Al Turner is still alive and well and living in Florida. A friend had dinner with him 2 weeks ago. A true gentleman of racing -- as opposed to some others I could name -- in OZ and the US.RB
you could buy camaros at holden dealers in 1971,, Mcgraths in liverpool had Z/28s in their showroom in liverpool for sale, RHD and i dont know why chrysler didnt put a v8 car on the track.
Super footage. Never been to Bathurst but remember the races of the time at Symmons Plains and Longford. So fortunate to witness drivers like Allan Moffat, Norm Beechy, Robin Pare, Bob Jane and so many others. Takes me back.
These memories. I loved everyone who was into cars at the time, a was a mechanic, part of the Chrysler Valiants service centre.. We've modified a lot of Valiants 64-70. Our workshop used to be near the original Alan Coffey Ford as South Melbourne, now Southbank (at the time they relocated to Dandenong and been there for years) near where the Westgate Freeway is and just off Montague Street. Everything was razed down to make room for the Westgate Freeway. Only memories are left now, but the legends live on in films.
Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end... Moffat and McPhee, one two. Moff's first Bathurst win. I was there, on Skyline. It was the day after my 17th birthday, A Ford win was a good present.
that was SO GREAT!!! Oh the glory days. So wish I could walk into one of THOSE dealerships TODAY. Only in my dreams unfort. Still own '70s and 80's cars now, not interested in plastic bumpered eco boxes. Modern tech is great for engines, brake and suspension- but can all be adapted to old sheet metal. The best of both world is available if you want it enough...
What a GREAT documentary! Back when Four Corners was apolitical and worth watching and back when Mike Willesee was the top cat!Oh....and also back when it was enjoyable to watch Australian motor racing.
I remember seeing this the first time it was on ABC tv fifty years ago. Mike Willesee was Australia's Walter Cronkite. This was a time when every boy was mesmerised by the Hardie Ferodo 500 Bathurst race .... dang, I still am, but those GTS Monaros and GTHO days were simply grand.
You betchya. My old friend Mary, her husband and 2 boys attended Bathurst Races religiously during the 60s and 70s and on. At 94 Mary was still known as a petrol head. I bought a stock Hemi Pacer 265 in 1978. A friend of mine could testify, I had that bad boy doing 127 miles per hour regularly. I now drive a little Suzuki but I miss the good old days. I never injured anyone but had fun before the World went down the toilet. I earned the name BURNOUT before Summernats. If any of my ex Students are out there, catch up.
Fascinating from so many aspects... I couldn't believe the comments from the 1961 Vauxhall Cresta Bathurst winner who said how the cars racing in 1970 bore no relationship to the cars sold in the showroom, which was clearly false. That guy would turn over in his grave if he saw the cars racing at Bathurst in 2016, which truly are TOTALLY different to the cars sold in dealership showrooms, which is primary reason I haven't watched a Bathurst race in over 20 years!
That win by the Cresta wasn't at Bathurst but the very first of the Armstrong 500's when it was held at Philip Island. So the 1960, 1961 and 1962 races were held there before changing over to the Bathurst Armstrong 500 in 1963.
I have this on DVD. Great to see it surface on You Tube for everyone to see. Interesting to compare the three team bosses, Harry Firth hands on and in the workshop with Al Turner dressed for a wedding sitting behind his desk. And how young is John Ellis, Chryslers man? Exciting times that I remember well, and 1971 was even more exciting with the Phase 3 GTHO Falcon and the Valiant Charger E38! Thank you Super 100MPH, Chevron and the ABC.
this pre-dates my existence by 12 years but is still extremely interesting and a great insight into the bathurst scene back then. Those cars sounded way more.. beefy than modern cars, maybe its just a difference in the technology, it was good sound!
The Fox, the slick manager and the young fella. Great viewing. And haven't heard that 4 Corners tune for a long time. Thanks for posting from a Mopar tragic.
What a fantastic insight into a bygone age. As a Pom who correctly pronounces it "BAFF-Hurst" this is really interesting to work out the machinations from the different teams of that era. I reckon this 4 Corners programme was the ABC's equivalent of Top Gear, well before the Clarkson/May/Hammond era. ps - RIP Holden.
A one off ABC 4 Corners episode. Still running weekly from its 1961 start. Some say inspired by BBC Panorama. Lots of comments below about the trends in the ABC and 4 Corners. The ABC in the mid seventies to around 1980 did present a weekly car focused show called Torque. With Peter Wherrett giving his opinions on new released cars and later the Marque series. Some can be found on UA-cam. So possibly well before the first Top Gear.
This was great to see. I think what the Datsun guy said was right. The big three should have had to sell 5000 cars not just 200. Imagine the great cars we would have still. As so few were made we only have 25 Torana’s still around today. I’m a valiant guy and this was great to watch as I never knew Valiant’s raced like Ford and Holden. My second car was a 1965 AP6 I bought for $400 in 1990 as a young kid. I loved that car until it was stolen in 2004. It broke my heart losing that car. To replace it today would cost over $20,000. I’m happy that my kids are growing up and will soon be out of school so as they go to private school I’ll have money to buy my dream car a Valiant Charger vitamin C orange. I’m not buying a new car again that costs $30,000 then 5 years later your lucky to get $5-10,000 trade in. I’m buying a valiant for around $15-20,000 and putting money into it and it will only go up in value.
Birdy Wirdy the 25 cars I was talking about were the first XU-1’s made for the 69-70 Bathurst. There is a book about Torana’s it has photos of the rarest and race models. I read it over 15 years ago so I could have mixed up the car and or number. But I’m sure it was the original small XU-1’s. I also wish they had made the 5000 because there would be more around. I could buy an old car in the 90’s and early 2000’s for under a grand. Then the government went and ruined old cars for good by bringing out that $2000 buy back of any car. So many old cars were lost. Now that’s bought up the prices. Cars worth $1000 20-15 years ago are worth $10,000 now it’s ridiculous and I’m pretty pissed off with what the government did. Also those fools that sold up all the old cars. Just getting a parts car now is so costly parts are now like gold, rare.
I had the great privelege of meeting Harry Firth at Melbourne during the Formula One week, introduced to me by another dear friend Trevor Fry, who has passed on, an absolute gentleman!
All I had was an EH with a 186s, worked with a 149 Stage 3 Yella Terra head, 3/4 Race Cam, 650cfm Holley, Tuned Extractors, Balanced, Mags etc. She picked up her skirts and took off when pedal was at the metal. Not a bad daily driver also. Sold her to a guy who got it defected by the Cops in Hindley Street and then he broke it.
Orans now a sub division.. went out there and only a bit of straight left but all houses.. owners got nearly 900 million for the land and promised to build a new track !!! Still waiting... I’m glad I fanged around that track before it closed in a 72 Torana ...over the flip flop was thrilling..
More than competitive. My Hemi 265 was legendary. People still talk about it. 127 miles an hour and still climbing. Only Ford 351 cars could compete. At 120mph the Fords crawled past me. Hats off to Ford GTHO.
Did you know Mike? I did, and his sister Geri. They were both creeps. Mike was a drunk, and Geri wanted me to use my Army contacts to steal grenades and other munitions for the IRA. RIP if you want, but he is not worth it.
I watched this in 1970 and now watching this again, cant see any full sized Holdens but keep seeing this Vauxhall torana with a lion badge, Ford were running their Falcons and Chrysler were running their Valiant, both full sized. I didn't see Cortinas or Centuras to compete fairly with the Torana.
I can't really see what body size has to do with it, you do realise the Torana had "full-size" six in it? even if it does sound a bit puny even for that era at 160hp for what was then a 2.6 litre engine.
Interesting to see Oran Park early in this piece. This was before the 'Grand Prix loop" was put in to extend what was then the full circuit but would become the short South Circuit. Had to laugh at Harry Firth's assertion that he worked for a 'Dealer Council'. Roughly translated that should read John Bagshaw at Holden lol
fantastic stuff. remember the cars mentioned as a 9 years old brand new. as a mitsubishi motors tonsley employee(the site where the valiants chargers etc were made) I love this
Although they used the American A body,the engine,3 speed trans and diff were all Australian. I remember the pacer had the pace but the engine was the 245 and it took a good driver to get one to move at the absolute limit to keep the cheating Fords at bay. I reckon Firms like Shelby were supplying the engines and the fourspeed trans gave them an edge,plus all of the different diff ratios available to them.As mustangs were simply a falcon in a fancy frock, there was a lot of know how being fed to the OZ teams back then. I have a customer who owned two Pacers, a red one and a blue one and the brakes were pretty ordinary,being locally made PBR units. We cured a lot of the brake issues by installing an extra booster under the backseats for the drums. If the cars had been built in the US,things like B body brakes, the mopar locking diffs, and the fourspeed trans could have been used,and if the front brakes were still no good,a set of imperial discs would have cured that.
Looking back, it was a fantastic era for enthusiast owners cars. The overall financial climate was favourable, petrol was reasonably priced, and we had an abundance of manufacturers producing affordable and desirable cars. Huge shame that they all pulled the plug on Australia.
The critics have a point. These magnificent cars were a bit too fast and powerful for the relatively primitive handling, safety features and brakes built into them. Present "specials" built by Ford and GM are WAY safer and easier to drive than the XU-1's and GTHO's of yesterday. Mind you, I'd still love to own a Phase III!!!
That was one of the big arguments behind the supercar scare of the early 70s. I've always felt that having a performance vehicle built from the ground up is 1000% safer than some drunken bogan shoehorning a big V8 into a bog standard car though. Also by restricting cars as they did in the 70s they also restricted innovation and development in the local industry, probably the first nail in the coffin leading to the closures now.
Wow I wish there were more of these around. I saw Firths operation near glen ferrite. A smallish garage with 3 or 4 cars stuffed in. When the cars they were hardly pristine with rough superficial body repairs and awful paint jobs .. The money spent then was a joke. My dad had a GTS307 company car with 4 speed Muncie transmission top speed 115mph . This car did not even have radial tyres. The first car. I drove on the road, it really was a lethal beast, with awful brakes. Even then teams were driving cars up to Bathurst. Harry Firth may have had a couple of trailers given to him for the race but not much more. As he said he knew where the money came from. Moffat is on record as saying something like " what were we thinking driving those cars at Bathurst at the speed they were doing when the brake pedal would often go to the floor" It is amazing driver safety hardly rates a word. These guys were crazy driving these beasts, but we the fans loved them.
None of the factory road going versions of any of the cars that raced Bathurst in the last 30 or so years have been anywhere near the spec of the racing cars either. There would’ve been a lot more than a public scare if the road spec GTRs rolled off the production line pushing near 700hp and able to scrape the 300km/h barrier in the late 80s/early 90s. I do agree it’s a shame they ended up ceasing development in the way they did, as it very well could have been the first catalyst for the death of motor production in Australia. But it is amazing how quick cars from the 70s are, especially in relation to their braking and handling capabilities.
i saw it live as a kid,, warwick farm,, oran park,, amaroo and bathurst in black and white every lap every year till the dick johnson rock episode. Looking back the cars were pretty lame, A 4 door falcon with a boss 351 mustang driveline, a vauxhall with a 186 HR motor and a few carbys called a torana and a valiant 6cyl slant or 6 straight banger that had 225hp from the factory. The Class on the door said it all, Cheap cars racing an expensive car, class C,D,E If this was America the Torana would have been a Z/28 Camaro 350 and the Valiant a 340 Barracuda. then its GAME ON.,,,,, 1970,71 Holden had the 350 Monaro sitting in the shed and Chrysler had a V8 available sitting in the shed.
I'm pretty sure the factory where Ford prepared their race cars is still there in Keon Pde, Thomastown. Victoria. It's also interesting to note that Harry Firth originally drove for Ford and also became the Team Manager later moving to the Holden Dealer Team. He won the 1962 Armstrong 500 (at Phillip Island) in a Ford Works Team Ford Falcon XL with Bob Jane and again in 1963 (first time held at Bathurst) with Bob Jane in a MK1 Ford Cortina GT. ( This actually made it a hat trick of wins because he also won the Amstrong 500 at Phillip Island with Bob Jane in 1961 in a Mercedes Benz 220SE before joining Ford.) Finally, again winning the Gallagher 500 (Bathurst) in 1967 with Fred Gibson in a Ford Falcon XRGT.
Me too. My younger brother is still jealous of my Hemi 265 after 40 years. He has a modern XR8 and tells me it would kick the ass of my old car. I dont say anything, just wonder. Does he ring my Grandfather and brag that his XR8 is faster than a Model T Ford?
@@MrStevie57 The 318 was a kick ass motor. I agree, give me a 318 anyday. In the Snowy mountains a friend had a 318 Valiant VC with a 318. Im still jealous.
The Supercar furore was just that. A media beat up. By a couple of journos who should have known better. IF you had the bucks you could have bought any of those cars, when they had the orders they would build them! Though the workshops,,, Especially Harrys, very basic but those cars won regularly, circuits, rally and rallycross as well. And in hindsight having owned all of those cars [and Monaros as well] over the decades they actually were quite good cars for long distance touring. The Falcon especially. Though it was the hungriest as a racecar! As for Roxborous sour grapes, maybe why CAMS was so backward under his reign.
The Phase IV, V8 Torana and proposed V8 Charger (though Crysler execs to this day still deny it despite known testing by Leo and Pete Geoghegan at Mallala) were labeled "Bullets on wheels" by NSW Transport Minister Milton Morris. But as some argued, the well heeled could still go buy an imported Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar etc, all of which had performance capabilities that rivaled or bettered the Aussie cars, and they could still go kill themselves driving those as much they could any of the proposed Aussie V8's. I agree about Roxburgh. He really was a bit backwards (old fashioned) in his thinking. Ironically by the 1980s he was actually the FIA delegate for motor racing in Australia (CAMS) and New Zealand (MotorSport New Zealand).
Check out what the USA racing scene was like, you have WYNNS friction modifiers, which FORD used to hand out as part of the service kits for the FORD Australian built cars, now to find a WYNNS Service kit in a FORD these days is almost impossible. :) I know because i used to work for WYNNS in Melbourne Selling Wynns Engineering Friction Modifiers for Hi End friction applications, back in 2001 :)
Check out the crowds!! Why? Because everyone could relate to what was being thrashed around the track....all those Bathurst models are worth the price of Rolls Royce now
I remembered those cars as A Kid ( My Father was a motoring Writer for the Age at the time ) And he would bring home a different new car most weeks , Lots of memories ⁉️👍👍👍😂
Not really. It was the likes of Evan Green, a motoring journo who believed that these vehicles were too powerful for the general public. Then the Government of the time stepped in and advised the auto makers that anyone that continued with the Hi po race, would be excluded from government contracts....A lucrative business for the big three.
@@wizzard5442 I recall the argument was that these cars woul end up in the hands of everyday drivers after a few years and that road toll was the final nail.
@@flamingfrancis I remember that too and they are now in the hands of everyday drivers but not driven because of their rarity. But there are now smaller (turbo-charged) and affordable cars that are quicker than the 67 XR Falcon GT. And nobody is kicking up a stink about that, let alone cars that are quicker than the HO's.
why is it so hard to find out about what really happened to all the so called super scare cars and parts especially all the chrysler bits they shipped over from usa
Watching this at the end of the Coronavirus pandemic we are literally watching brand new cars, 50 years ago, now worth upwards of half a Million dollars each. I cringe when I see any of them run off the circuit or roll over on those skinny tyres. I'm not greedy...I'll take the Shar she Blue 4BBL Pacer thanks!!
The mood and temperament of people, is very very much similar, to how Danish people behave and talk Edit* If Denmark were to be a cartoon character, it would be a mouse. Kinda like the ones from Cinderella. Cautious and sparse but courageous
Wheres bill Bourkes XW NOW, RE: the 429 Beast that was seen along the geelong freeway doing over 150 miles per hour, think about it for a second a 429 Shelby did not even do that speed, also i am not a FORD man, it just proves that those people who own GT GTHO'S push the price up & at one time you needed over $1,000.000 to buy an total original un painted un restored with low KM original HO, yet the same car now you can get for just over 300,000 ? YET HOLDENS Winning cars at the same time period, were going for chips Talk about control over the market, i feeel that these days its evened out a little, i should have kept my Gold XB GT, but in saying that they are going for about 30 to 40K in original Condition. :)
mark the xw of bill bourke was a special sent over to america and fitted out with the big block 428 cobra jet and shaker in black and gold stripe and still lives fully restored in australia ' read about it in australian muscle car mag
@@BCBtrucks64 I have been in the Bill Bourke xw gtho it was for sale in Adelaide in approx 1979 they had the article from the car magazine that it was in years earlier in the widow to show who's car it had been. It was the only auto gtho made it was black with a fine silver metallic flake it had xa style high back bucket seats shaker 428 bb ford and gtho badge on the glove box lid it had vaccum tank etc big36 gal fuel tank i wanted to buy it but couldn't raise the money at the time but about a year later i did buy a genuine jg33 xy gt nugget gold with a 4 speed ......cheers
....FFAARRKK!!!!Seeing that GTHO 351 Bathurst engine at full song on the dyno!!and the crank in the block,knowing it's gonna be spinning over 6k down Conrod straight!!!!nuff to make one shoot in their duds!!!!
RIP. The latest Commodore might be the only decent car they had. Never driven one but, too little, too late. They were building cars that no-one wanted ignoring the market trends in spite of getting a Government boost of millions. The best 6 cylinder car from Australia was the Mitsubishi 380. I had two of them as company vehicles . Sadly my 380 LX was written off by a clown going through a red light. Would have been interesting to watch a race car version of that at Bathurst.
![1992 Bathurst 1000 - Nissan GTR vs Ford Sierra [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AtzQPCkHzfc/mqdefault.jpg)
![1992 Bathurst 1000 - Nissan GTR vs Ford Sierra [HD]](/img/tr.png)
What an era unfortunately long gone and never to be seen again.
True, the big 3 were awesome.
AND when someone came second or last they didnt blame a ROCK,, someone elses tyres,, another cars front bumper shape,, you moved on.
@@stevedriver1476 Sounds like you are still very bitter about some events. You need to move on.
I love the way the torsion bar front ends had the Valliants hooking up their inside front wheels on the tight corners.
Al Turner is still alive and well and living in Florida. A friend had dinner with him 2 weeks ago. A true gentleman of racing -- as opposed to some others I could name -- in OZ and the US.RB
Thanks for the info, people will be interested to hear that, we're sure!
you could buy camaros at holden dealers in 1971,, Mcgraths in liverpool had Z/28s in their showroom in liverpool for sale, RHD and i dont know why chrysler didnt put a v8 car on the track.
Super footage. Never been to Bathurst but remember the races of the time at Symmons Plains and Longford. So fortunate to witness drivers like Allan Moffat, Norm Beechy, Robin Pare, Bob Jane and so many others. Takes me back.
61 cars and all sorts of makes! That was the way to run a race. So much more interesting than now!
Tooright, I couldn't agree more.
I cannot stand todays touring cars, no excitment
@clayton E 🤣
It sounds nice. But the racing wasn't very close back then and I think would be quite boring to watch on the Telly.
@@MetalMania3DTV-TAS-AUS 🤘💐🐜🍹
These memories. I loved everyone who was into cars at the time, a was a mechanic, part of the Chrysler Valiants service centre.. We've modified a lot of Valiants 64-70. Our workshop used to be near the original Alan Coffey Ford as South Melbourne, now Southbank (at the time they relocated to Dandenong and been there for years) near where the Westgate Freeway is and just off Montague Street. Everything was razed down to make room for the Westgate Freeway. Only memories are left now, but the legends live on in films.
Oh God, how I loved the 70's, the cars, the industry, jobs and music bands. I purchased my HQ coupe LS 308 in 1978 - my first car. I still have it.
Is it black and red? That was a dream combo for the Monaro...
I still own the 2nd car I bought back in 85. LC XU1, cost me $2500.
@@jamescarney6894 Mine is white with black.
Good luck with it mate, I love the look of the LC/LJ Torana's.
Remember me in your Will.
Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end... Moffat and McPhee, one two. Moff's first Bathurst win. I was there, on Skyline. It was the day after my 17th birthday, A Ford win was a good present.
Thankyou for the story and sharing your memory.
that was SO GREAT!!! Oh the glory days. So wish I could walk into one of THOSE dealerships TODAY. Only in my dreams unfort. Still own '70s and 80's cars now, not interested in plastic bumpered eco boxes. Modern tech is great for engines, brake and suspension- but can all be adapted to old sheet metal. The best of both world is available if you want it enough...
That's the spirit old son.
What a GREAT documentary! Back when Four Corners was apolitical and worth watching and back when Mike Willesee was the top cat!Oh....and also back when it was enjoyable to watch Australian motor racing.
😅00⁰0000p9ppph
I remember seeing this the first time it was on ABC tv fifty years ago. Mike Willesee was Australia's Walter Cronkite. This was a time when every boy was mesmerised by the Hardie Ferodo 500 Bathurst race .... dang, I still am, but those GTS Monaros and GTHO days were simply grand.
You betchya. My old friend Mary, her husband and 2 boys attended Bathurst Races religiously during the 60s and 70s and on. At 94 Mary was still known as a petrol head. I bought a stock Hemi Pacer 265 in 1978. A friend of mine could testify, I had that bad boy doing 127 miles per hour regularly. I now drive a little Suzuki but I miss the good old days. I never injured anyone but had fun before the World went down the toilet. I earned the name BURNOUT before Summernats. If any of my ex Students are out there, catch up.
I'd almost forgotten that the ABC once was worth a place in our everyday lives, it's been so long
Great standards then and still no journos who take their directives from Murdoch.
Now ABC is ??????????????????????getting worse.
Fascinating from so many aspects...
I couldn't believe the comments from the 1961 Vauxhall Cresta Bathurst winner who said how the cars racing in 1970 bore no relationship to the cars sold in the showroom, which was clearly false.
That guy would turn over in his grave if he saw the cars racing at Bathurst in 2016, which truly are TOTALLY different to the cars sold in dealership showrooms, which is primary reason I haven't watched a Bathurst race in over 20 years!
That win by the Cresta wasn't at Bathurst but the very first of the Armstrong 500's when it was held at Philip Island. So the 1960, 1961 and 1962 races were held there before changing over to the Bathurst Armstrong 500 in 1963.
I have this on DVD. Great to see it surface on You Tube for everyone to see. Interesting to compare the three team bosses, Harry Firth hands on and in the workshop with Al Turner dressed for a wedding sitting behind his desk. And how young is John Ellis, Chryslers man? Exciting times that I remember well, and 1971 was even more exciting with the Phase 3 GTHO Falcon and the Valiant Charger E38! Thank you Super 100MPH, Chevron and the ABC.
My Mum’s first car was a Val. She says it was one of her favourites to drive.
this pre-dates my existence by 12 years but is still extremely interesting and a great insight into the bathurst scene back then. Those cars sounded way more.. beefy than modern cars, maybe its just a difference in the technology, it was good sound!
Australia has turned shit compared to the good old days of motor racing
Australia now makes shit look like caviar.
The Fox, the slick manager and the young fella. Great viewing. And haven't heard that 4 Corners tune for a long time. Thanks for posting from a Mopar tragic.
What a fantastic insight into a bygone age. As a Pom who correctly pronounces it "BAFF-Hurst" this is really interesting to work out the machinations from the different teams of that era.
I reckon this 4 Corners programme was the ABC's equivalent of Top Gear, well before the Clarkson/May/Hammond era.
ps - RIP Holden.
A one off ABC 4 Corners episode. Still running weekly from its 1961 start. Some say inspired by BBC Panorama. Lots of comments below about the trends in the ABC and 4 Corners. The ABC in the mid seventies to around 1980 did present a weekly car focused show called Torque. With Peter Wherrett giving his opinions on new released cars and later the Marque series. Some can be found on UA-cam. So possibly well before the first Top Gear.
This was great to see. I think what the Datsun guy said was right. The big three should have had to sell 5000 cars not just 200. Imagine the great cars we would have still. As so few were made we only have 25 Torana’s still around today. I’m a valiant guy and this was great to watch as I never knew Valiant’s raced like Ford and Holden. My second car was a 1965 AP6 I bought for $400 in 1990 as a young kid. I loved that car until it was stolen in 2004. It broke my heart losing that car. To replace it today would cost over $20,000. I’m happy that my kids are growing up and will soon be out of school so as they go to private school I’ll have money to buy my dream car a Valiant Charger vitamin C orange. I’m not buying a new car again that costs $30,000 then 5 years later your lucky to get $5-10,000 trade in. I’m buying a valiant for around $15-20,000 and putting money into it and it will only go up in value.
Birdy Wirdy the 25 cars I was talking about were the first XU-1’s made for the 69-70 Bathurst. There is a book about Torana’s it has photos of the rarest and race models. I read it over 15 years ago so I could have mixed up the car and or number. But I’m sure it was the original small XU-1’s. I also wish they had made the 5000 because there would be more around. I could buy an old car in the 90’s and early 2000’s for under a grand. Then the government went and ruined old cars for good by bringing out that $2000 buy back of any car. So many old cars were lost. Now that’s bought up the prices. Cars worth $1000 20-15 years ago are worth $10,000 now it’s ridiculous and I’m pretty pissed off with what the government did. Also those fools that sold up all the old cars. Just getting a parts car now is so costly parts are now like gold, rare.
This needs to be on tv a week before Bathurst
I had the great privelege of meeting Harry Firth at Melbourne during the Formula One week, introduced to me by another dear friend Trevor Fry, who has passed on, an absolute gentleman!
I had an LC XU-1 with 188 HP. Three 45 mm Webbers, dyno-tuned extractors, etc., etc.
Mate had an XU1 came back from the pub and wrote it off 71 Miles on the clock
All I had was an EH with a 186s, worked with a 149 Stage 3 Yella Terra head, 3/4 Race Cam, 650cfm Holley, Tuned Extractors, Balanced, Mags etc. She picked up her skirts and took off when pedal was at the metal. Not a bad daily driver also. Sold her to a guy who got it defected by the Cops in Hindley Street and then he broke it.
@@Leosarebetter Yes...who remembers the Brian Muir EH S4 ? The first Holden Special for Bathurst.
Orans now a sub division.. went out there and only a bit of straight left but all houses.. owners got nearly 900 million for the land and promised to build a new track !!! Still waiting... I’m glad I fanged around that track before it closed in a 72 Torana ...over the flip flop was thrilling..
Chrysler valiants had peanuts for a budget..amazing they where so competitive
More than competitive. My Hemi 265 was legendary. People still talk about it. 127 miles an hour and still climbing. Only Ford 351 cars could compete. At 120mph the Fords crawled past me. Hats off to Ford GTHO.
Go the Pacer racer, love the air under the front wheel, thanks for posting, great quality.
My Hemi Pacer 265 stock was a WEAPON. Never had a smash or hurt anyone. Just pure pleasure and reliability.
Absolutely brilliant insight into the period.
Great cars good motoring history, the sound and exhaust note from all the engines must've been epic.
The sound of a V8 still stirs my blood. My wheel chair one day will have a V8 sound.
RIP, Mike Willessee, 1 March 2019.
Did you know Mike? I did, and his sister Geri. They were both creeps. Mike was a drunk, and Geri wanted me to use my Army contacts to steal grenades and other munitions for the IRA.
RIP if you want, but he is not worth it.
What an awesome doco, thanks very much for sharing this wonderful insight into our motor racing history!
amazing old footage from an era long gone,,, the good old days
I watched this in 1970 and now watching this again, cant see any full sized Holdens but keep seeing this Vauxhall torana with a lion badge, Ford were running their Falcons and Chrysler were running their Valiant, both full sized. I didn't see Cortinas or Centuras to compete fairly with the Torana.
Bushtech 225 there are a couple of ht monaros though
I can't really see what body size has to do with it, you do realise the Torana had "full-size" six in it? even if it does sound a bit puny even for that era at 160hp for what was then a 2.6 litre engine.
Interesting to see Oran Park early in this piece. This was before the 'Grand Prix loop" was put in to extend what was then the full circuit but would become the short South Circuit.
Had to laugh at Harry Firth's assertion that he worked for a 'Dealer Council'. Roughly translated that should read John Bagshaw at Holden lol
Regardless of who you think worked for who, the fact remains, The General Owns Bathurst, lol.
fantastic stuff. remember the cars mentioned as a 9 years old brand new. as a mitsubishi motors tonsley employee(the site where the valiants chargers etc were made) I love this
Absolutely Brilliant, such a blast from the past. Those hemi Pacers sure did give those GTHOs a run for their money
Daan Vaan they won just not Bathurst maybe if Chrysler spent more money like ford and Holden things could have been different but will never know
Although they used the American A body,the engine,3 speed trans and diff were all Australian. I remember the pacer had the pace but the engine was the 245 and it took a good driver to get one to move at the absolute limit to keep the cheating Fords at bay. I reckon Firms like Shelby were supplying the engines and the fourspeed trans gave them an edge,plus all of the different diff ratios available to them.As mustangs were simply a falcon in a fancy frock, there was a lot of know how being fed to the OZ teams back then. I have a customer who owned two Pacers, a red one and a blue one and the brakes were pretty ordinary,being locally made PBR units. We cured a lot of the brake issues by installing an extra booster under the backseats for the drums. If the cars had been built in the US,things like B body brakes, the mopar locking diffs, and the fourspeed trans could have been used,and if the front brakes were still no good,a set of imperial discs would have cured that.
Like when they put the six pack in the chargers and gave the falcon v8s a spanking.
The Falcon was heavier than the Valiant, but even in its first year the Cleveland 351 was outstanding.
@@Mercmad USA A body but was widened for the AUS cars
Vale, Harry Firth. aka The Silver Fox, a great man indeed!
Back then when the Australian car industry was its very best very happy and sad to this
Dona Morawaka A great era, that we will never see again. Vale the Australian automotive industry .
Yes the great Australian car industry will be remembered forever
Exactly I agree
Looking back, it was a fantastic era for enthusiast owners cars.
The overall financial climate was favourable, petrol was reasonably priced, and we had an abundance of manufacturers producing affordable and desirable cars. Huge shame that they all pulled the plug on Australia.
A true golden age for sure & great times . sad to see these once blue collar beasts now treated & priced like rare Ming vases
Where are you getting all this amazing footage....I'll be here for weeks!
Back in the day when a 'Privateer' could enter the Bathurst !! 🇦🇺
The critics have a point. These magnificent cars were a bit too fast and powerful for the relatively primitive handling, safety features and brakes built into them. Present "specials" built by Ford and GM are WAY safer and easier to drive than the XU-1's and GTHO's of yesterday. Mind you, I'd still love to own a Phase III!!!
That was one of the big arguments behind the supercar scare of the early 70s. I've always felt that having a performance vehicle built from the ground up is 1000% safer than some drunken bogan shoehorning a big V8 into a bog standard car though. Also by restricting cars as they did in the 70s they also restricted innovation and development in the local industry, probably the first nail in the coffin leading to the closures now.
Wow I wish there were more of these around. I saw Firths operation near glen ferrite. A smallish garage with 3 or 4 cars stuffed in. When the cars they were hardly pristine with rough superficial body repairs and awful paint jobs .. The money spent then was a joke. My dad had a GTS307 company car with 4 speed Muncie transmission top speed 115mph . This car did not even have radial tyres. The first car. I drove on the road, it really was a lethal beast, with awful brakes. Even then teams were driving cars up to Bathurst. Harry Firth may have had a couple of trailers given to him for the race but not much more. As he said he knew where the money came from. Moffat is on record as saying something like " what were we thinking driving those cars at Bathurst at the speed they were doing when the brake pedal would often go to the floor" It is amazing driver safety hardly rates a word. These guys were crazy driving these beasts, but we the fans loved them.
None of the factory road going versions of any of the cars that raced Bathurst in the last 30 or so years have been anywhere near the spec of the racing cars either. There would’ve been a lot more than a public scare if the road spec GTRs rolled off the production line pushing near 700hp and able to scrape the 300km/h barrier in the late 80s/early 90s.
I do agree it’s a shame they ended up ceasing development in the way they did, as it very well could have been the first catalyst for the death of motor production in Australia. But it is amazing how quick cars from the 70s are, especially in relation to their braking and handling capabilities.
i saw it live as a kid,, warwick farm,, oran park,, amaroo and bathurst in black and white every lap every year till the dick johnson rock episode. Looking back the cars were pretty lame, A 4 door falcon with a boss 351 mustang driveline, a vauxhall with a 186 HR motor and a few carbys called a torana and a valiant 6cyl slant or 6 straight banger that had 225hp from the factory.
The Class on the door said it all, Cheap cars racing an expensive car, class C,D,E If this was America the Torana would have been a Z/28 Camaro 350 and the Valiant a 340 Barracuda. then its GAME ON.,,,,, 1970,71 Holden had the 350 Monaro sitting in the shed and Chrysler had a V8 available sitting in the shed.
That was great thank you.......... memories
I would like it to be a production race, no cheating no lies, just pure entertainment...
If you think there was no cheating, you weren't there.
I'm pretty sure the factory where Ford prepared their race cars is still there in Keon Pde, Thomastown. Victoria.
It's also interesting to note that Harry Firth originally drove for Ford and also became the Team Manager later moving to the Holden Dealer Team.
He won the 1962 Armstrong 500 (at Phillip Island) in a Ford Works Team Ford Falcon XL with Bob Jane and again in 1963 (first time held at Bathurst) with Bob Jane in a MK1 Ford Cortina GT. ( This actually made it a hat trick of wins because he also won the Amstrong 500 at Phillip Island with Bob Jane in 1961 in a Mercedes Benz 220SE before joining Ford.) Finally, again winning the Gallagher 500 (Bathurst) in 1967 with Fred Gibson in a Ford Falcon XRGT.
The old ' Marrickville Mercedes ' . Couldn't kill 'em with a stick .
They were called "Wog Chariots" as well. Loved my Hemi 265.
My surname is also Turner....
I already love big Al
What a shame Oran Park is gone , honestly fuck progress sometimes.
And Warwick Farm, and Catalina (Katoomba)
Loved those days.
Me too. My younger brother is still jealous of my Hemi 265 after 40 years. He has a modern XR8 and tells me it would kick the ass of my old car. I dont say anything, just wonder. Does he ring my Grandfather and brag that his XR8 is faster than a Model T Ford?
@@darylburnet8328 haha,I think the 265 was the fastest at one stage.I had a 318 V8 and wrote it off.
@@MrStevie57 The 318 was a kick ass motor. I agree, give me a 318 anyday. In the Snowy mountains a friend had a 318 Valiant VC with a 318. Im still jealous.
@@MrStevie57 Also, 6 cylinders go hard but V8s last longer.
Changing wheels over with the trusty wheel brace the old cars good shit xu1 ho shakers and hemi mini Cooper s love it
They seem to be in a perpetual LURCH around this circuit.......
Stabilisers were only being born.
I wish that super100mph still made videos
Some of the race cars at Sandown had number plates. Must have been driven to the track.
The coppers probably hid behind some of the signage and booked the poor bastads.
Great stuff, thanks for posting.
The Supercar furore was just that. A media beat up. By a couple of journos who should have known better. IF you had the bucks you could have bought any of those cars, when they had the orders they would build them!
Though the workshops,,, Especially Harrys, very basic but those cars won regularly, circuits, rally and rallycross as well.
And in hindsight having owned all of those cars [and Monaros as well] over the decades they actually were quite good cars for long distance touring. The Falcon especially. Though it was the hungriest as a racecar!
As for Roxborous sour grapes, maybe why CAMS was so backward under his reign.
LDN Wholesale u
The Phase IV, V8 Torana and proposed V8 Charger (though Crysler execs to this day still deny it despite known testing by Leo and Pete Geoghegan at Mallala) were labeled "Bullets on wheels" by NSW Transport Minister Milton Morris. But as some argued, the well heeled could still go buy an imported Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar etc, all of which had performance capabilities that rivaled or bettered the Aussie cars, and they could still go kill themselves driving those as much they could any of the proposed Aussie V8's.
I agree about Roxburgh. He really was a bit backwards (old fashioned) in his thinking. Ironically by the 1980s he was actually the FIA delegate for motor racing in Australia (CAMS) and New Zealand (MotorSport New Zealand).
Rip 🙏 john ellis
Men were real men, cars were Tougher than today's Drugs
Check out what the USA racing scene was like, you have WYNNS friction modifiers, which FORD used to hand out as part of the service kits for the FORD Australian built cars, now to find a WYNNS Service kit in a FORD these days is almost impossible. :) I know because i used to work for WYNNS in Melbourne Selling Wynns Engineering Friction Modifiers for Hi End friction applications, back in 2001 :)
I have been inside the WIRE, back when i worked for A company selling Aerospace Metals & WYNNS, it was the FORDS R & D offices back in 1998 to 2001 ?
Great movie I enjoyed watching
Check out the crowds!! Why? Because everyone could relate to what was being thrashed around the track....all those Bathurst models are worth the price of Rolls Royce now
AND no TV coverage.
Harry Firth as boss of the HDT answered to a "Dealers Council"......LOL
How's that Mopar guy for cool prepared answers!!!
Typical uni student always telling lies
Mono talking at its finest
That 4 corners theme was a good tune.
its a bare looking place as we look back from 2016
its a shopping centre now as we look back in 2019 😢😢😢
Loved that
I remembered those cars as A Kid ( My Father was a motoring Writer for the Age at the time ) And he would bring home a different new car most weeks , Lots of memories ⁉️👍👍👍😂
So 4 Corners helped to kill off the FORD / Holden and Chrysler performance cars
Not really. It was the likes of Evan Green, a motoring journo who believed that these vehicles were too powerful for the general public. Then the Government of the time stepped in and advised the auto makers that anyone that continued with the Hi po race, would be excluded from government contracts....A lucrative business for the big three.
It was also due to Victoria's record high road-toll - 1100ish in 1970 or 71.
@@wizzard5442 I recall the argument was that these cars woul end up in the hands of everyday drivers after a few years and that road toll was the final nail.
@@flamingfrancis I remember that too and they are now in the hands of everyday drivers but not driven because of their rarity.
But there are now smaller (turbo-charged) and affordable cars that are quicker than the 67 XR Falcon GT.
And nobody is kicking up a stink about that, let alone cars that are quicker than the HO's.
Bring back the charger best of era
"Hey Charger". My 265 could tell you some stories to make you laugh.
Fire up the CLEVO !
My Ford XD with a 302 Clevo was the best car ever.
And here we are 2020 all these makes gone.
Bit sad how they've all died, so glad I've got a couple aussie V8s in my shed.
just to be clear, the track at 5:33 isn't Bathurst but Oran Park, correct?
Yes, this was the early circuit before the flyover was added on.
Pity the charger didn't get a home grown v8 in it and keep the big 3 alive.
Real cars not garbage
why is it so hard to find out about what really happened to all the so called super scare cars and parts especially all the chrysler bits they shipped over from usa
Those were the days… from the showroom to the race track
Big budgets in 1970. Race officials waving the cars through using table tennis bats at 3:00 to 3:05 in this footage!
Watching this at the end of the Coronavirus pandemic we are literally watching brand new cars, 50 years ago, now worth upwards of half a Million dollars each. I cringe when I see any of them run off the circuit or roll over on those skinny tyres. I'm not greedy...I'll take the Shar she Blue 4BBL Pacer thanks!!
Oh the memories, the cars, the characters and the Great Race!
Wow cult footage👌😳
Down under racing..
The ABC used to be great... used to be.
Typical American CEO even back then, its about making sure that you stick to the number 1 rule, cover your own ass, before you lose it, :)
And the big 3 are all dead.
'Rolls royce a funny backyard place"
17:46~17:52 alanis if you're watching That's Irony.
The mood and temperament of people, is very very much similar, to how Danish people behave and talk
Edit*
If Denmark were to be a cartoon character, it would be a mouse. Kinda like the ones from Cinderella. Cautious and sparse but courageous
Win on Sunday, sell on monday.
The big 3 LOL now in Aus we have the big 0
leongt1954
Roy Orbison ?
Cheers
I didn't think Elvis was Ford fan
Chrysler problem they seemed half arsed about it and didn't have the budget for racing or proper marketing
The Fox would have seen more if he had trimmed his eyebrows 😀
Cool
Al Tunrer = Mr Suave
And Alan Moffat was mr arrogant up himself smart arse.
Wheres bill Bourkes XW NOW, RE: the 429 Beast that was seen along the geelong freeway doing over 150 miles per hour, think about it for a second a 429 Shelby did not even do that speed, also i am not a FORD man, it just proves that those people who own GT GTHO'S push the price up & at one time you needed over $1,000.000 to buy an total original un painted un restored with low KM original HO, yet the same car now you can get for just over 300,000 ? YET HOLDENS Winning cars at the same time period, were going for chips Talk about control over the market, i feeel that these days its evened out a little, i should have kept my Gold XB GT, but in saying that they are going for about 30 to 40K in original Condition. :)
The Bill Bourke special was a 428 Cobrajet not a 429
7071t6, the 429 was NOT installed in any AUSTRALIAN factory built ford!
mark the xw of bill bourke was a special sent over to america and fitted out with the big block 428 cobra jet and shaker in black and gold stripe and still lives fully restored in australia ' read about it in australian muscle car mag
@@BCBtrucks64 I have been in the Bill Bourke xw gtho it was for sale in Adelaide in approx 1979 they had the article from the car magazine that it was in years earlier in the widow to show who's car it had been. It was the only auto gtho made it was black with a fine silver metallic flake it had xa style high back bucket seats shaker 428 bb ford and gtho badge on the glove box lid it had vaccum tank etc big36 gal fuel tank i wanted to buy it but couldn't raise the money at the time but about a year later i did buy a genuine jg33 xy gt nugget gold with a 4 speed ......cheers
A mate of mines son inlaw has the XW 429 up in Brisbane in his garage uninsured
The lean and squeal brigade!
Wow they tried hard to play down the factory efforts, whilst in the US they rammed it into people winning sells lol
....FFAARRKK!!!!Seeing that GTHO 351 Bathurst engine at full song on the dyno!!and the crank in the block,knowing it's gonna be spinning over 6k down Conrod straight!!!!nuff to make one shoot in their duds!!!!
RIP. The latest Commodore might be the only decent car they had. Never driven one but, too little, too late. They were building cars that no-one wanted ignoring the market trends in spite of getting a Government boost of millions. The best 6 cylinder car from Australia was the Mitsubishi 380. I had two of them as company vehicles . Sadly my 380 LX was written off by a clown going through a red light. Would have been interesting to watch a race car version of that at Bathurst.
Is that a syrup he is sporting? Very natty.