I owned a Jan '75 Holden SLR5000 Chrome Yellow with 308 V8 and M21 4 speed. Great fun to drive, if you hit hard from a standing start it would just light both rear wheels up and slowly crab sideways! Had it airborne going over a bridge another time, excellent!
I'm only an intermediate collector. Proud of the antique vehicle I own. Because everything about the antique car or truck market has gotten exspensive.
My favourite of these is the A9X Torana and my favourite Aussie muscle cars are the SLR5000 and the XC Fairmont GXL 351. The days of watching the bog laps down at Scarborough beachfront were great viewing.
actually the only australian car completely designed locally and without foreign engineering oversight and approval was the Force 7, Ford Holden and Chrysler/Mitsubishi Aust all rtequired Foreign head office sign off. Sounds nice, but its actually a myth. We designed good local cars, but none except the Force 7 were completely australian from design, approval to production. The meat pies kanagroos and holden cars is BS but good marketing.
Here in Australia, we also had the Chrysler Centura from 1975 to 1979. It had a choice of motors including a 2 ltr 4 cylinder Renault and 3 Chrysler Hemis in the 215, 245 and 265ci 6 cylinder motors. I had 2 of them, both the 4 cylinder one and the 6 cylinder 245 Hemi. The Centura was let down by poor build quality but given it was very light weight, the 6 cylinder models were quite powerful and very quick. I once had my 6 cylinder model up to 235 kph/146 mph on a stretch of road leading out of town. Passed a Ford Falcon XY GT with a 351 V8 that couldn't keep up. Proudest moment on the road for me when I was young.
It's interesting to note how the whole muscle car craze in the US died-off in the early 70's due to several factors that came together all at once in a perfect storm such as increased insurance costs and regulatory constraints, the OPEC oil embargo which led to high gas prices and shortages, strict new emissions restrictions which saw the imposition of catalytic converters (which necessitated the use of low-octane unleaded gasoline that required lowered compression ratios which robbed power & performance). Meanwhile in the rest of the world, the muscle-car craze was just catching on and continued unabated for decades in some countries (in the case of Australia it never really stopped until the local car industry closed late last decade).
The super car scare diminished the Australian scene in 72. Although Holden sort of skirted around it with the Torana L34 and A9X. By the time the cobra came around they were pretty tame, particularly the 4.9. It was good to see both Ford and Holden turned it back on in after 2000.
Australian enginers designed The Austin Kimberly & Tasman based on the Austin 1800 had a 6 cylinder engine front wheel drive would have sold well in England
You missed one the Chevy canam based on British hc viva ferenza South African assembled orginaly fitted with a 1300 4cy was fitted with a 302 chev engine
ua-cam.com/video/l0F5gMBeIaE/v-deo.htmlsi=2kVhPW6OZnhdB0n4 Thanks for taking the time comment.. we did cover the can am in the 1st video of this series. Check it out!
Back in the in Western Australia my town was full of people who street dragged or cut laps through town. SLR5000 Torana,XU1s,Monaro's ,Four door Gts, Xw XyGTs, XB XC coupes etc etc were everywhere. I owned a 1971 American Ford LTD Galaxie With 390 Big block C6 tranny and 9 inch diff all chromed out and lightly worked top end,heads,manifold carb etc, for cruising. Miss those days.
The Valiant R/T six pack would be the quickest car in acceleration and top end for the time and many years on, hands down! Just don’t find a corner or bumps, or have to stop.
But the issue with buying an Australian muscle car was that it was constantly at risk of being stolen, necessitating the purchase of a new car every month.
I got a 72 XA GT up to 130mph. It still had more to give but the front end was gettig very, very light and skippy. Might have been the rear spoiler lifting the front. 😁😁
The falcon would be more like the torino with mustang parts on the front and rear tail panel and the torona im fairly sure is based on a chevy just like the australian 48/215 is based on a chev/opel car
The Falcon is bigger than the Mustang and more like the Torino, and the Torana is nothing like the Vega. The Torana is more squared, where the Vega is more rounded off.
The Torana was based on Opel/Vauxhall models from Europe so any resemblance to the Vega is only due to the Vega using some components from Opel and Vauxhall as well.
Australians still don't get it what a true sports car is all about. They think the ultimate is a family sedan with a V8 engine. Might br ok for Bathurst but see how far you get at Le Mans.
Wrong. Australians get what a sports car is. They just did not care as much for sports cars as the Europeans. Thats all. You are conflating sports cars with Muscle cars. 2 different things. Australians built great 4 door (Sedan) and 2 door (Coupe / GT) muscle cars. They never made a major mainstream sports car that I remember. They assembled MGB's and the like locally, which are true sports cars only. There focus was more muscle cars which genuinely rivalled the US market options. Australia had some European imports at the time, especially from the UK. Yet the local muscle cars were mostly faster especially when measured by cost and value. The Aussie cars had very good simple build quality especially compared with the US market. Actually a great peice of world auto history often overlooked. As a 20 year old would you have bought an under powered UK sports car like the MG or one of those V8 Toranas at that time? The MGB is beautiful but to a 20yo the Torana was mean and powerful. They were direct competitors then. The expensive Jaguars available at the time were nice yet they were more techincal therefore the recalls were high and the value was not there. LeMans was not not a big focus to an Australian. Why would it be. Its not the centre of the world to many nations.
Is anyone old enough to remember Bolwell? The Nagari was a great sports car. I visited their factory in my youth for an hour or so tour and was given great insight as to what it took to design and build them. Regulations were quite inhibiting back then for prospective niche car builders.
That car looked like it would be a blast to drive with its 351 cid V8. We posted one on our "Vintage Car Daily" community post series. Have a look: ua-cam.com/channels/fpe29OP54b9d_iYuWlMKhg.htmlcommunity?lb=UgkxhFIGtnvIm_25MHskDnd8vUWi6rAVPxyo
Hilux or Ranger. A lemans car is probably no good on Bathursts hills and tight corkscrews. Maybe it's the otherway around. Europeans don't get what a true sports car was in the 70s.
The Holden Torana slr 5000 with the drop tank and body kit is by far my favorite Aussie muscle car
I owned a Jan '75 Holden SLR5000 Chrome Yellow with 308 V8 and M21 4 speed. Great fun to drive, if you hit hard from a standing start it would just light both rear wheels up and slowly crab sideways! Had it airborne going over a bridge another time, excellent!
Great list of cars, that Capri was unreal though! That would fly in that small shell.
I'm only an intermediate collector. Proud of the antique vehicle I own. Because everything about the antique car or truck market has gotten exspensive.
My favourite of these is the A9X Torana and my favourite Aussie muscle cars are the SLR5000 and the XC Fairmont GXL 351. The days of watching the bog laps down at Scarborough beachfront were great viewing.
I'd love to have that little Capri. Or any of the others! 😂
Your have shown that the Australian car designers have been able to do with no help from The over seas parent company
actually the only australian car completely designed locally and without foreign engineering oversight and approval was the Force 7, Ford Holden and Chrysler/Mitsubishi Aust all rtequired Foreign head office sign off. Sounds nice, but its actually a myth. We designed good local cars, but none except the Force 7 were completely australian from design, approval to production. The meat pies kanagroos and holden cars is BS but good marketing.
Who cares about sign off. As long as it Australian designed and made it’s 100% aussie
@@gfenwick1 no quite..Holden actually owned the majority of GM Australia for a very long time
Here in Australia, we also had the Chrysler Centura from 1975 to 1979. It had a choice of motors including a 2 ltr 4 cylinder Renault and 3 Chrysler Hemis in the 215, 245 and 265ci 6 cylinder motors. I had 2 of them, both the 4 cylinder one and the 6 cylinder 245 Hemi. The Centura was let down by poor build quality but given it was very light weight, the 6 cylinder models were quite powerful and very quick. I once had my 6 cylinder model up to 235 kph/146 mph on a stretch of road leading out of town. Passed a Ford Falcon XY GT with a 351 V8 that couldn't keep up. Proudest moment on the road for me when I was young.
They discontinued the 265 centura because it was dangerous. They didn't like corners or stopping fast
My dad and one of my best friends older brother had late 60's to early 70's Maverick 2 doors and my mom had a Maverick 4 door. They all liked them.
It's interesting to note how the whole muscle car craze in the US died-off in the early 70's due to several factors that came together all at once in a perfect storm such as increased insurance costs and regulatory constraints, the OPEC oil embargo which led to high gas prices and shortages, strict new emissions restrictions which saw the imposition of catalytic converters (which necessitated the use of low-octane unleaded gasoline that required lowered compression ratios which robbed power & performance). Meanwhile in the rest of the world, the muscle-car craze was just catching on and continued unabated for decades in some countries (in the case of Australia it never really stopped until the local car industry closed late last decade).
The super car scare diminished the Australian scene in 72. Although Holden sort of skirted around it with the Torana L34 and A9X.
By the time the cobra came around they were pretty tame, particularly the 4.9. It was good to see both Ford and Holden turned it back on in after 2000.
Australian enginers designed The Austin Kimberly & Tasman based on the Austin 1800 had a 6 cylinder engine front wheel drive would have sold well in England
They even stuck a six in a Marina.
Those Aussie Fords, Chargers and Holdens are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars now! Priceless, and that SS Torana is unbelievable!
I had a mate at work in the 80s who owned a genuine A9X, I bet he is now spewing he sold it in 1990 for 8 grand....
You missed one the Chevy canam based on British hc viva ferenza South African assembled orginaly fitted with a 1300 4cy was fitted with a 302 chev engine
ua-cam.com/video/l0F5gMBeIaE/v-deo.htmlsi=2kVhPW6OZnhdB0n4
Thanks for taking the time comment.. we did cover the can am in the 1st video of this series. Check it out!
I grew up in the 70s and how I wish I kept all the Aussie muscle cars I owned. I try not to think about it too long or i would just cry.
Back in the in Western Australia my town was full of people who street dragged or cut laps through town. SLR5000 Torana,XU1s,Monaro's ,Four door Gts, Xw XyGTs, XB XC coupes etc etc were everywhere. I owned a 1971 American Ford LTD Galaxie With 390 Big block C6 tranny and 9 inch diff all chromed out and lightly worked top end,heads,manifold carb etc, for cruising. Miss those days.
Saludos desde Argentina 😎
Saludos desde Australia. Falcons Argentina. 👍👍
The Valiant R/T six pack would be the quickest car in acceleration and top end for the time and many years on, hands down! Just don’t find a corner or bumps, or have to stop.
But the issue with buying an Australian muscle car was that it was constantly at risk of being stolen, necessitating the purchase of a new car every month.
Those late 70's Toranas were sexy as hell ! Peter Brock just demolished the competition on those bad boys .
The capri come out with a 3litre V6 as well because I had a 72 model here in Australia
Indeed - the British versions used the 3 litre Essex V6 while the German versions used the 2.3 and 2.8 litre Cologne V6.
Same, also had mk3 v6 3100 in Australia, once upon a time
Nice, how did it go against the v8s of that era?
I got a 72 XA GT up to 130mph. It still had more to give but the front end was gettig very, very light and skippy. Might have been the rear spoiler lifting the front. 😁😁
Overseas front ends looked so similar with their rectangular headlights.
The first car the falcon I see mustang 2 Cobra 🐍 design in the side panels and the Holden in the last car is definitely Chevy Vega inspired.
The falcon would be more like the torino with mustang parts on the front and rear tail panel and the torona im fairly sure is based on a chevy just like the australian 48/215 is based on a chev/opel car
The Falcon is bigger than the Mustang and more like the Torino, and the Torana is nothing like the Vega. The Torana is more squared, where the Vega is more rounded off.
Toranas are nothing like the crappy vega and our falcons are so much nicer than the mustangs over in America
The Torana was based on Opel/Vauxhall models from Europe so any resemblance to the Vega is only due to the Vega using some components from Opel and Vauxhall as well.
HOLDEN. borrowed components from u.s. & ford..or it would never win bathurst..
Australians still don't get it what a true sports car is all about. They think the ultimate is a family sedan with a V8 engine. Might br ok for Bathurst but see how far you get at Le Mans.
Wrong. Australians get what a sports car is. They just did not care as much for sports cars as the Europeans. Thats all. You are conflating sports cars with Muscle cars. 2 different things. Australians built great 4 door (Sedan) and 2 door (Coupe / GT) muscle cars. They never made a major mainstream sports car that I remember. They assembled MGB's and the like locally, which are true sports cars only. There focus was more muscle cars which genuinely rivalled the US market options. Australia had some European imports at the time, especially from the UK. Yet the local muscle cars were mostly faster especially when measured by cost and value. The Aussie cars had very good simple build quality especially compared with the US market. Actually a great peice of world auto history often overlooked. As a 20 year old would you have bought an under powered UK sports car like the MG or one of those V8 Toranas at that time? The MGB is beautiful but to a 20yo the Torana was mean and powerful. They were direct competitors then. The expensive Jaguars available at the time were nice yet they were more techincal therefore the recalls were high and the value was not there. LeMans was not not a big focus to an Australian. Why would it be. Its not the centre of the world to many nations.
Is anyone old enough to remember Bolwell? The Nagari was a great sports car. I visited their factory in my youth for an hour or so tour and was given great insight as to what it took to design and build them. Regulations were quite inhibiting back then for prospective niche car builders.
That car looked like it would be a blast to drive with its 351 cid V8. We posted one on our "Vintage Car Daily" community post series. Have a look: ua-cam.com/channels/fpe29OP54b9d_iYuWlMKhg.htmlcommunity?lb=UgkxhFIGtnvIm_25MHskDnd8vUWi6rAVPxyo
Hilux or Ranger. A lemans car is probably no good on Bathursts hills and tight corkscrews. Maybe it's the otherway around. Europeans don't get what a true sports car was in the 70s.
Muscle cars and sports cars are different things.
.......DO More ON ( HOLDEN ) and ( FORD ) in Australia ...ya Goofy m8te from Australia
just do ford, cos most bs holdens are half ford.... fact.. or u.s bits..
1972 Orange monaro gts coupe sold at auction $357000 aud