An Aussie Giant Killer! 1972 Holden XU1 Torana Racer.
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- We check out and drive an angry little Aussie Six Cylinder Giant Killer, getting behind the wheel of this screaming 8000rpm 270 HP 202 inline Six-cylinder powered 1972 XU1 Holden Torana. The little General Motors Holden Australia derived XU1 Torana gave the big banger Ford V8s something to think about back in the day and in many cases defeated them on the race track. The XU1 was designed with racing in mind, to create a lightweight & nimble track weapon to take on the big heavy V8's at Mount Panorama Bathurst and many other race tracks around Australia, an idea of the legendary Harry Firth (the Fox), head of the Holden Dealer Team, with gun pilots Colin Bond and Peter Brock driving them with utmost ferocity. In fact, the legendary Peter Brock's turning point in his early career and possibly his most iconic win against all odds was his victory in 1972 at Bathurst's Hardie Ferodo 500 against the might of Fords formidable GTHO, and the likes of Allan Moffat in conditions that suited these little giant-killers well. Peter Brock would go on to becomes the 'King of the Mountain', and the Brock legacy goes hand in hand with the XU1 Torana, through to the all-conquering V8 Powered A9X Torana in years to come.
This brings back some awesome memories, like throwing in big cam and a Yella Terra head.
350 Holley over a Cain manifold, headers, Chris Milton roller rocker head in a 2850 2 door. Globe Bathurst mags. They’d be worth plenty these days! Buckets of fun, doing runs up and down Eagle on the Hill in Adelaide Hills.
I'm an American and I have to hand it to you Aussies for making the "BEST" high performance inline 6s in the world. I'm so jealous you guys have the Barras and Hemi 6s.
We've had some great sixes for sure. If you look at this particular car you'll notice it looks like the little brother of the Blue Flame Six. I once saw one of our 50s Holdens sporting a six at the strip running high 10s over the quarter and just had had to walk over and check it out. I expected to see a turbocharger but much to my surprise it had a very angry naturally aspirated 300 cube Blue Flame. :-)
@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Um, respectfully, the 'blue flame' was the Chevy six 216/235/261 engine that our 132.5/138 'grey motor' was derived from... The 'red' motor was a scaled down version of the Chevy 194/215/230/250/292 engine. Both designs were great for their time, Holden chose to keep the over square bore/stroke smaller capacity engines over both Ford and Chrysler 'bigger cubes is better' concept. Remember the Torana was also competing against the Chrysler Hemi sixes in those days as well. Harry Firth came from Ford to Holden and saw the potential to race the smaller Torana against the bigger Falcon and Charger and WON. You CAN beat cubes!!!
@@petermacey5183 , you’re spot on, I confused the two Chevy six engines, most likely because I’ve some of the later blue flames with a squarish rocker cover but didn’t see the side plates.
" Aussies for making the "BEST" high performance inline 6s in the world."
From an Australian
NO! WE DON'T
Holden six is a bucket of snot and the ford six is American.
@@fredderf551 The Ford Barra 6 is not American nor is the Hemi Slant 6.
I owned one of these 1972 artic white and black, all original except webbers instead of the triple su and 40/80 cam....watch that fuel needle move :P
what a great car the Torana's love all the holdens ,I have a special car to me ,that is my VK 1985 code 134 which means from factory all the SS equiment
etc but not badge's , fitted from factory 4.9 v8, (5LT) ,B heads , x rods, FE2 , brock manifold list goes on.. go fast RED had it for about 30 yrs It is in first class condition over the years all I done to it is specd the motor to Brocks , Group A road version ,fitted 17" mag,s current Km,s 180thou on the clock
my first holden was 1968/9 307HK I am now getting on a bit 69yrs ,but like Glenn Everitt and Mark Perkins in comment #2 I feel as young i was in 69' driving the HK Just thought I would share this with you .... your never to old to enjoy the roar of these cars ...the days are coming when they may not be around.....I hope not......
cheers Keith (kickstart) ps old nickname
,
1973 LJ was my first car 173 mild cam 350 Holley and genuine two piece headers and impala h patern 3 speed , if you had a 202 back then you had the big block . Ah the good old days .
Absolutely love the Torana had a few growing up, best ever. Very jealous
I still have my LC GTR. was my first car. bought it second hand 1 owner in 1978, 3 months before my 16th birthday out of my apprentice pay. Way to many good times and memories had in it to ever sell it.
Mate of mine had a GTR in the early 80s. Had a really hot 202 and 5 speed, you really feel the speed in that car. Great times, thanks for the memories Glen
Another great video. Nothing like the look of an XU-1 charging down the road. Harry Firth described big V8s on the racetrack as "boulevard ride, heavy, useless...!". Then he made the XU-1 and Brocky delivered the goods.
Remember my brother in law just arriving from England sitting in a Torana at Holden dealer showroom and saying, "Blimey, you Aussies are crazy, shoving a big six-pot 'n all in our little Vauxhalls!" 🤣😆
He was right! 👍😂
No, you put a small engine in OUR Torana, except the little Nuns version with a sewing machine engine
Except the Holden six engines were the little sixes compared to the Ford and Chrysler sixes.. So in reality Holden made the best with the smaller engines by making them work harder. Even in the V8's, Holden made theirs smaller than the other two but they still drove hard.
Not one bolt is Vauxhall ! Except TA Torana!
thank you share great Australia video on great car
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for tuning in. :-)
The sound... goosebumps. The adjustment of the front wheels amazing, made for curves.
I ain't gonna lie that's my favourite
I love the XU-1's Great cars.
What an absolute blast that would have been - throwing around an LJ XU1. Great stuff !
Nothing better than the sound of a straight 6.
I'm here for the under bonnet footage!!!!!!!
: )
👍 thoughts to the family
Loved the Go Pro video under the bonnet. He might need stiffer, more compliant engine mounts. And I wouldn't drive it too much outside of the city with no air filters on the carbs.
Not a bad garage he's got there....Phil clearly has great taste.....
Never forget my one and only ride in a an xu ! Full race car and I was a passenger in a hillclimb.
I have a 74 350 HQ Statesman, and I can say it would be the cheapest car in his garage as much as I love it. No racing pedigree leaves it a little less collectable. But it is beautiful 😘
We have one in the family too, a HQ350 Statesman. Awesome car! Did you see the episode we did on one here on the channel?
@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Nope, but will have look for it now.
I can see myself going down the you tube rabbit hole...
Good Show !
Lovely vid amazing sound amazing looking toranas
Orange & Black colour with Black & White checkered trim just f!&@ing legend.
Harry Firth made Holden, & John Sheppard refined it. RSP Harry.
It was a good race balancer, what it didn't make, up and down the mountain, compensated on the corners, breaks, tires, and in the wet, as a ford fan you have to admire a car like this.
loved the sentiment at the end mate
Love that garage!
Running a black block aye👍👍What a gem,got to love the Torrie 👍👍💪💪
Pretty car! Reminds me of our Chevy Nova from 1968-72 that you could order with a 6 or a V8 with up to 325 horsepower
Was a bugger to get insurance for them in the day when you're a teenager.
My second car was an LC 4 door with a hot little 149, it was great fun, but like most Toranas driven by teenagers it ended up backwards up an embankment and was traded off for a trail bike. I bought a 1960 Morris Major off Phill nearly two years ago and if you're reading Phill it came second in class in the Vic Hill Climb Championship with the original engine. It now runs an Austin 1800 with crossflow alloy head and twin webers, so I know the sound Glen is talking about.
I had a somewhat tamer one back in '78. Pedals off to the right and steering column pointing to the left. Those cars were an ergonomic disaster area. And at full lock the outer tyre would tuck under and scrub like mad. But a snappy little terrier, no two ways about it.
Yeah...I drove a mates one for a while once - never thought it'd be possible to design a car with worse ergonomics than a series landrover, but somehow Holden managed it with those toranas!....God they were awful.
Good motors though.
was my first car at 17 teen same color ,i had repco dig up some old stock xu1 pistons 60th over and built up the engine balanced blue printed bottom end ,then got a head 9 port off a guy race car and triple SUs had head reco and the machinist was very impressed with port job ,anyway that little torana hauled ass ,brought back memories , i sold it to a mate who had it reposed i picked up a SLR/5000 308 4s 9inch for 2500 dollars dropped a phill jack 400 hp 327 chev in it with muncie 4 speed ,man that can was fast and fun to drive , last car i drove that thrilled me like it them old days in the toranas ,, was few years ago i drove my sons car 700klm back to his town were he works from dyno tuner ,holy shit balls when this thing hit boost ,R32 making 500whp tuner said go ease its no kids car now, he fitted a built rb26tt in it on e85 had i lots of modifications ,that car is scary fast for old man like me
The good old days! And yes, the R32 would be insane, awesome traction off the line and a screaming RB. Big fan of the GTR👍
Some years ago i saw a GTR XU2 in Canberra Summer Nats it was a V8 version LJ Torana very rare to see .
Only ever seen one in a book.
Pfttt Harry Firth had it fully sorted, bigger brakes, New heavy duty shocks and New heavy duty coils and a New Baffled Sump for the 308 V8 that Harry Developed and a 300HP 308 V8 that him and Ian Tate and Fred James the Engine Engineer Guru from GMH Developed. Plus a 38 Gallon Fuel Tank and Detroit Locker Diff (2.78 Ratio), Brocky would of Won by 6 Laps at Bathurst 1972 with the V8 LJ.
The GTR XU2 I reckon you seen at the Canberra Summer Nats would be the Red LJ 308 Car that a guy from Victoria owns that took it to the Nats a few times. Interesting enough the GMH Strike me Pink V8 LJ GTR V8 Prototype lived in Canberra for 35 years.
Hi mate. Excellent video well done thank you.
v8s sound good no doubt, but the sound of an angry 6 is sublime.
Glen, mate great little tribute to Brocky.
Jealous as mate! You get to drive some beautiful cars.
I puchased a new August built xu1 in 1972 picked the car up on Tuesday lost my license Saturday afternoon! ,webered, dealer team H&M headers later fitted Bathurst B valves, cam and block mod. Big regret selling the xu1 in about 2000's only 56,000 genuine miles on the clock ..l loved it we did realize what we had back in the day I do remember $750 to insure in 1972 . Ian.
That Sound!
5 mins on mate I know the feels and miss them you must be a torana nut too
I'm a big fan. :-)
Nice little Viva.
I grew up surrounded by GTR Toranas, triple SUs, classic Hemi six pack, bridge ported rotaries. But to be honest, electronic vehicles leave these all for dead in terms of performance, smoothness, safety.
Yes............but I dont think you understand............rough and ready allows you to actually drive the car. I have tried out new cars and I am thinking I would rather buy one with less of what you are talking about. More to go wrong and boring. I am 72
What a machine.
Wow Amazing love the MOMO WHEEL
new guys had these back in the day, been in one at 100mph in about 15 seconds
Awesome car
In the best possible taste.
I've got a couple of sets of those over riders
A billitt made block 202 specification a bloke in New Zealand I think it was got 400hp out of a 202ci Holden engine and that was a few years ago now he said if you put 400hp thru a standard Holden 202 block it would blow it to smithereens it just couldn't handle that much power how far we have come power wise over the years and particularly since the xu1 was built
Mark Perkins , it’s amazing isn’t it. Roller Camshaft technology has certainly helped too. When you turn the stock block too hard they split. The 265 Hemi is another cool example. Most in Historic racing are making around 440hp and alloy headed versions in other categories like TCM have made 500hp!
@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines yes mate it is amazing and what I'm about to say will amaze you I have a vh Commodore and it was a daily up until 2016 I've had it since Oct 22nd 1994 it was originally a 202 but in 2002 I put a red 308 in it the motor was built from factory August 1976 if I had my time all over again I would have stuck with the original motor just for originality sake that's all when I got it in 1994 I paid$4000 for it have been offered 40k for it a few years back and it's not even a sle I'll never sell it I'll be buried in it lol I'm a big fan of the iron lion🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁Holden 5.0
RUclips says I have not watched this before.... !!!!
Well I have watched it, the first week it was released...Maybe I seen it earlier than that on local Radelaide TV.
: )
I hope the above fact doesn't deplete you in the RUclips algorithm presence !!!!!!!
My mum had an LC GTR . Not the xu1 but she said it went really well. She'd had a LH l32 SL/R and a cpl of monaros too. I asked what car did I come home from hospital in when I was born.? A Torana, but a G pack ,lol.
8:26 240hp, a pretty good effort, correct me if I'm wrong but in seventy two the 308 (stock standard) only made 210hp.
The GTR-XU1 (the giant killer) and Brocky & Bondy was what got me really into production car racing, I loved it and always will.
Actually, in '72 a standard 308 with dual exhausts made about 240hp. It was from '76 onwards when the ant-pollution requirements (originally ADR27a) when the engines started getting strangled and robbed of more and more power. By the time of the VH & VK Commodore you had to to have the big-valve V5H option (which was used on the HDT Group 3 etc) to match that, but well short of that of the old L34 (it came with a 780cfm carb which delivered a LOT more top end than the 600cfm unit on anti-pollution motors, which basically ran out of breath at high revs).
As for 240hp on an XU1 in the early 70s for shorter 'sprint' races that figure would have been higher. From '72 (if I remember correctly) the regulations were relaxed and teams had complete freedom on what cams they ran, so for longer races the emphasis was on fewer revs and less power for greater reliability, while for Bathurst the emphasis was on greater torque to haul the car up the mountain.
As for modern engines running roller cams developing around 330hp, swap over to an aftermarket downdraft alloy head (which aren't cheap) and you're looking at another 80+hp on top of that.
Not the most powerful Holden, but would sit on genuine 100mph..and go round corners.. full race cam,big drop tank. Bathurst pack.. great memories..
The Herald for 4 cents...? If only newspapers had 4 cents worth of news in them today...
I was exactly 10 years old in March 1972 when this car was built. I can't tell you what a newspaper cost but I remember around the age of 7 or 8 that petrol was 40 cents a GALLON! I guess I have gasoline running in my veins. These cars leave for dead, the rubbish on the roads now!
Dunny paper is all they are good for.
In 1996 I sold my 2dr LJ (XU Spec, but not genuine) cyan blue torana for the whopping sum of..............................................$600
The triple SU's on it were worth at least that amount, but i was moving interstate to embark on a sales career and needed a presentable car.
Then I bought an EA falcon.
Please someone shoot me!
Not gonne lie, hearing that XU-1 open up gave me movement in my pants.
Me too Gav, me too 😅
My first car was a stock eh 179 when it died I got a 186 xu1 from a guy who was putting a 202 with 12 port head and 44/84 cam and webbers in his Torana I had to bend the firewall for the su,s to clear, stock 3 on the tree, drums all round had it for 7 years I bet the guy in the yellow Porsche will never forget the beige eh that moved away from him in second gear😲😲😲😁😁😁
Why did you have to "bend the firewall" to give clearance for the "SUs" (Stromergs, actually)? The carbs are at the side of the motor, not the rear.
@@brucelamberton8819 the eh has a deep recess in the centre of the firewall where the back of the engine sits.
@@brucelamberton8819 the original owner of the engine didn't like the strombergs and preferred the su,s😊
@@brucelamberton8819 are you really that dumb?
@@brucelamberton8819 Google eh Holden engine bay, educate yourself genius 😲😲😲😋😋😋😄😄😄😁😁😁
Sick car. I had a mint LC gtr setup similar to that tho. Trimatic and 9 inch with 4.56 lsd. Webbers. Solid cam hand made exhaust etc. Should have kept it.
Hard to fathom the amount of 10 second or less street cars getting around these days.
Majority of mates are 9s 8s and even 7s now. It's just so easy to make power now.
@@3800TURBO yes. even on old engines with new tech applied. only need to watch NA202 vids (9 sec LJ) to see it.
This LJ would be no where near 10s..
@@OzSkunkworks Yeah, for sure, Would be doing well to do high 13s-mid 14s
NSW cops had XU1s as unmarked cars back in the early 70s
My XU1 was in a minor fender bender and it stayed in mums front yard for a year , she said get rid of it or I will , I was doing up a HX one tonner that took all my time and thought what's the worst she can do , she cut it up with an axe and a mattock and put a piece in the bin each week and the rest out for council collection , she meant business .... the only part I saved was the boot lid and spoiler 😪😪😪
oh no!!!
love the car, has a black 3.3 motor in it though, not the original 202
If Chrysler had a brain they would have put the 265 in a Centura or Gallant , got rid of the torsion bar suspension put charger brakes on it and they might have had a serious contender for the mountain - Holden proved that you don't need a V8 to win Bathurst . If it has Torana on it i luv it !
The only gripe i have with the LC/LJ is the welded construction which made minor front panel damage a pia , thankfully they went back to bolt on panels after this . If i could go back in time i would strangle Evan Green before he kicked up a stink over the supercars - we could have had so much more if that tool didn't start whining about how fast these cars were - bloody nob end !
Centuras had coil springs. Same brakes as the valiant in the 6 cylinder centuras too. Chargers annihilated all comers on N.Z. tracks for 7 years. The 340 bathurst Charger would have easily done the job at home, had the media not been sensationalist pricks though.
Sounds like an Austin-Healy 3000 .
The mini was the real giant killer lol
Biggest stuff up of my life was selling my Torana.
The other type of GTR smokes this one for breakfast , and nobody can argue about that .
Why not include an AMG Merc GTR as well, you drongo.
This is true and also highly collectible now. Both were revolutionary at the time, both unaffordable now😕
Triple Webber carbs hard to tune but it's the show case
I hope you filled it back up before you gave it back, it'd be empty !
3.3 was a later engine. 🤔 commodore maybe HJ,X,Z I recon. Think LJ was cast 202
How did you manage to tune those carbs with balance pipes on the manifolds. WEBERS don't like that and tend to run poorly as they are designed to run on the individual back pulse of each cylinder to atomise the fuel. That engine sounds sweet sweet under power, the induction sound from the webber's always get's the hairs on end.
So is Holden General Motors ?
Bathurst is pronounced 'Bathist' (you dump the ur) not 'Bath hurst'
You can always detect those from interstate by the way they pronounce it.
You learn something every day! Thanks for pointing that out. :-)
Anyone know what rims this little beast is running ?
why didnt you show those skids you did?, we seen the marks!
They weren't mine. Bit of a local hangout stretch of road apparently.
Back in 1990 you could buy a fair decent XU1 for $8,000 🥺
what gearbox and diff ,m21 with 2.78 !!
Rev it to 9000
Took a minute to say it's a mockup😂
Is this holden month what about the other brand's.
I normally get in trouble for showing too many Fords! Haha! Plenty of good content coming your way. :-)
@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Hahaha! Good on you Glenn you're a legend!
Does this XU1 have the illegal aluminum engine block as per what brock disclosed in the interview with Australian Muscle car where he stated that they were breaking the factory block, so had aluminum blocks made, they heavily sand blasted and painted them so no one knew? Also brock laughed about the other holden drivers questioning why their wheels were not breaking, to which brock told Australian Muscle Car magazine of how they were having stronger wheels made. Wouldn't have been so funny if someone died due to the wheels breaking. And so much for the giant killer, car ran illegal engine block and wheels. I bet they didn't have the factory timing gears either or the big cams would of destroyed them.
I. Had. a. Jp. Block. In. My. Car
Hp?
Approx 270hp with this one. :-)
You can't buy a XU1 with triple webers and they never came with triple webers. Yet racing in the series production races at the time they raced against standard production qualifying cars. The corrupt influence by the Holden Dealers team with cams went unabated. Still does under a new title.
Post '72 ALL teams were free to run whatever cam they wanted. Besides, you're still talking about 3.3L vs 5.8L, so what's so unfair about that?
Post '72 ALL teams were free to run whatever cam they wanted. Besides, you're still talking about 3.3L vs 5.8L, so what's so unfair about that?
Its not a giant killer. They only won bathurst because of the crappy tires available at the time. Today on good Tires, the big Fords dominate and the Toranas are right up the back in the historic and muscle car masters
A comparatively built and well-driven XU1 can run up near the front in Group N Historics like in the video link below but in Touring Car Masters with their engine freedoms, the V8's have a tenfold advantage. In the Production car era, they held their own and yes if it rained or in long endurance races they would show their strengths. That's what racing is all about. ruclips.net/video/cvL7GAP4lwg/видео.html
Won in 72 because it handled well in the wet . More to racing than driving on a straight dry road .
Slam a turbo into each carb.
If you can't.,then show off this Holden... well, she has no bog.
And not even a turbo
Is Peter Brock looking down from Heaven... What say the Scriptures? No one has power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit, and no one has power in the day of death. His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest. There the prisioners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them. For the living know they shall die, but the dead know nothing. Till the heavens are no more, he shall not be roused or wakened from sleep. For it is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgement. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. *Praise to GOD who has shown us the order of these things: Ecclesiastes 8.8, 3.20, Psalm 146.4, Job 3.17-19, Ecclesiastes 9.5-6, Job 14.12, Hebrews 9.27, Daniel 12.2*
I don't think he was going to fit in there.
Why spoil the presentation with "horrible music", do us all a favour, & please leave it out.
TV networks pushed for music with these episodes when they were created. New content created specifically for RUclips moving forward into 2021 will feature less music with more raw background and engine audio. 😊
background music ruins this whole video...otherwise would of been top notch.
Holden = Dead Brand
Great cars but one of the most uncomfortable pieces of shizen ever made try driving one for 3 or 4 hours straight ouch ouch
Homologated by cams to race a 5.8 get your head out of the sand
It raced in series production races. When GMH corrupted the series. No XU1 Torana was ever sold or produced from the factory with triple weber carbs but some how they ended up on the XU1 to race against legitimate series production vehicles. Do your homework and learn the truth
When Group C regulations came into play from January 1973 they were allowed freedoms, as were their competitors, unlike the series production regulations you are referring to where they had to remain virtually stock as per factory. So with all due respect you may need to do some homework. For Group C, carburation was free but not the number of chokes/venturi, they had to remain the same as factory, so for example the Torana's ran huge 58mm Sidedraft Webers with only one side working and the other choke blocked off and hanging in the breeze. Quite an innovative yet unorthodox method to get the job done.
Come on guys it was an over rated heap of shit . Be real. Worked 202 yeah quick on corners like a mini but no balls.
Mk1 Ford Escort Twin Cam over one of these ill mannered poor handling boats.
Yeah, no. If you want decent power in and Escort with even a modicum of reliability, you need a Cosworth BDA engine. Or for serious power you need a big-capacity (2.4L+) Millington. And mk1s didn't really handle all that well either, BTW.
An Xu1 won at Bathurst against a Ford V8 sedan. Do not under estimate them
Is it true that when you floor the accelerator pedal in one of these you can see the fuel gauge needle slowly go down?