Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 147 i Australian Muscle Car

I don’t know about you, but one of the highlights for me at Bathurst this year was seeing John Goss step out of his McLeod Ford XA Falcon Hardtop replica ’74 Bathurst winner at the top of the Mountain to greet the crowd and personally deliver the Peter Brock Trophy to Mark Skaife. What a treat that spectacle must have been for all the Ford fans up there at McPhillamy Park just half an hour or so before the start of this year’s race! Last issue we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1984 James Hardie 1000, that fabled ‘Last of the Big Bangers’ final Bathurst for the old Group C cars – and how good was it to see the two dayglo Holden Dealer Team VK Commodores from that…

Muscle Maniac It was retro overdrive at Bathurst this year on and off the track. There was John Goss chauffeuring the Peter Brock Trophy in his ’74 replica McLeod Ford Hardtop GT, the ’84 HDT #05 and #25 dayglo VK Commodores being reunited at Bathurst’s National Motor Racing Museum – and the biggest and most diverse field of Heritage Touring Cars in living memory. The V8 Sleuth Heritage Revival events attracted a whopping 55-car entry, in a bumper field that included not only Group A and C cars but also a stack of Super Tourers, some early V8 Supercars and even a lone Future Tourer. Not to mention some star drivers – how about Greg Murphy in the ’91 Bob Pearson Pro-Duct Commodore VN Group A and John Bowe at…

The 1973 Bathurst 1000 was a missed opportunity for John Goss. The culmination of a full year’s development of the new Group C XA Falcon GT Hardtop, plus one of the best co-drivers in the business in former Australian Gold Star champion and top-flight Formula 5000 driver Kevin Bartlett, meant that it was their race to lose. But after leading for two-thirds of the race and being in front by almost a lap, and making the might of the Ford factory team look second-rate in the process, Goss tangled with a lapped car. It was a heartbreaking way to bow out, but with pole position and fastest race lap, the plucky privateer at least now knew what had to be done to win the Great Race the following year. But…

In essence, this HDT Torana rally car is the reason why Torana L34s have round headlights rather than the regular LH model rectangular lights. Round headlights were specified by Harry Firth. The HDT boss told the L34 development team that the car would be useless for rallying with the SL/R 5000’s square headlights. At that time the more powerful rally-style spotlights weren’t readily available in rectangular or square form – and that was a problem because back then many rally events included after-dark stages. While the L34 may have been developed primarily to win the Bathurst 1000, it was also destined for competition in the forests in the Australian Rally Championship. So round headlights it was. The HDT rally effort was of critical importance, because it provided the smokescreen to…

The V8 engine used in Leyland’s notorious P76 won Australia’s premier open-wheeler title in 1977. That was when John McCormack scored his third ‘Gold Star’ Australian Drivers Championship in five years, only this time powered by a Repcomodified version of Leyland’s aluminium V8. Some AMC readers might be unaware of this historic achievement, which when viewed through history’s rear-view mirror would seem incongruous given how poorly the P76 is still generally perceived, half a century (!) after its demise. However, thanks to McCormack’s resolute commitment to making the lightweight V8 a winner, some pride was salvaged for the many Leyland employees who suffered the ignominy of seeing their full-size family car challenge to ‘The Big Three’ crash and burn several years before. How this engine went from humble car duties…

Muscle Maniac Ford has confirmed its new racecar for the road, the Mustang GTD, will be powered by a special version of its supercharged 5.2-litre V8 generating 608kW. That’s a colossal 815bhp in the old money. The GTD is the ultimate version of the iconic pony car and is being promoted in left-hand-drive markets as ‘Street legal. But Just Barely’. Ford publicly unveiled the GTD at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, displayed it at the centenary Spa 24 event, then demonstrated it up the hill at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. It’s since done the rounds of motor shows and classic races as the machine it derives from, the Mustang GT3 racecar, completes its first season in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA’s GTD (Grand Touring Daytona) category in…

It was sight to behold for Holden fans at Bathurst this year as the two HDT dayglo Commodore VKs that finished first and second in the 1984 James Hardie 1000 were reunited at the National Motor Racing Museum. As our feature on the ‘Last of the Big Bangers’ in the previous issue outlined, it was AMC’s detective work which solved the riddle once and for all as to which HDT Commodore was the winning 05 car. Thanks to the generous efforts of the Bowden Collection, the current custodian of the #25 car, fans at Bathurst this year were once again able to see these two most famous of Holden Bathurst racers up close in the sheetmetal.…

Putting on a show Staging a long-distance race on a public road circuit as long and as (comparatively) remotely located as Mount Panorama had always been a large and complex undertaking. Planning for the ’74 race started early in the year with the establishment of a ‘steering committee’ comprising representatives from the race’s stakeholders: sponsor Hardie-Ferodo, the TV broadcaster Channel 7 (along with the Artransa film company, which was filming the highlights package), IBM, which supplied its ‘state-of-the-art’ computer lap scoring system, and the ARDC (chairman Jack Hinxman and competition manager Ivan Stibbard). The steering committee met regularly during the year at the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club’s Leichhardt, Sydney, headquarters. At the July meeting, matters such as the winner’s lap of honour and the possibility of the TV coverage being…

Introduction It took Dick Johnson 16 years to claw his way to the top of the Australian motor racing tree. But it took just a few moments to become a hero. Johnson’s life changed – as did the sport’s history in this country – on the first Sunday of October 1980, when he seemingly came from nowhere to be leading The Great Race, only to hit a rock and write off his brilliant new XD Falcon race car. It is now part of motor racing folklore that thousands of TV viewers watching from their loungerooms spontaneously pledged money to get the shattered Queenslander back on his feet, and back on the track. It was the birth of crowdfunding. Dick not only returned with Tru-Blu 2 but continued the fairytale by…

Slotworx: the next generation As the famous saying goes, time and slot cars wait for no man... In the last column, I had a need to get some 1/24 cars built for my club racing group. Thanks to Garry Johnson the new owner of Slotworx, the first one to arrive that had every part I needed was the Lexan bodied Slotworx Falcon V8. Preparing a Slotworx car ticks a bunch of firsts for me, having never built either in 1/24, metal chassis or Lexan body. Thankfully, the Illawarra Slot Racers are very keen to help new starters on this journey, so I received plenty of advice and assistance. In particular, Jimmy Paterson took me under his wing and helped me get it all together. The car kit from Slotworx comes…

Monaro mania Classic Carlectables has shown us a couple of nice Monaros in 1:18 scale. Looking back, it’s hard to see that these were consecutive models – the HJ, of course, was the continuation of the HQ, replaced the HG, messing with the heads of people who understand the alphabet. So here we have the end of the first shape and the first of the second shape. They’d go nicely with a VX Monaro in your cabinet. The HG Monaro facelift included a new grille, rear lights, and ‘Sidewinder’ decal stripes. Chrome trim was removed from wheel arches and rocker panel. New wood grain pattern was introduced, with the seats and door liners receiving a styling update. The seats have been recreated in soft touch rubber and feature the Houndstooth…

Wheels of fortune When it comes to brand association John Goss and Aunger Wheels were a match made in heaven. Who could forget that cheeky – in more way than one! – advertisement/poster featuring JG, his Falcon sports sedan and attractive pit crew at Amaroo Park! The advertisement featured in the 1974 Bathurst editions of Racing Car News and in colour in Chequered Flag magazine. The only problem was that the Goss/Bartlett Falcon GT didn’t win the 1974 Bathurst 1000 on Aunger wheels… Why? Because the ‘Trojan’ design featured on Goss’ Falcon Sport Sedan were not made in the correct size and offset for the Group C Falcon. Let’s wind back the clock to the early 1970s, to a time when only a select few performance cars were factory fitted…

Muscle Maniac After a five-year hiatus, Toranafest returned bigger and better than ever in September. Organised by the Hunter Valley Torana Club and billed as ‘More than a Car Show. It’s a Festival’, it more than lived up to the hype. The 30th anniversary of the event saw 567 Toranas registered to attend. Torana is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘to fly’, so it was appropriate that activities commenced on the Saturday with just over 300 cars cruising to Luskintyre Airfield. Here the cars were displayed with a backdrop of vintage aircraft, many of which took to the skies. With a fantastic array of colours it looked like someone had emptied a giant bag of jellybeans among the planes, providing a stark contrast to the monochromatic offerings of manufacturers today. Garry…

Big Banger reads I’ve just finished reading AMC issue #146 and feel compelled to write to offer both my congratulations and pass comment. I’ve enjoyed your magazine for many years but Issue 146 was so enjoyable! I loved being taken back to 1984 and the Bathurst race which celebrated the end of the ‘Big Bangers’. I think we all felt (at that time) that we were witnessing the end of something special and your article(s) captured that moment in time wonderfully. But the article I enjoyed most in issue 146 was the reprint of Mel Nichols’ epic road trip in a borrowed Charger E38 from Adelaide to Sydney and the equally entertaining back story from the ‘school boy’ who won the car in a Wheels magazine competition. That article, in…

Lang Lang is a legendary place for Holden fans. It is, after all, where every new Holden model from the late 1950s on was put through its paces before being deemed sufficiently up to scratch to go into production. But the proving ground was also the setting for some of the most iconic of Holden images. And not just all those ‘hero’ shots of the latest Holden range lined up on across the expansive width of the venue’s famous 4.7km banked oval. Because over the journey a lot of the General’s advertising and promotional photography was also done here. And why wouldn’t you: with more than 40km of roads of all description, all of it hidden from prying public eyes, could there be a better place to discreetly shoot a…

There’s an F1 movie coming out soon starring Brad Pitt. Whether it’ll be any good is anyone’s guess, but you can bet that parts of it are going to be so far-fetched as to stretch the bounds of credibility. Unfortunately, that’s usually been the problem with motorsport-themed motion pictures: making it enjoyable for a mass audience without the film being embarrassingly unrealistic. But if ever there was a movie made about Supercars, the 2024 season and this year’s Bathurst 1000 is a ready-made, real-life, blockbuster script. It’s been a literal case of truth being stranger than fiction this year. You couldn’t make this stuff up and expect anyone to believe it: Erebus achieves the momentous milestone of winning the championship, only for newly crowned champion Brodie Kostecki to quit the…

ACL has a long and rich history in motorsport... it’s in our DNA. The ACL RACE Series Performance Engine Bearings of today has a strong pedigree in motor racing that traces its roots back to the 1960’s with the manufacture of engine bearings for use in the world conquering Brabham Formula 1, with further experience of late in the Australian Supercars Championship. The Chevrolet LS V8 has, without doubt, become one of the most popular performance engine platforms ever produced. ACL offers a comprehensive range of ACL RACE Series Performance engine bearings for the LS Gen III and IV, and the newer LT Gen V. For your next LS build, whether it’s a mild performance street vehicle or a high end racing engine, ACL RACE Series has the range of…

#CarparkMuscle Torana Muscle on the Murray Numbers were expected to be down at this year’s Torana Muscle on the Murray weekend on account of its late-September date being just two weeks out from the returning Toranafest event, but happily the attendance overwhelming exceeded the organisers’ expectations. Planning is already under way for next year’s Torana Muscle on the Murray – make a note of the date, September 19-22, 2025. Images: Luke Hunter (https://lukehuntermedia.com/) Mad Max Fans of the iconic Aussie dystopian road movie series Mad Max descended upon the Bendigo region on September 27 for the ‘45th Anniversary of Mad Max’ celebrations. The three-day event included a procession of Mad Maxthemed vehicles into the township of Clunes – accompanied by some of original Mad Max movie cast members – before…