Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 122 i Australian Muscle Car

The second coming of the Holden Monaro, the Commodore version, is 20 years old this year. It’s actually older even than that – the original Commodore coupe concept car was first shown off at the Sydney Motor Show towards the end of 1998. I remember it well. A two-door VT was the last thing anyone expected to see – but it was all anyone was talking about. The highlight of the show was meant to be Ford’s revolutionary new AU Falcon range but amid the flurry of hype surrounding the surprise two-door Holden show car almost no one noticed the shiny new Fords. It set the tone for the misery that was to come for the unloved (if underrated) AU series. The rapturous reception the Holden coupe received that day…

As we’ve seen with some recent record breaking sales figures, the surge in prices being paid for classic Australian muscle cars is a phenomenon that’s showing no signs of slowing. Not even a global pandemic has been able to put a dent in the market. And if some industry insiders are right, it’s about to shift up a gear or two. That expected upsurge will be driven by what’s happening in the new car market. With manufacturers now preparing for an eventual shift to hybrid or full electric cars – and with some already flagging a specific date when they will make the switch to electric – the days of the conventional internal combustion engine are numbered. This is the unpalatable reality we will soon face. And as the transition…

US automotive icon Bob Lutz fell in love with Holden and the Monaro when in February 2002 he toured Australia early in his return to GM as product czar. It was his call to introduce the Monaro to the USA as a reborn 21st century Pontiac GTO. Launched at the Los Angeles auto show in January 2003, it went on-sale the following December – but to a mixed reception. GTO lovers hated the understated Holden style, even though it had grown a Pontiac twin-nostril mesh grille. Later, non-functional bonnet scoops were added as an option. There were also grumbles from within Holden that Pontiac didn’t help its acceptance by trying to flog a high-performance rear-wheel drive V8 in the northern snow states in winter rather than concentrate on California. Mike…

Norman Booth was a yachtsman. He was not a motorsport fan. But had he been aware of some of the scrutineering skulduggery that went on in Series Production back in the day (such as the Oran Park camshaft saga of 1972, as explained below by Graham Moore), the car dealer likely would have had even less enthusiasm for the sport: “At the Oran Park 100 lapper that year, the first three had their engines pulled down. They ring that night and say, ‘hey Moorey, your camshaft’s illegal. I say. ‘oh yeah, why’s that?’ ‘Well, it’s different from Brock’s and it’s different from Bobby Morris’ one. I just said, ‘hey, I would suggest that Morris’ and Brock’s are illegal, because ours is the same friggin’ camshaft that was in it when…

Dandenong Road Corner, Sandown, 1980, as Bob Morris heads Allan Grice in the early running of that year’s Sandown 400. Grice is driving the Craven-Mild Commodore VB/C which Morris raced in the ATCC that year, the Grice/Morris partnership having tuned out to be more nightmare than dream team, with Morris exiting half way through the year to team up with Bill O’Brien and his XD Falcon for the Sandown 400 and Bathurst. At Sandown Grice qualified the Commodore fourth, with Morris right behind on the next row. Neither made the finish, the Falcon bowing out with overheating and the Commodore splitting its gearbox casing. Both cars have been recently restored – the Grice machine was featured in AMC #115, while the Morris/O’Brien XD can be seen in action in 2021…

Race on Sunday, sell on Monday… That was the catchcry back in the day when it came to big sedan enduros like the Bathurst 500/1000. It’s a phrase that’s hung around the sport long after its use-by date was up, but back in the Series Production era it meant every word. All of these advertisements are from the one issue of Australian Motoring News – October 22, 1969, which came out after that year’s Bathurst 500 – as a variety of manufacturers sought to reap the benefits of their race track success on the showroom floor. British Leyland’s ad celebrated yet another Cooper S Bathurst triumph, which made it class or outright wins for Minis in every Bathurst 500 held so far. Toyota trumpeted its latest Bathurst class success –…

An Electric Blue Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III was sold recently in Perth for a record $1.15 million. The XY GT-HO, said to be one of only seven Phase IIIs made in Electric Blue with black interior trim, was meticulously restored by previous owner Mark Lamb. It won the Falcon GT Nationals in 1999 and 2003. The car was part of collection of eight vehicles owned by failed Perth businessman Chris Marco which went under the hammer at Slattery’s Auction in late February. The Marco collection attracted a total of $3 million. Slattery’s asset manager, Steve Waterman, said that online interest in the collection ‘went crazy, with more than 200,000 people visiting the website, and with over 1,000 bids for the collection being registered. The collection also included a Torana…

John Bowe was always adamant he’d be on the grid at Bathurst for the second round of the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters Series despite being recently treated for prostate cancer. He made it to the Mountain, and he left Bathurst with a clear lead in the series after finishing third overall on the weekend with a single third placing and two fourth-place results across the three championship races. Bowe’s consistency was something title rivals Adam Garwood and Steven Johnson weren’t able to match. Johnson’s XD Falcon was excluded from the second race for being under weight, while sixth place in race two was Adam Garwood’s only race finish for the weekend. The Camaro driver had gone to Bathurst as series leader after a stellar start to the season…

They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. It’s probably as true for businesses as it is for the people who start them and keep them going. As someone who is passionate about classic cars and bikes, being National Auctions and External Relations Manager for Shannons Auction is a dream job for Christophe Boribon. His enthusiasm and commitment hasn’t changed since the day he started in 1997. “Forty years is an impressive achievement. What started as a family business has grown to be one of the largest insurers in the motoring enthusiast space in Australia, probably the largest, and also the most recognised auction house. “I’ve seen more than a dozen auction houses close, or get re-launched under other names since I’ve…

Whatever happens in racing this year, one thing I don’t think we’ll see is Nick Percat racing in TCR. You see, TCR is just not for Nick. Given the choice between racing a touring car in the TCR Australia series or going for a blat in his kart, he’d really rather go go-karting. He’s not into front-wheel drive cars, and he’s not a fan of paddle shifts either, he told the startled TV interviewer during Channel Seven’s live telecast of the TCR races at Symmons Plains on Australia Day You could almost hear the collective dropping of jaws in the central commentary position. This was not what Nick was supposed to say. In fact, it was the complete opposite of what the commentators thought he would say. The interviewer put…

When the original HK-model Monaro GTS 327 was released in 1968, there was no question as to where Holden intended it to be in October of that year. Monaro V2 would also be destined for a date with Mount Panorama, although at least not initially, and not in the Bathurst 1000. As had been the case with the HK, the lure of Bathurst glory was the motivation behind Holden’s decision to go racing with the Commodore-based coupe in2002. The race was the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour. This ambitious event was run as a production sports car race, for FIA N-GT cars and Group 1 cars from the Australian Nations’ Cup sports cars series. But the Monaro was a controversial addition to the Nations Cup ranks. Group 1 Nations Cup rules…

There can be few things more disheartening than to throw a party and have almost no one turn up. That might have been the feeling within Supercars Australia headquarters after its much-hyped season-opener at Bathurst was held in front of a smallish crowd. For complex contractual reasons Supercars was obliged to start the season in NSW, and so chose to use the Mount Panorama event slot left vacant by the cancelled Bathurst 12 Hour Intercontinental GT Challenge race. In what we are assured will be a one-off, the Mount Panorama 500 (held in mercifully mild February weather) was the first the first time the Australian Touring Car Championship had conducted a sprint round at Bathurst in a quarter of a century. It might have seemed like an elegant solution at…

Making Trax Twelve months ago I was writing of the unknown future we were facing with Covid 19. Victoria was particularly hard hit, but there was a good news story in the slot world, and that was the Mr Slot Car slot shop operating out of southeast Melbourne. AMC spoke to its owner, Peter van Horssen, to find out what has been happening. Australian Muscle Car: Who makes up the Mr Slot Car business? Peter Van Horssen: I own the business and together with my wife Debbie, and Peter Dimmers, we run the shop from week to week, with another fellow on standby for busy weekends. That includes, retailing, hosting parties, corporate hire, design and manufacturing the modular range of Mr Trax products, importing and some distribution. And sometimes, local…

Ford XW Falcon Phase II GT-HO 1970 Bathurst Winner, 50th Anniversary GOLD livery Celebrating 50 years since Allan Moffat’s first Bathurst win with a gold car – it’s obvious, isn’t it? Classic Carlectables’ fantastic 1:18 Falcon mould has been dusted off again for this great-looking tribute. The red, black and other minor colours have been replaced with shades of gold to commemorate the golden anniversary of the great man’s first conquest of the Mountain. The detailed front end features the finely finished grille, mesh covered headlights, spot lights and indicators. Soft rubber seats feature the racing harness with detailed buckles and strapping. The engine has an outstanding level of detail including finely moulded hoses, leads, tubing and fine graphics. Superb chassis detail with working suspension and steering. The springs, swaybar,…

Just when you think you’ve seen the ultimate Ford Mustang, along comes… the Super Snake. This is Shelby’s latest Mustang offering, the Shelby Super Snake, of which only 98 will be made (to celebrate the late Carroll Shelby’s 98th birthday). The Mustang’s 5.0-litre V8 engine gets the Shelby supercharger treatment to take it out to 615kW (that’s 825 horsepower); according to Shelby it will go from rest to 100km/h in a tad more than 3.5 seconds. It’s selling for a little over US$130,000, but sadly this is one snake that won’t be seen on Australian shores.…

After a Covid-aborted 2020, the new S5000 openwheeler category has returned to the tracks with a vengeance this year. Though numbers have been small, barely more than 10 cars, the action has been spectacular, with some fierce racing that produced four different winners across the opening six races. The thundering 560 horsepower 5.2-litre Ford V8 ‘neo-Formula 5000s’ have proven a big hit so far in 2021 – 17 year-old Cooper Webster’s win in the wet at Phillip Island may well go down as the best race performance in any category across the entire year. Overall winner at Phillip Island was Joey Mawson, who received the Alfredo Costanzo Trophy for his effort. In a fitting acknowledgement of F5000 greats of the past and the spiritual link between the ‘70s 5.0-litre stock…

Super Mustangs Love the mag, keep up the good work! I, like many, think most modern race cars look awful, with busy liveries, very little cohesion and every square inch covered with branding. I’d love to see modern race cars with cleaner, simpler liveries, even though the commercial realities mean that may never happen. Our touring car heritage has some fantastic schemes, all the more striking for their simplicity. So using GT Sport, I decided to mock up a few of my all-time favourites on a Mustang to see how good a modern tin-top could look with an old school approach (albeit a GT3 version, not a Supercar). Hope you guys like them. Also, as an avid reader and collector of your mag since the very beginning (I have every…

It’s closing on 20 years since the reborn 21st century Holden Monaro was revealed in all its glory at the 2001 Sydney Motor Show. Yep, October 11, 2001. That was the date the Holden stand at Darling Harbour featured an example of the third generation Monaro in all seven paint colours on offer. It was a stunning display of Holden’s power, capability, ambition and optimism. An all-time record 320,000 punters clicked through the turnstiles at that year’s show on the back of Monaro mania. “Responsiveness to market opportunities is critical to Holden’s ongoing success,” said Holden chairman and managing director Peter Hanenberger, in welcoming the Monaro. “Our team was able to bring the new Monaro to market in record time by taking advantage of advanced math and computer-led design. “The…

Series II December 2002 A minor update that introduced new-look alloy wheels as its primary exterior styling revision for both VCV6 and CV8. Inside, the Monaro inherited the dash and centre console changes from the VY Commodore. CV6 got the low series look with manual air-conditioning, while the CV8 picked up the high-series look with all push-button climate control air-conditioning and pop-out cupholders. Both cars got the binnacle-style clusters, multi-function digital displays and four-spoke steering wheel. Under the bonnet, the CV8 added an extra 10kW and 5Nm courtesy of the mildly tweaked LS1 V8, which was signalled by twin chromed exhausts exiting together at the left-rear of the car. Series III August 2003 The CV8 received the same 245kW LS1 V8 that powered VYII SS and SV8 models. A front…

Back in the day, car dealers were the lifeblood of our touring car racing and the Bathurst classic. It was especially so in the Series Production era, and with obvious reason. After all, the cars being raced were off-the-showroom-floor models. In some years, the majority of the entire Bathurst field were dealer-sponsored entries. For aspiring drivers, it wasn’t difficult to put together a Series Production racing programme. The costs of racing back then weren’t all that steep, and if you were able to do a deal with a dealership for a gratis car and some support, or even only just support, you were half way there. It was attractive to the dealers, too – for most of them it was affordable, and there was kudos in being able to bask…

The last race was run at Warwick Farm on July 15, 1973. No one knew it at the time, but the venue’s owner, the Australian Jockey Club, had already decided it no longer needed the car racers, now that it was swimming in cash from the NSW government’s new legal TAB horse racing gambling network (interestingly, the earthworks for the planned section of link road to create a new ‘northern’ circuit outside the bounds of the horse track had already been done – this was meant to have saved motor racing at the Farm by ‘quarantining’ it from the G-Gs, but the AJC wanted nothing to do with it). The main event that day was the eighth round of the ATCC, which was won by Peter Brock in his HDT…

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…