at the controls during practice when the car came to grief at the Dipper: …removing the turret from the body of the car, buckling…

Back in the days when sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous, many a talented driver never had the chance to shine, such were the perils of the sport. Nowadays where motor racing is safe and sex is dangerous, a talented driver is more likely to miss the boat due to lacking a sufficient budget. Money, or lack of it, is a perennial problem in professional motorsport. Sometimes talent is not enough. Take American F5000 driver Mike Eyerly, whose career came to a crashing halt in the infield of Warwick Farm during the 1971 Tasman Series. US entrant and Chevron racing car importer Fred Opert is on record as saying that Eyerly was as good as any American driver he had ever seen, including Mark Donohue, and as fast…

Dick Johnson’s recollections of hitting the rock have been well-documented over the years in these pages, his biographies and many other publications besides. If you’re reading this magazine, we reckon you know his version of events pretty well. There was also AMC’s forensic analysis of the XD Falcon racer’s homologation and development in issue #50. We will hear Dick’s reflections at the end of this story, but our aim here is to examine the circumstances of the day he rocketed to fame with fresh eyes. Thus, we sought a different perspective from within Dick Johnson Racing’s inner circle. Who better than Dick’s own brother, David, to provide a pit crew member’s perspective of the episode. Back in 1980, David was not yet an employee of DJR, where he would eventually…

The Adelaide street circuit 2020 season opener was a big weekend for the Touring Car Masters category (more than four months later it was still the only weekend so far this year for TCM, but that of course is a story all of its own…). The first round of the 2020 Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters Series was a special occasion because it marked the debut of the long-awaited Steven Johnson Falcon XD. But the (tru) blue Johnson XD was not the only brand-new TCM machine at Adelaide – and it wasn’t even the only one with a father/son connection to the 1980s. Fittingly, the other TCM debutant in question was not another XD Falcon, but rather its natural adversary, a Holden Commodore VC – the very first Commodore,…

Atypical 1970s Formula 5000 weighed less than 600kg but had more than 400kW from the 5.0-litre stock-block V8 tucked in behind the driver. It does not require a mathematician to conclude from those numbers that these cars must have had ferocious acceleration. Here Brown gives a graphic account of the ‘70s F5000 phenomenon known as tyre shake. “Alfie Costanzo never used to like driving them compared to smaller cars. I could never understand that. To me, driving a Formula 5000 was just so much fun. But they were a hard car to get that last little bit out of. They were naturally very unbalanced – all that weight over the back, but because they had so much power and they weren’t ground effect cars, a much higher proportion of the…

Scalextric Supercars Later this year will see the release of the latest Scalextric release of a Supercars championship race car – the Whincup/ Lowndes RBR Commodore from Bathurst last year (C4196). This issue, I thought it might be timely to have a look over the extensive range of Supercars released over the years. Scalextric dipped their toe in the water back in 2002 with the Ingall #8 VX Commodore (C2446) and Ambrose #4 AU Falcon (C2447) – thanks to the Australian Scalextric Racing and Collecting Club (see their Facebook page or website www.scalextricaustralia.com) for images of these first cars. If we get more cars in 2021, that will be 20 solid years of Australian Supercars. By my estimate, the tally stands at 45 prior to the release of the new…

Garry Rogers wanted to buy it, Peter Brock would have loved to have raced it. Brock saw the shiny green FJ at the 2004 Symmons Plains V8 Supercar round (Brock was there having a run in a Group N Torana XU-1), and the Bathurst legend was enthralled. Of course, Brock grew up with early Holdens, and would likely have made his racing debut in one had it not been for the government requiring him to undertake national service duty (the infamous ‘nasho, compulsory military training programme for young men which ran from 1951 to ’72). Brock would eventually get to race a Humpy, at the 2006 Goodwood Revival, in what sadly would be his last race appearance. Mather believes that seeing his own car was what inspired Brock to pursue…

Ford XW Phase II GT-HO in Reef Green As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words, so look at the pictures of this really nice Phase II GT-HO! This 1:18 scale model features a full interior with an elaborate steering wheel and dash featuring full instrumentation and components. Under the bonnet, the Cleveland engine has an outstanding level of detail including finely moulded hoses, leads, tubing and fine graphics. The model features a delicate extendable aerial. The amazing engine sump, swaybar, steering and front suspension detail. And that colour – the metallic dark green and gold stripes just look perfect, don’t they? Release is due before the end of the year – with all this Covid stuff going on, let’s not hold anyone to deadlines on things like this,…

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 will be run for the last time in 2020. Next year it will become the Repco Bathurst 1000. As Supercheap’s 16-year spell as the Great Race’s naming rights sponsor comes to an end, rival automotive parts giant Repco has stepped in with a five-year sponsorship deal. Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said he was delighted to welcome ‘one of Australian motorsport’s most recognisable brands’ as naming rights partner for the October classic. Repco’s executive general manager Wayne Bryant described the sponsorship deal as ‘two iconic brands in one amazing partnership. “Repco has a long history in motorsport and so aligning with Australia’s most famous race was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” he said. The company boasts a long and illustrious history in the sport, dating…

Holden’s motorsport legacy has been honoured in a special edition of the legendary family game board, MONOPOLY. The Holden Motorsport Edition MONOPOLY game (and accompanying Holden Puzzle, sold separately) will feature some of Holden’s most revered race machines as well as some of our great circuits. Rather than investing their monopoly money in assets such as Liverpool St Station and Marylebone Station while navigating the board, players can acquire Symmons Plains, Lakeside, Sandown and even Mount Panorama. Landing on the spot where the prized Mayfair is on the conventional game gives players the opportunity to purchase a 2017 Triple Eight Commodore VF Supercar; Norm Beechey’s 1970 ATCC-winning Monaro GTS 350 is parked at the spot normally reserved for Park Lane. Players have the choice of four Holden icons as tokens…

Sunday October 5, 1980 goes down as a significant date in Australian motoring history. At Watkins Glen, New York, new World F1 Champion Alan Jones won the season-ending US Grand Prix (East). AJ ran wide on lap one, dropped to mid-pack, then stormed through the field to put an exclamation mark on his championship season. Half a world away, in Jones’ homeland, the annual Bathurst 1000 turned on a drama-filled show that was pure theatre. Most years Mount Panorama dished up something extraordinary for competitors and fans, but in 1980 the fabled circuit truly outdid itself. It was an occasion when the star of the local scene was upstaged upon winning the biggest race on the domestic calendar. Peter Brock won his fifth Bathurst classic, as was expected in a…

John Dwyer had a front row seat for arguably the most dramatic moment in the entire history of the Great Race. Dwyer, as a Quik-Lift recovery truck driver during the 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, witnessed Dick Johnson’s Tru-Blu Falcon hitting the infamous rock at close quarters. Closer than anyone, other than Johnson himself. It all played out virtually within arm’s reach of Dwyer. In fact, not only did he observe the crash, his truck was possibly a contributing factor in #17’s demise. Innocently so, if that’s the case. Dwyer, who performed Bathurst 1000 recovery duties for over 40 years, has vivid memories today of the incident. What’s more, he recalls the moment he spotted the rock on the track and what went through his mind before the Queenslander’s Falcon struck the…

When Warwick Brown first raced in the US he was a 24 year-old who’d only been racing for four years. One of his main opponents was Mario Andretti. Needless to say, the young Aussie learned a trick or two from the American legend. “In ’74 in those three rounds we did in the US, they used to run two heats and a longer race. I don’t know how many times I started alongside Mario, but he always seemed to be there. We’re at Mosport in Canada, and this time I knew I was in a good position to get him into the first corner. “They used to have rolling starts. We’re going up the straight, getting ready for the start, and I’m totally focussed, Mario alongside, the old bull and…

The Tasman Cup series in the early ‘70s featured the best from Australia and New Zealand, along with a smattering of international drivers. It kicked off with the Kiwi rounds, and by February had migrated across the Tasman for the final three or four races. But just as it was a showcase of the best of Formula 5000 in this part of the world, it was also one of the few times when the best Australian sports sedans squared off against their Kiwi counterparts. It only ever happened in New Zealand, and when it did the Shaky Iles really did shake. The odd Aussie had been over there before (Brian Foley’s Alfa GTV almost beat the Kiwi Camaros in ’72), but the first heavyweight trans-Tasman Sports Sedan battle took place…

Gary Nolan  n 1967 and ’68, Gary Nolan and few mates in their Cooper Ss took the trip to Bathurst for the October enduro in 1967. They didn’t get to see a repeat of the glorious first-to-ninth Cooper S whitewash from ’66, but they did witness the dawn of the Aussie muscle car era on the Mountain and, in the second year, the beginning of the on-track battle between Holden and Ford that would define top level motor racing in Australia for most of the next 50 years. Here are some of Gary’s pics from both races, showing a track not much different from today’s other than the absence of concrete walls – and little different crowd-wise.…

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…