Someone who *really* understands those narrow, skittish early Toranas, has set up that white one's suspension *very* well indeed. Chances are, it's the driver who extracted every scrap out of it. So impressive to watch! 👏
Had two LJ's and even with it's limited adjustment you can still get them to stick like shit to a blanket even with it's undeveloped 6 it did very well with some mindful mod's. Oh how life was so much easier back then.
@@Ricky-nq7lu red sixes were so easy to work on too. I had a 202 and a very tight budget. I took the head off and had bigger valves fitted. While the head was off l slipped in a 604 grind XU1 cam ( that was the lumpiest one). Bolted a set of 1+3/4 triple SU strombergs ( off an XU1) and some 2nd hand extractors with a 2inch exhaust. That car felt like a rocket to 18yo me! All mechanical work done on the back lawn under a shady tree. I agree, life was so much simpler then.
@@renjitjayamohan We deliberately set them up with soft rear and stiff front suspension. The outside front tyre has to carry the bulk of the weight of the ENTIRE CAR on corners and tying the 2 front corners together with a heavy front sway bar utilises both sides of the front suspension even though the inside wheel is dangling. The engine, gearbox & driver are the heaviest items in the car & in an LJ, all that weight is at the front. So the front must be stiff. The rear must be soft so that both rear tyres remain in contact with the road & so both can transmit power even out of corners when an inside front is off the deck. This particular car is obviously quick. That would never be the case if the right rear was defective in any way. This car is very well set up & the steerer knows exactly how to get the best out of it.
Every true racer knows that it is a combination of driver skill and car/team set up that ultimately moves through the pack...the term battle does not exist when you know what you are doing.
Does that little white coupe look familiar?... It should! It's basicly a Vauxhall Viva with a stretched nose to accept our local GM Holden 3.3L 6Banger engines. We do what we have to to out here in the antipodes... You sent us Vivas from Pomgolia & they were hopeless. So, we fixed 'em up a bit!
@@retromechanicalengineer There are literally thousands of surviving Viva/Toranas here. There are probably about a hundred that have been developed for various classes of MotorSport. This footage is just a tiny sample of Group N where the rules dictate keeping the basic machinery like engine, box, diff & suspension period correct. These tiny little Toranas really irritate the clods who spend vast fortunes on bulky, heavy, local & imported Muscle Cars. A piddly little Torana with it's original 202 cube Holden engine really upsets the clods, simply because the little Torana looks completely innocent & harmless. But, as you can see... these things are absolute rocketships in the right hands. They are a tad track deficient & many have ended up shiny side down over the years, but that narrowness is a great advantage since a narrow car can fit into a narrow space in a corner between the barges. The big cube V8 barges often blast away on the straights and sometimes if you are close enough, you can actually see driver's faces in their helmets smirking because they think they've got away. Those looks of gratification soon change to looks of horror when the Torana reels the barge in under brakes, noses up the inside of the barge, gets it's power down, drops it's arse, lifts it's nose, dangles an inside front wheel and literally drives away out of the corners. This sort of behaviour is often infuriating for those pedalling big powerful cars. Toranas were successful here from the minute they were born. For years on end they literally ran away with rally championships, sprint chamionships, the big name enduros & drag racing. Many had great little Holden V8s fitted & saw service in our Sports Sedan category. Those who love the bigger, heavier traditional muscle cars often go berserk & literally hate these little cars. It bothers them that the cheap, diminutive little car has shown the barges up as barges & you'll see these comments here. These comments just make us split our sides laughing. The Poms sent us these little Vivas & the basic design was good. We just tweaked a few things, stuffed strong reliable engines & gear boxes in 'em & the rest is history. A funny fact: Get a good look side on at any of these Viva/Holden Toranas & you'll notice something out of proportion in the rear wheel arch on every one of them... This is because the rear quarter panels, wheel tubs and floor pan are all basicly Vauxhall Viva. But Australian conditions were still pretty rough in the early '70s and the original Viva design was to accept tiny little 12 inch wheels which were inadequate on outback roads. So every 6 cylinder Torana ever made was fitted with 13s. This makes the rear side of the Torana look a little weird since Holden stuffed these bigger 13 inch wheels into wheel arches the Poms designed to only accommodate 12s. You look at these cars & you think... something is out of proportion here, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Check it out... The back wheels are further back & are too big to look right in those little Pomgolian Viva wheel arches. If you ever get a chance, head out to Lakeside Raceway to the north of Brisbane Queensland when the Toranas are doing their thing. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED! Bring a spare hanky for those in the barges when they burst into tears.
@@johnbrooks9523 I'd be lucky to make it out to Australia but if I ever did I'd check out the racing. I have to make do with UA-cam! Thanks for taking the time to provide so much information.
@@retromechanicalengineer You are most welcome. Bear in mind, I live in a colonised country. My grandparents all migrated here from Pomgolia on steamships early last century. My Grandmother's middle name was Osterley since she was born on that migrant ship (the Osterley) on the way over. We have a large population of convict stock here who struggle with written English as is evidenced herein amongst the comments. BUT DON'T BE FOOLED! What Australians may lack in grammar is more than made up for in their amazing survival & innovative capabilities! My counterparts sometimes don't bother to spell all that well, but that doesn't stop them from turning garden variety family hacks into beautifully prepared, highly effective race weaponry. Our racetracks come alive most weekends with supremely well engineered & very nicely driven, cost effective cars that scare the hell out of the elites with their big dollar machines. You witness this stuff and it brings tears to your eyes! David hammers Goliath here relentlessly on a regular basis & man, doesn't it make you feel good. The only drawback here is the offspring of the nastyarse uniformed clods despatched here. These fools are out & about & thuggery is their paid job. I've had 40 years of car chases on public roads. A lot of older technology racecars were laying around & cheap as chips when I was a kid with next to no jingle. My hobby was to strip all the go fast goodies out of those outdated racecars and screw all the hot bits into my 30 dollar 1950s road cars... and.... I drove them accordingly! It is no longer safe to practice such hijinx. The patrolling armed thugs now have the power to confiscate & crush & the no conscience government makes it happen. So, to be safe, we have to utilise our racetracks & fortunately some footage makes it onto YT. I recommend digging around for material on YT from Baskerville Tasmania. Tassie was a notorious penal colony and the resultant surviving Tasmaniacs are really brilliant preparers & racers in older Early Model Holdens. Australia has been an amazing adventure & full of opportunity & I am truly proud to have lived here all my life. Sadly, it is all coming unravelled now as the N W O homes in on us. We're losing ground fast, but we live in hope that we can find a way to fend off the globalist attack that is upon us & hellbent on returning us to prisoner status. We are a resillient breed here, however, the population has grown rather fat, lazy & complacent in recent years. We're innovators & those who attack us will find themselves confounded as we think up methods of resistance that are beyond their limited imaginations & soggy experience. I have many friends here who migrated last century. Between us we should manage to keep abreast of what the globalists want to ram down our throats. Once we get things back on an even keel, you must venture over & experience Australia & Australians. Many have & many never return home. There is a lot to love here & we enjoy showing visitors around, so head over when the coast is clear.
Watching this... I miss my old Torri, it had the slopiest gear linkages that only a seasoned holden driver could handle without popping it out, The offset steering wheel, and that red motor roar. 🤩
The LC/LJ front end responds well with some really simple modifications that are permitted in Group N. The same old rules regarding all Early Holdens work miracles on Early Toranas. The worst thing you can do is stiffen up the rear. They may look a bit unstable & loose on 205-60-13 street tyres, but the numbers on the time sheets stack up. The LC/LJ Torana is a very potent weapon once set up by a guru. Seeing them out on their own doesn't convey how crazy fast they really are. But, when you see one outbrake, outcorner & out perform American muscle cars like in this footage you can get a clearer picture of why these cramped little family hacks won at Bathurst against Australia's best GTHO Falcons & E49 Chargers. I see wankers, dreamers & muppets commenting here & bagging our little local Torana Giant Killers... Well, if I'd spent a quarter of a million bucks on some dumb caveman barge & got beaten by someone with a teensy LJ, I'd be shitty too... But, I aint that dumb in the first place.
@@johnbrooks9523 Yes, i remember seeing a gaggle of them a few years back at Lakeside. I was quite surprised at how hard they went, and how the drivers really stuffed them into the corners.
@@billoddiea It all started back in 1969 when a Brisbane local got hold of a 161 LC GTR. That guy removed the head, cam, triple 2"SUs & tuned length pipes from his EH, stuck the lot in the LC & got busy at Lakeside. He won the QLD Touring Car Championships for years on end with that car & several other Early Toranas. But you never hear about it. That history has been kept quiet, since that Brisbane local shifted across to the Ford camp in 1975... That Brisbane local who ran the Shell servo on Logan Road at Woolloongabba was... DICK JOHNSON! By 1975, Johnson had acquired an exHDT LJ XU1, added his own fine tuning & was leading races at Lakeside against Brock in an L34, Charlie O'Brien in an L34, Goss in an XA GT Hardtop & every other "victim" who ventured up from down south for ATCC race meetings at Lakeside. Johnson built faster 6cylinder Toranas than the HDT! Hard to believe. But, the history books have documented all of it... Find a text book entitled: Dick Johnson. The real story of a folk hero. You won't believe your eyes.
Having owned a few Toranas & raced one, that was an impressive drive in a car with a terrible steering design from the factory. Reverse Ackerman makes Toranas a handful, but he certainly has this one sorted so he can peddle it with confidence.
Proud to have owned both LC AND LJ,ripper little rockets,if I knew the statute of limitations, of traffic events,I could tell a few tales of on road adventures .
Re the thumbnail for this clip, is "fat arming" some new term? if it is well it's how I've driven for the last fifty years and many before me over the decades. Apart from all that what can I say but I LOVE THE OLD TORANA and I always will.
Is this modern day or historic footage? Awesome either way but if modern day with the issue of possibly having to find damaged panels, so cool to see these cars going soooo hard.
@@michaeledwards8058 Correct... Built in QLD about 10 or 15 years ago by guru Garry Brown of Street & Strip engines on the Gold Coast. It's either lost the 450BHP 327 & close ratio Muncie that Garry had in it or the pilot on the day wasn't comfortable in it. It was a front running car early in it's racing carreer.... Little LJ definitely had no trouble getting amongst the pidgeons.
Instead of anti-sway bars to help the car to corner flat it has what's called sway bars which causes the car to lean way over and it just sticks like glue. Hehe. I've never seen anything like it
I learnt 2 drive in an xu1 torana dad allways said they were a pretty hard car 2 drive fast.it was a green one was that a factory colour then or do you think it was just a spray job.great driving 👍
There was one built by GM and sent around all the GM Dealers conferences, had a good look at it on a car carrier, was supposed to be tarped, but conned the truck driver to let us have a look, it was a mean looking machine!
The only thing that looked a bit funny on the LC & LJ torana was that the steering wheel was not central to the driver’s seat. (Still love them, though)
These events are usually run over several meetings at local tracks and form local championships. Local clubs run them. If you were based in QLD you might contact Lakeside Control tower on a weekend to seek an annual program for upcoming events. In VIC you might contact the Philip Island Circuit or in NSW, your nearest racing venue. These meetings are held at tracks all over Australia on alternate weekends. Some competitors race in several states. There are several categories catering for Historic RaceCars. Group N covers all sedans built before 1973 & Group N is basicly what is covered in this footage. There are classes for Street Cars that are also eligible for Group N. Contact any RaceTrack Control Tower. They're usually very helpful.
VERY GOOD QUESTION! It doesn't appear to be a Group N Historic car. As a Group N car it would have to run a 202 block and period correct cast iron 9 port head. As a "Club" car, it could have a Falcon crank & any of several available big horsepower aftermarket heads. A top flight Group N carburetted 202 can make a reliable 330BHP all day... and that makes for a pretty quick car in the right hands. The steerer in the LJ in this footage can really drive. A typical Group N engine is all he would need. Whoever is steering that LJ is driving it at ten tenths, lap after lap & setting the car up perfectly. That supreme skill is what's on show.
@@johnbrooks9523 I was nearly ready to put a 221 (3.6) litre ford crank in my 202 when I rebuilt it, but that project didn't happen. mainly the cost factor at the time. oh the days of our youth.
@@rossball647 The Falcon crank makes big torque at low RPMs. I use a tweaked 202 crank in the good ol'186. I wouldn't do it again now. Mine was built as a speedway cheater engine for an LC because back in DreamTime 202s weren't allowed in LCs & the guys with logbooked LJs had the drop on us with their 202s. The light 202 bottom end revs to insanity as opposed to the 235 cube Falcon crank luggers. A high revving 202 makes 330 BHP on carburettors. We were lucky to get 250 BHP out of the 235s because they refuse to rev.
Getcherself an alarm clock, set it, wait for it to go off & pay attention. When you see smoke pouring off all 4 tyres on a Chev powered 4 speed RacePrepped Nova & you comment as you have, it's pretty easy to see who's asleep & dreaming.
Of course not! . . . Imagine those dumb barges clanging into each other trying to keep up with little 6 cylinder Toranas. Not worth the risk. Better to just crawl along & let the Toranas race.
Someone who *really* understands those narrow, skittish early Toranas, has set up that white one's suspension *very* well indeed. Chances are, it's the driver who extracted every scrap out of it. So impressive to watch! 👏
Oh yeah, the driver was on the edge and not willing to settle for a position back down the field!
This dude set up that car perfectly! The suspension put all the weight where he wanted it. Awesome driving.
Your assessment is bang on the money! That little LJ is set up perfectly & has no trouble getting away from allcomers.
Nothing from that era outcorners an LJ, but catching the Mustang on the straight really impressed me.👍
Had two LJ's and even with it's limited adjustment you can still get them to stick like shit to a blanket even with it's undeveloped 6 it did very well with some mindful mod's.
Oh how life was so much easier back then.
@@Ricky-nq7lu red sixes were so easy to work on too. I had a 202 and a very tight budget. I took the head off and had bigger valves fitted. While the head was off l slipped in a 604 grind XU1 cam ( that was the lumpiest one). Bolted a set of 1+3/4 triple SU strombergs ( off an XU1) and some 2nd hand extractors with a 2inch exhaust. That car felt like a rocket to 18yo me!
All mechanical work done on the back lawn under a shady tree.
I agree, life was so much simpler then.
The good old days working on the good old cars. I miss my little red LJ GTR back in 85 :(
@@burniezarsoff4118 . Yeah . Red Motors were easy to work with . Strong , reliable and you COULD make them go remarkably well .
The lines that Torrie can take are so tight. Great driving, great car!😘
... despite the shot right rear suspension!
Wow! I love this driver! He makes openings.
Great driving, lifting front wheel up!
No shit! Magnets for wheels!
@@renjitjayamohan
We deliberately set them up with soft rear and stiff front suspension. The outside front tyre has to carry the bulk of the weight of the ENTIRE CAR on corners and tying the 2 front corners together with a heavy front sway bar utilises both sides of the front suspension even though the inside wheel is dangling. The engine, gearbox & driver are the heaviest items in the car & in an LJ, all that weight is at the front. So the front must be stiff.
The rear must be soft so that both rear tyres remain in contact with the road & so both can transmit power even out of corners when an inside front is off the deck. This particular car is obviously quick. That would never be the case if the right rear was defective in any way. This car is very well set up & the steerer knows exactly how to get the best out of it.
No battle - just a little Torana with a great driver doing what Toranas did best.
Power to weight is GOLD🏅 on this torana. little rocket around the bends.
He’s a learner who was on a Sunday drive, got lost and ended up on the track and can’t find the exit! 🤣👏
That Torana is hustling 👏👏👏
He seems to like the inside line.
@@gordonclark7632 . Yeah . If you stuff it up a bit , you have the width of the Track to gather it back up that way .
Every true racer knows that it is a combination of driver skill and car/team set up that ultimately moves through the pack...the term battle does not exist when you know what you are doing.
Jesus! Look at the corner speed of that Torry 😂😂
He was not afraid to tip it in and send it to get the positions back!
Someone give that guy some sway bars! What a drive!
Whew! Definitely some pucker-factor when that Nova got all locked up. I thought that was going to get ugly.
Yeah, we were worried in that moment that all three drivers were about to have a bad time.
But everyone survived, soooo good.
Dude wanted to retake him but after that scare he accepted that car was faster n just coasted the rest of the way..lol
The moment when that Nova thought he could outbrake the Torana.🤣
Going that hard in a old classic like that must be quite the experience....
The driver of the white Torana is one hell of a skilful driver! What a joy to watch. Magic!
I think the " Fat Arm " is a rubber dummy . For intimidation purposes . That Torana GOES ! A lot of Air-time for Nearside Steer Tyres going on .
Love Aussie racing. Cars we wished we'd got in the UK!
Does that little white coupe look familiar?... It should! It's basicly a Vauxhall Viva with a stretched nose to accept our local GM Holden 3.3L 6Banger engines. We do what we have to to out here in the antipodes... You sent us Vivas from Pomgolia & they were hopeless. So, we fixed 'em up a bit!
@@johnbrooks9523 they were pretty hopeless. The Firenza with the 2.3 litre was a bit better.
@@retromechanicalengineer
There are literally thousands of surviving Viva/Toranas here. There are probably about a hundred that have been developed for various classes of MotorSport. This footage is just a tiny sample of Group N where the rules dictate keeping the basic machinery like engine, box, diff & suspension period correct. These tiny little Toranas really irritate the clods who spend vast fortunes on bulky, heavy, local & imported Muscle Cars. A piddly little Torana with it's original 202 cube Holden engine really upsets the clods, simply because the little Torana looks completely innocent & harmless. But, as you can see... these things are absolute rocketships in the right hands. They are a tad track deficient & many have ended up shiny side down over the years, but that narrowness is a great advantage since a narrow car can fit into a narrow space in a corner between the barges. The big cube V8 barges often blast away on the straights and sometimes if you are close enough, you can actually see driver's faces in their helmets smirking because they think they've got away. Those looks of gratification soon change to looks of horror when the Torana reels the barge in under brakes, noses up the inside of the barge, gets it's power down, drops it's arse, lifts it's nose, dangles an inside front wheel and literally drives away out of the corners. This sort of behaviour is often infuriating for those pedalling big powerful cars. Toranas were successful here from the minute they were born. For years on end they literally ran away with rally championships, sprint chamionships, the big name enduros & drag racing. Many had great little Holden V8s fitted & saw service in our Sports Sedan category. Those who love the bigger, heavier traditional muscle cars often go berserk & literally hate these little cars. It bothers them that the cheap, diminutive little car has shown the barges up as barges & you'll see these comments here. These comments just make us split our sides laughing.
The Poms sent us these little Vivas & the basic design was good. We just tweaked a few things, stuffed strong reliable engines & gear boxes in 'em & the rest is history.
A funny fact: Get a good look side on at any of these Viva/Holden Toranas & you'll notice something out of proportion in the rear wheel arch on every one of them... This is because the rear quarter panels, wheel tubs and floor pan are all basicly Vauxhall Viva. But Australian conditions were still pretty rough in the early '70s and the original Viva design was to accept tiny little 12 inch wheels which were inadequate on outback roads. So every 6 cylinder Torana ever made was fitted with 13s. This makes the rear side of the Torana look a little weird since Holden stuffed these bigger 13 inch wheels into wheel arches the Poms designed to only accommodate 12s. You look at these cars & you think... something is out of proportion here, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Check it out... The back wheels are further back & are too big to look right in those little Pomgolian Viva wheel arches.
If you ever get a chance, head out to Lakeside Raceway to the north of Brisbane Queensland when the Toranas are doing their thing. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED! Bring a spare hanky for those in the barges when they burst into tears.
@@johnbrooks9523 I'd be lucky to make it out to Australia but if I ever did I'd check out the racing. I have to make do with UA-cam! Thanks for taking the time to provide so much information.
@@retromechanicalengineer
You are most welcome. Bear in mind, I live in a colonised country. My grandparents all migrated here from Pomgolia on steamships early last century. My Grandmother's middle name was Osterley since she was born on that migrant ship (the Osterley) on the way over. We have a large population of convict stock here who struggle with written English as is evidenced herein amongst the comments. BUT DON'T BE FOOLED! What Australians may lack in grammar is more than made up for in their amazing survival & innovative capabilities! My counterparts sometimes don't bother to spell all that well, but that doesn't stop them from turning garden variety family hacks into beautifully prepared, highly effective race weaponry. Our racetracks come alive most weekends with supremely well engineered & very nicely driven, cost effective cars that scare the hell out of the elites with their big dollar machines. You witness this stuff and it brings tears to your eyes! David hammers Goliath here relentlessly on a regular basis & man, doesn't it make you feel good.
The only drawback here is the offspring of the nastyarse uniformed clods despatched here. These fools are out & about & thuggery is their paid job. I've had 40 years of car chases on public roads. A lot of older technology racecars were laying around & cheap as chips when I was a kid with next to no jingle. My hobby was to strip all the go fast goodies out of those outdated racecars and screw all the hot bits into my 30 dollar 1950s road cars... and.... I drove them accordingly!
It is no longer safe to practice such hijinx. The patrolling armed thugs now have the power to confiscate & crush & the no conscience government makes it happen. So, to be safe, we have to utilise our racetracks & fortunately some footage makes it onto YT. I recommend digging around for material on YT from Baskerville Tasmania. Tassie was a notorious penal colony and the resultant surviving Tasmaniacs are really brilliant preparers & racers in older Early Model Holdens.
Australia has been an amazing adventure & full of opportunity & I am truly proud to have lived here all my life. Sadly, it is all coming unravelled now as the N W O homes in on us. We're losing ground fast, but we live in hope that we can find a way to fend off the globalist attack that is upon us & hellbent on returning us to prisoner status. We are a resillient breed here, however, the population has grown rather fat, lazy & complacent in recent years. We're innovators & those who attack us will find themselves confounded as we think up methods of resistance that are beyond their limited imaginations & soggy experience.
I have many friends here who migrated last century. Between us we should manage to keep abreast of what the globalists want to ram down our throats. Once we get things back on an even keel, you must venture over & experience Australia & Australians. Many have & many never return home. There is a lot to love here & we enjoy showing visitors around, so head over when the coast is clear.
He has that thing hooked up.
Beautiful set up, and excellent driving
Great driver in a great car. Toranas were rock solid machines with a very rigid body.
Great piece of driving.
Now there's a confident man!!
Knows his car, and is sure of his pace!
That thing handles like a dream
Watching this... I miss my old Torri, it had the slopiest gear linkages that only a seasoned holden driver could handle without popping it out, The offset steering wheel, and that red motor roar.
🤩
The way 82 hooked around turn 1 was amazing. That car looked perfect
Nice driving, a joy to watch. Thank you.
Hes got this set up superbly...normally LJ Toranas are terminal understeerers
Set up & a driver who knows how to peddle the car to its' maximum. It's a sight to behold!
The LC/LJ front end responds well with some really simple modifications that are permitted in Group N. The same old rules regarding all Early Holdens work miracles on Early Toranas. The worst thing you can do is stiffen up the rear. They may look a bit unstable & loose on 205-60-13 street tyres, but the numbers on the time sheets stack up. The LC/LJ Torana is a very potent weapon once set up by a guru. Seeing them out on their own doesn't convey how crazy fast they really are. But, when you see one outbrake, outcorner & out perform American muscle cars like in this footage you can get a clearer picture of why these cramped little family hacks won at Bathurst against Australia's best GTHO Falcons & E49 Chargers.
I see wankers, dreamers & muppets commenting here & bagging our little local Torana Giant Killers... Well, if I'd spent a quarter of a million bucks on some dumb caveman barge & got beaten by someone with a teensy LJ, I'd be shitty too... But, I aint that dumb in the first place.
@@johnbrooks9523 Yes, i remember seeing a gaggle of them a few years back at Lakeside. I was quite surprised at how hard they went, and how the drivers really stuffed them into the corners.
@@billoddiea
It all started back in 1969 when a Brisbane local got hold of a 161 LC GTR. That guy removed the head, cam, triple 2"SUs & tuned length pipes from his EH, stuck the lot in the LC & got busy at Lakeside. He won the QLD Touring Car Championships for years on end with that car & several other Early Toranas. But you never hear about it. That history has been kept quiet, since that Brisbane local shifted across to the Ford camp in 1975...
That Brisbane local who ran the Shell servo on Logan Road at Woolloongabba was... DICK JOHNSON!
By 1975, Johnson had acquired an exHDT LJ XU1, added his own fine tuning & was leading races at Lakeside against Brock in an L34, Charlie O'Brien in an L34, Goss in an XA GT Hardtop & every other "victim" who ventured up from down south for ATCC race meetings at Lakeside. Johnson built faster 6cylinder Toranas than the HDT! Hard to believe. But, the history books have documented all of it...
Find a text book entitled: Dick Johnson. The real story of a folk hero. You won't believe your eyes.
Having owned a few Toranas & raced one, that was an impressive drive in a car with a terrible steering design from the factory.
Reverse Ackerman makes Toranas a handful, but he certainly has this one sorted so he can peddle it with confidence.
impressive
In the groove as they say.
Some tricky suspension geometry there. Using the body roll to induce passive rear turn-in!
A well set up car and great bit of driving
What a Drive in the Torrie, reminded me of Brocky with the elbow out! Who is that Guy?
Drive like a boss 😎😎😎😎😎😎
Yeah he did. It was an absolute thrilling drive back through the field!
Proud to have owned both LC AND LJ,ripper little rockets,if I knew the statute of limitations, of traffic events,I could tell a few tales of on road adventures .
He does not have an active suspension, but tho, it's also not passive. It works. Don't know what or how but it works
Now that is being in the zone.
Like my Dad running to the Supermarket between Cartoon Connection and Good Morning Australia .
Insane road positioning
Beautiful little boat cars 😍
It's almost as if he never lifted.......what an amazing drive!
Re the thumbnail for this clip, is "fat arming" some new term? if it is well it's how I've driven for the last fifty years and many before me over the decades.
Apart from all that what can I say but I LOVE THE OLD TORANA and I always will.
great racing
Is this modern day or historic footage? Awesome either way but if modern day with the issue of possibly having to find damaged panels, so cool to see these cars going soooo hard.
Look at the cars outside the field. Definitly modern
@@nikkoss1128 Cheers, good call I missed that. To intent on the racing.
@@Rahhhhhnman
These meetings are going on all over the place.... Go have a look. You'll have the time of your life!
I have ridden my Honda NSR on that circuit. I seized the engine on the fast left hander at the end of the straight.
Getting up on 3 wheels around some Courners
Wow..somebody knows how to set up their car!
How did I know that Fairlane was gonna have trouble on turn two and the Torrie would nail it?🇦🇺🤔
He must have been standing on em hard in the Fairlane to get all 4 drum brakes to lock up.😂
@@burniezarsoff4118 Chevy nova mate
@@michaeledwards8058 l looked again, you are right. I presumed Fairlane because first comment called it one.🙃
@@burniezarsoff4118 I had to look twice too 😎
@@michaeledwards8058
Correct... Built in QLD about 10 or 15 years ago by guru Garry Brown of Street & Strip engines on the Gold Coast. It's either lost the 450BHP 327 & close ratio Muncie that Garry had in it or the pilot on the day wasn't comfortable in it. It was a front running car early in it's racing carreer.... Little LJ definitely had no trouble getting amongst the pidgeons.
Payce is on the payce. Massive ghoulies!
Bravo, complimenti
Now that's a real driver! Move over Hamilton!
That right rear is sca reamin!
My mum had a Torana, she named it Tilly. 🤭👆
Wow!
Lucky I wasn"t there with My Mean as LS1 HSV VZ Wagon ..
Instead of anti-sway bars to help the car to corner flat it has what's called sway bars which causes the car to lean way over and it just sticks like glue. Hehe. I've never seen anything like it
I learnt 2 drive in an xu1 torana dad allways said they were a pretty hard car 2 drive fast.it was a green one was that a factory colour then or do you think it was just a spray job.great driving 👍
One of these with a v8 in, would have been awesome. (I believe it would have been called the XU2)
There was one built by GM and sent around all the GM Dealers conferences, had a good look at it on a car carrier, was supposed to be tarped, but conned the truck driver to let us have a look, it was a mean looking machine!
Those Toranas look like Opels from the 70's/80's. Were they related?
He drives like I cant...
Shit hot drive. Just look at him get on the gas out of turn 1 and swamp the Mustang.
Just the man you want when you rob a bank
No replacement for displacement has just been replaced by no replacement for skill...
Driver mod trumps all others
The only thing that looked a bit funny on the LC & LJ torana was that the steering wheel was not central to the driver’s seat. (Still love them, though)
It ain't handling if it ain't leaning! Geez I miss my '73 XU-1.
Any BL videos with Ford Escort
What event is this? Is it annual?
These events are usually run over several meetings at local tracks and form local championships. Local clubs run them. If you were based in QLD you might contact Lakeside Control tower on a weekend to seek an annual program for upcoming events. In VIC you might contact the Philip Island Circuit or in NSW, your nearest racing venue. These meetings are held at tracks all over Australia on alternate weekends. Some competitors race in several states.
There are several categories catering for Historic RaceCars. Group N covers all sedans built before 1973 & Group N is basicly what is covered in this footage. There are classes for Street Cars that are also eligible for Group N.
Contact any RaceTrack Control Tower. They're usually very helpful.
Look at the fkn body roll on those cars lol.
What engine is in that Torana?
VERY GOOD QUESTION!
It doesn't appear to be a Group N Historic car. As a Group N car it would have to run a 202 block and period correct cast iron 9 port head.
As a "Club" car, it could have a Falcon crank & any of several available big horsepower aftermarket heads.
A top flight Group N carburetted 202 can make a reliable 330BHP all day... and that makes for a pretty quick car in the right hands. The steerer in the LJ in this footage can really drive. A typical Group N engine is all he would need. Whoever is steering that LJ is driving it at ten tenths, lap after lap & setting the car up perfectly. That supreme skill is what's on show.
@@johnbrooks9523 I was nearly ready to put a 221 (3.6) litre ford crank in my 202 when I rebuilt it, but that project didn't happen. mainly the cost factor at the time. oh the days of our youth.
@@rossball647
Have a look at Bill Mago's comment & check out the replies... We discuss 186 Strokers!
@@rossball647
The Falcon crank makes big torque at low RPMs. I use a tweaked 202 crank in the good ol'186. I wouldn't do it again now. Mine was built as a speedway cheater engine for an LC because back in DreamTime 202s weren't allowed in LCs & the guys with logbooked LJs had the drop on us with their 202s. The light 202 bottom end revs to insanity as opposed to the 235 cube Falcon crank luggers. A high revving 202 makes 330 BHP on carburettors. We were lucky to get 250 BHP out of the 235s because they refuse to rev.
Simply out-cornering everything in front of them. Makes it look easy, but of course, it’s not.
Driving like a cat on acid pretty smooth really
Torana looks so fast, because another drivers are refraining.
Getcherself an alarm clock, set it, wait for it to go off & pay attention.
When you see smoke pouring off all 4 tyres on a Chev powered 4 speed RacePrepped Nova & you comment as you have, it's pretty easy to see who's asleep & dreaming.
Who needs 4 wheels anyway!
Was that an rx disapearing?
Large and long car loose at the corner ...!
Stiffer suspension might help lol
Check out #85!
haha Holden had to make a tiny little car to be lite to contest the big powerful ford's,
Wringing it's neck !
When you have Velcro tyres ...
This is more like it real racing . Not parts store car stuff
ha I miss my baby. regret selling. V8 LJ rule
Never try to outbrake a LJ lol
3 wheeler haha
When sending it, you "save" on tyre wear sometimes 😂
Ra ra ljs
They really are something special!
Speed aint worth shit (on a track, and in a field, like this) if u can't stick it in the corners.
call me crazy but I would rather watch races like this then woke nascar,
Ate five for breakfast.
his tires wont last to much longer
Only got to last to the end of the race we guess!
The torana is a boring as watching paint dry 🥱
He doesn't care about his car or his competitors...I have better many better car simply by thrashing mine
Nova and mustang drivers didn't want to wreck their cars with that piece of crap.
Of course not! . . . Imagine those dumb barges clanging into each other trying to keep up with little 6 cylinder Toranas. Not worth the risk. Better to just crawl along & let the Toranas race.