The Valiant Charger was definitely a popular performance car in Australia. The model was also used by police especially the highway patrol in NSW. There they got a boosted performance engine, special 300 Kg lead weight in the boot to improve highspeed handling and improve traction under leadfoot power takeoff, for better pursuit. I in those days had a Suzuki LJ50 Jimny 4WD, a tiny 3 Cyl 540cc two stroke engine with around 33 hp, that sadly needed a repair needing parts from Japan, caused by the dealer workshop after some defective service repair work. I had to over two weeks drive my bosses wife's Ex-police pursuit model, Valiant Charger, all orange paint job, borrowed to keep me mobile while without my little Suzi. After driving this for two weeks, with ample ' kick in the pants' go power I picked up my now ready Suzuki. Letting the boss's wife drive off in her car, as mine was returned to me. On engaging 1st gear, and driving off, my first reaction was having missed being in gear. Engine reved up to say 7000 rpm, no sensation of acceleration, as the Suzi barely rolled away. After driving with heaps of tyre squealing power available for over two weeks, going to beyond 50 kph, before even bothering to up shift gears that free wheeling high performance 6 Cyl Hemi easily pushed power to high revs without any effort. By comparison the tiny 540cc Two Stroke low power, but with matching high ratio 1st gear, only accelerated you to a bit over 3 kph and high revs, before needing to up gear range, till top gear, 4th, allowed 80 kph at some 7500rpm and speedo red line indication. In reality you could push that three cylinder, glorified motor bike engine over 10,000 rpm and have speedo at end stop, with road speed at around 100 kph. No need to say in 1st gear, it was as if you had no gear engaged, compared to the punch of Charger takeoff. Case of big difference of performance car vs NO Performance 4WD. Just in 4WD the Suzuki would do far more than the Charger, which was impossible driving on even rough dirt roads, a number of police pursuits failed as the persued drivers took off into rougher unsealed side roads. Just poor ground clearance and suspension travel limits.
Don't know about the Chargers not being good on dirt roads. I've had mine sideways many a time on them. And I used to drive the dirt roads out where I was rather than the sealed ones, for 2 very good reasons. The dirt, and no cops.🤫
Loved the LJ50...laid mine down on its side resting on some tyres in the shed one weekend and raised the height to fit Desert Duelers. Snapped a few axles pulling wheel stands from reverse to first and would get up on two wheels around corners, went absolutely anywhere and everywhere off road. She was a super cool little ringa dinga of a buzz box ❤
300kg in the boot? You're dreaming. Like chasing bad guys with 4 coppers in the car, but most of that weight behind the back wheels! Massive oversteer and wheelstands on launches. Had a charger in the 80's, handled fine on 7" mags and monroe gt130's all round. Bitchy or dirt- was raised in a country town on dirt roads. Only city people cant handle them no matter what car.
Ford Australia shipped the up spec version of the Falcon, the Fairmont, to South Africa in the 60's and 70's. Falcon GTs were sold there and badged as Fairmont GT, which was technically more accurate as GTs were built from Fairmont spec cars.
The car they showed for SA was a HG Monaro with the different grill and the 350Cui Chevy. We also did the standard 4 door Kingswood and the top of the line Brougham for SA. When the HQ came out we supplied the same cars to South Africa, New Zealand and the middle east, mainly Saudi Arabia. The big change was the engines with the 186Cui straight 6 now the 202Cui, the option of the 250CuiV8, the 308Cui V8 and the 350Cui. The Brougham model was dropped and the Statesman/ DeVille models came on. By 1973 the 350 engine was only available in export models and all Aussie models had the 308 V8/250V8 or 202 6clyinder.
Great video! Growing up in Australia in the 70's it was mainly a 2 horse race, Holden or Ford. Chrysler built a few nice ones too, including a station wagon called the 'Safari', huge land yacht! It was a tribal thing, it was about what your dad had, your uncle had, and people were quite passionate about their brand.
@@randyakshon3890 hahaha... I remember the name was always said with an Italian accent "Valianta mate"... I had several of them back in the day, including a VG 770, a Charger, both with the 318 V8 and a couple of 6 cylinder models in the late 70's too.
Good video. Other cars worthy of a mention which were not in the video include the 1) South African mk1 Ford Capri built by Basil Green Motors. It started with a 3.0 V6 and then it was replaced with the Windsor V8 from the Mustang. 2) Again from South Africa, a Ford Sierra XR8 with a 5.0 litre V8 from the Mustang.
With the Monaro's original run in Australia (1968-1977), the GTS models were powered by the 5.7L 350 Chevy V8, except the original HK model which had the 5.3L 327 Chevy V8. The Monaro SS models (from 1969) were powered by Holden's own 5.0L 308 V8.
Hi, Ian, at 13 minutes in, the South African SS was not a rebadged HQ Monaro it was the HK to HG Monaro before the HQ. We also sold them the ute versions and called them the El Camino ute
dont knock an inline 6, theyre mad engines consistently, shame people in america didnt build them in the aftermarket as much as they focused on the V8. The barra, RB26, 1 and 2JZ, XK series, OM606, the new hurricane from dodge/jeep, etc, etc, etc. time and time again the inline 6 has come through as being a good layout for power output.
God dam sexy as. The xb gt red with back stripes is one of the best looking cars ever made I reckon. If I had to pick between the gtho phase3 or the HK Monaro or the xb it would be very very close, I love them all. 👍
the "1 of 1"? two million sounds like a bargain. it might be one of the 3 prototypes but i doubt it, any that survive would be on display by Ford somewhere.
@@fistovuzione registered owned by a retired dentist in Sydney.and 2 race cars in private hands the 4th was written off many years ago.ford don't own any
@@petersajkic6749 i heard one of the prototypes got written off but i didn't know what happened to the other two. one of the "private hands" is probably John Laws, lol.
Peter Brock (05) and Dick Johnson (17). Non-Aussies or Kiwis cannot appreciate the rivalry between Holden (the Australian GM car) and Ford that went on here- and continues today, even though neither manufacturer produces full-size sedans anymore. I love all your Australian "stuff". I've seen several mentions in the comments on the "Hoey 3"- the Ford XY model Falcon GTHO Phase III. The 351 V8 was published as producing 300 DIN horsepower. But this was just to get the authorities off Ford's back. The true figure was closer to, or slightly in excess of, 375- or even 400, of you believe some sources. In 1971, the US was using the SAE system, which runs around 15 to 20% higher, so an equivalent engine in the US would need to be or the order of 430 to 480 HP. At 147 mph from the factory, it took the record for the fasted four-door sedan off the Mercedes Benz 350 Sel 6.3. Obscene amounts of money change hands for these cars- over 1 million Aussie dollars. The ultra limited GHTO Pase IV, is even more special to Ford fans. Those two Chevy SS's. the first one was based on the 1971 to 1974 HQ series, the second on either the HG or HT from 1967 to 1971. 20:30 The "ss" is "Aussie" is pronounced as a "zed". As a 'Murican, you will win friends here knowing that! The E49 is the Charger to go for. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is a special division that was separate from Holden itself. Based on the regular Holden Commodore and the long-wheelbase Statesman, HSV tarted up the exterior and interior and tuned the engines to give tyre-shredding performance in a road-registerable vehicle.
In the 50s and 60s General Motors seemed to come in 3 sizes . Small ( British Vauxhall ) , medium ( Australian Holden ) and large ( American Chevrolet) .
The Firenza Can-Am was basically an Opel Manta A, which was itself the coupe version of the Ascona A. You should know the last one from the 70s Rally videos.
Brilliant, absolutely enjoyed this, only wish it covered more, when I was in South Africa I spotted a 71 Demon but it was called a Valiant Charger and a 67 Barracuda with Dodge on it if I remember correctly, this was many years ago, I'll put my 5 cents in and say 68 Chargers get my vote
As an Aussie I really loved this vid, and it makes me happy you guys loved our cars.. I'm a Mopar man aswell, I had a beautiful 70 vg valiant hardtop. Basically a dart body, 245 straight six hemi.. 3spd auto, great car. Shouldn't have sold her
The Valiant Charger E39 was a race design. One of my teachers had one that was taken to Bathurst and never raced and it went. Triple double choke carb is how. One throat per cylinder.
A mate, years ago said that if you wanted to build the best car ever as a standard sedan type effort, then you would use Chrysler mechanicals, Ford interiors and Holden bodies. And being the owner of a wrecking yard, he did just that. And I know the beast still exist, buried in a shed somewhere. HQ Munro body, warmed over 318, 4 speed BorgWarner, Halibrand quick change rear end. And it hauled. And very few had any idea what the hell was under the bonnet and was kicking the shit out of everything.
OUR DESIGN WAS V8 IN MEDIUM SIZE COMPARED TO AMERICAN. WHICH GAVE OUR CARS SUPERIOR HANDLING. NO ARGUMENT WHEN LATEST MUSTANG /CAMARO WHEELBASE ARE FALCON AND MONARO.
@@user-mj5vx8xj8tGUESS YOU DONT REALISE THE FALCON WAS THE QUICKEST 4 DOOR PRODUCTION IN THE WORLD. PLUS LATEST MUSTANG /CAMARO WHEELBASE ARE FROM AUSTRALIA'S FALCON AND MONARO. OUR MUSCLE CARS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUPERIOR IN HANDLING AS WE CHOOSE SMALLER CHASSIS FOR V8s
A friend of mine had a Vauxhall Magnum 2300 back in the 1980s, which is the same car as the Vauxhall/Chevy Firenza, just in sedan body style insted of coupe. (All these cars are basically Vauxhall Vivas.) It had a 130 hp 2.3 liter 4 cylinder, which was the largest engine available in those cars here i Europe. I drove that car a couple of times. It's a very small and light car, and it was reasonably quick even with 130 Hp. At least by that era's standards. It's such a small car that even with the 2.3 liter 4 cylinder it was a bit front heavy and understeered in tight corners. I can't even imagine how that car would handle with a z28 302 in it. It sure must have been fast. A real beast of a car.
Back in the 70s my Dad rented one of the Aussie Chargers when he was going somewhere business related. He's driving down a country highway (we have them all over here) and the front left wheel came off. Thank you Avis. Anyway, off the road he went, into a tree, giving his head a bit of a bonk. The people in the house he crashed in front of pulled him out, sat him in the kitchen and gave him a cup of tea while he called Avis to tell them what happened. It's not a myth dude, any country with a heavy British influence really does do the whole cup of tea thing when things go to pot. Anyway he was alright, the car wasn't. Again, thank you Avis.
I was in Australia in 1981 for a liberty call in the US Navy, and I saw one of those Chargers. I just stood there, staring at it, wondering what the heck it was. Now I know. Thanks.
Thanks for the video from an Aussie car enthusiast we love the old Ford's, some I would like you to view is the Ford Falcon XA, XB, XC 4 door sedans, 2 door coupe and Panel Vans, the other one, the beast, a Ford Landau, and XC FORD COBRA.
That South African SS is not modeled on the HQ Monaro shown but the HG/HT Monaro 1968 to 1971. Fact!! And you can tell from the rear slope over the quarter window. Unfortunately the e49 charger was eclipsed by the Phase 3 GTHO in Australia as they were brought out at the same time. The Phase 3 was, and still is the favourite here, but the charger was genuinely a BEAST.
Still remember an old lady who drove that exact one, colour and all, 318s ran 135hp and although two cylinders less- 265s run 130hp so you can see how six pack 265s were pretty wild, also straight six is one of the best configurations for engine balance.
At 12.48 is a Holden HQ 1971--74 ... At 23.42 are Holden models HK HT HG 1968--71 Both have there South African versions . Holdens were sold in Indonesia , Japan ,England also
i see the Firenza Can-AM mentioned several times of the SA "muscle-cars" but one that gets little attention from down there is Ford Capri Perana V8. i had an Capri 3.0S and that thing was a handfull for that frame, would not think how it would bee with a V8 from a Mustang under the bonnet.
Sadly they missed one very nice EU muscle car, the 1977-1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I love the design of this car and it got a 5.3 V8 with up to 430hp.
The Chevy Opala uses the same GM platform as the Opel Kadet and the Holden Torana. The Holden Torana was also produced in South Korea as the Daewoo-Chevrolet 1700.
In the mid '80s in Sydney the customers at wrecking yards pulled the parts they wanted from the cars themselves. I saw a lot of Chrysler Valiant slant 6 motors with a piston rod through the block. Hi revs must have been a big temptation.
The GT HO was the best muscle car Australia produced. The Charger was dangerous because on Outback roads it got airborne on some humps resulting in deaths and write offs.
Canberra, Australia. The 1971 - 1976 Valiant Charger came with so many engine options over the years... 215 Hemi 6, 245 Hemi 6, 265 Hemi 6, 318 V8, 340 V8 and 360 V8. The performance and race 'R/T' cars were always the 6-cylinder with triple carbs. Why? Because the local Chrysler plant had spent up big on the tooling to produce big Hemi sixes that were unique to Australia, and they needed to sell them because they got more profit from promoting and selling their own engine. When you ticked the box for a 360, 340 or 318, you got a 2-barrel carb. and a T-Bar auto. There WAS a sports 360 option pack with tighter handling and minimal trim - but only the Highway Patrol could order them! Back in the day, I test drove an "ex-chaser" 360 Charger that was sitting near the back of a used car lot.... for $2995. If only I had bought it. Worth about 50+ grand now.
It's interesting how many unique models you'll find in places like Brazil and South Africa, and not just with US brands. like.. South Africa got a unique BMW E30, one with a 3.3 liter engine, so the BMW E30 333i, instead of getting the M3. They also got a special South Africa only model of the Ford Sierra, the Ford Sierra XR8, here in Europe we got the XR4i which had a 2.8 V6, and later XR4x4 which was an AWD version of the XR4i The South African Sierra XR8 had a 302 V8... I wish we had gotten this model in Europe.
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! nice video! Mate, my dad had an XB coupe (not a Gt) and my mum had an XA coupe Superbird (the model before the XB) before I was born, unfortunately. Its funny everyone drools over them now (even me) but back in the day apparently, those body shapes didn't sell too well and to get rid of the old stock ford dressed them up all sporty and gave us the XB Jon Goss Special and believe it or not the XC Cobra with the blue stripes. I found all that very interesting! Keep up the good work and also just wanted to say that the guy from that video didn't mention that another body type was available along with the ute and wagon etc was the humble panel van! Cheers!
Sure missed several great performance cars from Australia. The many models released as specials, to get into Bathurst would one group. Monaro, which a South Africa variant mentioned, and above all Torana muscle car versions would on such list.
Yah, had a mate who had a HG Bathurst Monaro which as soon as he hit the road with it, it got taken off again. Was dark blue and I think it was HG, it's a long time ago now. Another mate (Robert iirc) had the XU-1 and Mick had a SLR 5000. Those were the days, I just get around in a sedate VF SS Commodore these days lol. The old cars had so much more character
Hi from New Zealand. Ex owner of a 1975 XB Ford Fairmont coupe. Interesting car to drive, especially with it's big arse. Very hard to see what was behind you. I hear they are worth a lot of money now.
Here in Norway you learn to drive with a stick shift. Stick shift is still very common, and when renting a car, stick shifts cars cost way less. I guess mist ppl never fell in love with the automatic gear like you dud in the US. It's the same way in most European countries
In south Africa they had a demon/duster/valiant mix called a charger , the Brazilian charger with extended buttress was also made in Mexico as a dart , in 1970 the Australian vg valiant 770 was optionally available with the extended buttress and was called the Mexicana only 200 were to be made very rare now
In Chile I saw many XYGT body style Fords. Some fella near the family home had 2 in fact. There are earlier style Falcons also running around that were made in Bariloche, Argentina until the early 80’s.
For me the Charger 770 with the 360 v8 was the car, throw the stock suspension out and bring in some handling bits and pieces and it left the RT for dead. In Australia the 770 was the equivalent of the luxury Regal model.
My favourite is the Ford Falcon XB GT from Australia. Not just tge Mad Max version which in itself is a Beast , but the Hard top coupe , plus it comes in right hand drive , just a shame they never built it here in the UK
Just saw a South African Ford Capri Perana at the all Ford show in Hamilton NZ, this Sunday 10th September 2023, fitted with basically a Shelby type 302 Windsor !!
In the days of production racing I believe that there had to be at least 200 production models made for public sale. Trouble with a Ute, you want to go fast, you need a stable weight in the bucket or your backend slides out to much.
Had a XA Coupe - (and XB and XC...) - regret sale.... but so so many Aussie mussle missing aside for the E49 charger and XA Coupe.. the Torana XU1, SLR5000, Holdern Monaro's ...and panel vans/utes...
I knew Highway patrolman back in the day. He preferred the Valiant charger with the 265 Hemi as it was quicker to get up to speed from a standing start, then the 351 Cleveland Ford Falcon hardtop.
I know someone who just sold his phase 3 he had since new in NZ, unfortunately without numbers matching engine which was stolen while getting a freshen up.
The 1971 GT-HO Phase 3 was actually 380HP, due to insurance premiums, etc Ford had to underpower the GTHO on paper and change the GT-HO as HO From HIGH OUTPUT, to HANDLING OPTION,
Ian, Commenter mentioned that Ford sold XY & XW Falcon GT's as a Fairmont Gt , that is correct but the name difference is The south African Fairmont gt was denoted by the RHINO decal, Our Aussie Falcon gt Was the Superoo ! And I agree with you that Americans and many other nationalities should NEVER Try copying the AUSTRALIAN Accent !
I don't think there's any doubt about the Jensen. It fits all the muscle car criteria. Also the Euro Spec 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage outMustanged Mustangs and was quite rapid. whilst for some reason the U.S. version was anemic.
Muscle cars usually based on affordable mass produced cars. The 383 and 440 Jensen Interceptor and FF were not that. Neither were the numerous Italian GT cars using the simplicity of a US or even Australian V8.
the SS is a copy of the Australian HK - HG (1968) Manaro however the photo shown was a HQ Monaro (1971), the next iteration - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Monaro
One really nice muscle car built in Australia but never got onto the showroom floor is the Leyland P-76 coupe. Leyland shut down its Australian plant after only 12 cars were built.
Opala is similar sized to a Nova, you can see the similarities on the mk1 grill... I don't know why people compares with the Vega, that car is similar to the Chevette, we had it too and is almost half the size of the Opala 😅 And this inline 6 was more than sufficient, Chevy did a racing version for the SS model called "250-S" which was a higher compression and cammed version that was made to beat the Ford 302 on the Maverick and Dodge 318 on the Dart (Charger), and beat so hard that both left the market.
So so sorry mate it wasn't the Valient Charger the can take a 44gal drum, it's the Lalyand P76. The problem with getting OLD memory gets mixed then might jump back for a couple hours or days..
Had a 2 door Ford XB Falcon when I was a lot younger , ( 20 ) . It wasn’t a GT 351 V8 but a 302 Boss V8 4 Speed ( White with Blue Boss striping and logos ) had gold/silver Globe 5 spoke wheels . Was a great car , plenty of power and reliable but didn’t handle very well , heavy clutch / steering and brakes were very ordinary compared to todays cars . Nevertheless a great car , would be worth for more than the $3200 I paid for it back then.
Holden never ran an Opal motor as a red 6. It was a rotten little 4, dumped in the TC, 1971 Torana. Ugly car, shithouse motor and definitely a shithouse gearbox.
I went to a car meet 20+ years ago and there was a guy there that had a immaculate Valiant panel van. I hadn’t seen one before, we got to talking and I told him I hadn’t seen one before. He said that a lot of people tell him the same thing. I swear I’ve only ever seen one on the road since. And from memory I think he had owned it since he was a teenager.
I saw a clip from a 70s cop show with a VJ panel van paddy wagon chasing another car. Surprised as hell because Chrysler wasn't building panel vans until the CL. Was an aftermarket body builder model but looked exactly like the later factory jobs. No surprises where the styling came from.
Valiant chargers in Aussie did in fact have a v8 model as well it had a 360 in it & sedans also had 318 & 360 fitted to them ,the six pack models were e37 e38 e49 & the 360 was a e55 .Chevy ss or Holden Monaro also came with a 327 & 253 & some that come here to NZ had 307 chev v8's in them .
yes sorry they did ,,E57 was the 360 model & thats the only ones we got here in NZ & limo had the 360 also we got quite a few of them here in NZ ,,they all rusted bad here very few left but you see the odd one turn up ..@@stocksucks9281
Second from the left is a long wheelbase Chrysler by Chrysler Coupe built on 4 door chassis, Charger had shorter chassis Triple Weber's is what made Sixes sing
Nope. It's the VH Regal Hardtop, again, a body shedding exercise, like the HQ SS and the LE Monaro, to unload the leftover Chrysler by Chrysler coupes that didn't sell all that well. The same as the Ford Landau coupe, designed to offload the last of the two door hardtops. But no one really wanted a luxo barge that could only fit 4 people, and were a pain in the arse to get in and out of.
The Chrysler Charger E49 is the most beautiful car Australia ever produced, and with a little luck it would have won Bathurst in 1972 franking it's legendary status.
They showed the wrong monaro, they showed a HQ, the African SS was based on the HG ( and the HK and HT alike ) Monaro
Yeah strange they showed that 1, especially as the narrator even says rebadged HG
I reckon a HT or HG with that front end would get some double takes in OZ
Yeah I noticed that.
The did say them selves it was H then audio dies.😊
@@bruizey7319A year or 2 back I saw on one of the car sites a South African rebadged Monaro for sale here in Oz.
The Valiant Charger was definitely a popular performance car in Australia. The model was also used by police especially the highway patrol in NSW. There they got a boosted performance engine, special 300 Kg lead weight in the boot to improve highspeed handling and improve traction under leadfoot power takeoff, for better pursuit.
I in those days had a Suzuki LJ50 Jimny 4WD, a tiny 3 Cyl 540cc two stroke engine with around 33 hp, that sadly needed a repair needing parts from Japan, caused by the dealer workshop after some defective service repair work. I had to over two weeks drive my bosses wife's Ex-police pursuit model, Valiant Charger, all orange paint job, borrowed to keep me mobile while without my little Suzi.
After driving this for two weeks, with ample ' kick in the pants' go power I picked up my now ready Suzuki. Letting the boss's wife drive off in her car, as mine was returned to me.
On engaging 1st gear, and driving off, my first reaction was having missed being in gear. Engine reved up to say 7000 rpm, no sensation of acceleration, as the Suzi barely rolled away. After driving with heaps of tyre squealing power available for over two weeks, going to beyond 50 kph, before even bothering to up shift gears that free wheeling high performance 6 Cyl Hemi easily pushed power to high revs without any effort.
By comparison the tiny 540cc Two Stroke low power, but with matching high ratio 1st gear, only accelerated you to a bit over 3 kph and high revs, before needing to up gear range, till top gear, 4th, allowed 80 kph at some 7500rpm and speedo red line indication. In reality you could push that three cylinder, glorified motor bike engine over 10,000 rpm and have speedo at end stop, with road speed at around 100 kph. No need to say in 1st gear, it was as if you had no gear engaged, compared to the punch of Charger takeoff. Case of big difference of performance car vs NO Performance 4WD. Just in 4WD the Suzuki would do far more than the Charger, which was impossible driving on even rough dirt roads, a number of police pursuits failed as the persued drivers took off into rougher unsealed side roads. Just poor ground clearance and suspension travel limits.
Don't know about the Chargers not being good on dirt roads. I've had mine sideways many a time on them. And I used to drive the dirt roads out where I was rather than the sealed ones, for 2 very good reasons. The dirt, and no cops.🤫
Loved the LJ50...laid mine down on its side resting on some tyres in the shed one weekend and raised the height to fit Desert Duelers.
Snapped a few axles pulling wheel stands from reverse to first and would get up on two wheels around corners, went absolutely anywhere and everywhere off road. She was a super cool little ringa dinga of a buzz box ❤
300kg in the boot? You're dreaming. Like chasing bad guys with 4 coppers in the car, but most of that weight behind the back wheels! Massive oversteer and wheelstands on launches. Had a charger in the 80's, handled fine on 7" mags and monroe gt130's all round. Bitchy or dirt- was raised in a country town on dirt roads. Only city people cant handle them no matter what car.
Ford Australia shipped the up spec version of the Falcon, the Fairmont, to South Africa in the 60's and 70's. Falcon GTs were sold there and badged as Fairmont GT, which was technically more accurate as GTs were built from Fairmont spec cars.
The South African GTHO was called the Super Rhino.
That Valiant Charger was available in SA as the Valiant Barracuda
The most Iconic an Recognised Oz Car EVER...
"The Mad Max Falcon"
The car they showed for SA was a HG Monaro with the different grill and the 350Cui Chevy. We also did the standard 4 door Kingswood and the top of the line Brougham for SA. When the HQ came out we supplied the same cars to South Africa, New Zealand and the middle east, mainly Saudi Arabia. The big change was the engines with the 186Cui straight 6 now the 202Cui, the option of the 250CuiV8, the 308Cui V8 and the 350Cui. The Brougham model was dropped and the Statesman/ DeVille models came on. By 1973 the 350 engine was only available in export models and all Aussie models had the 308 V8/250V8 or 202 6clyinder.
253ci v8 aka the thong slapper
Great video! Growing up in Australia in the 70's it was mainly a 2 horse race, Holden or Ford. Chrysler built a few nice ones too, including a station wagon called the 'Safari', huge land yacht! It was a tribal thing, it was about what your dad had, your uncle had, and people were quite passionate about their brand.
I was always a Valiant guy, they used to call them wog chariots in OZ lol, i loved them
@@randyakshon3890 hahaha... I remember the name was always said with an Italian accent "Valianta mate"... I had several of them back in the day, including a VG 770, a Charger, both with the 318 V8 and a couple of 6 cylinder models in the late 70's too.
They were the best OZ cars, the only engine i never had was the 340 unfortunately
also south africa had xy gt falcon rebadged as xy gt fairmont.
Good video. Other cars worthy of a mention which were not in the video include the 1) South African mk1 Ford Capri built by Basil Green Motors. It started with a 3.0 V6 and then it was replaced with the Windsor V8 from the Mustang. 2) Again from South Africa, a Ford Sierra XR8 with a 5.0 litre V8 from the Mustang.
Oh yeah, the Capri Perana.
With the Monaro's original run in Australia (1968-1977), the GTS models were powered by the 5.7L 350 Chevy V8, except the original HK model which had the 5.3L 327 Chevy V8. The Monaro SS models (from 1969) were powered by Holden's own 5.0L 308 V8.
Hi, Ian, at 13 minutes in, the South African SS was not a rebadged HQ Monaro it was the HK to HG Monaro before the HQ. We also sold them the ute versions and called them the El Camino ute
dont knock an inline 6, theyre mad engines consistently, shame people in america didnt build them in the aftermarket as much as they focused on the V8. The barra, RB26, 1 and 2JZ, XK series, OM606, the new hurricane from dodge/jeep, etc, etc, etc. time and time again the inline 6 has come through as being a good layout for power output.
Barra, Barra, Barra🤩
The most expensive gtho is actually a phase IV which last sold for around 2 million AUD
God dam sexy as. The xb gt red with back stripes is one of the best looking cars ever made I reckon. If I had to pick between the gtho phase3 or the HK Monaro or the xb it would be very very close, I love them all. 👍
Pity the charger was quicker tho,lol,
the "1 of 1"? two million sounds like a bargain. it might be one of the 3 prototypes but i doubt it, any that survive would be on display by Ford somewhere.
@@fistovuzione registered owned by a retired dentist in Sydney.and 2 race cars in private hands the 4th was written off many years ago.ford don't own any
@@petersajkic6749 i heard one of the prototypes got written off but i didn't know what happened to the other two. one of the "private hands" is probably John Laws, lol.
Peter Brock (05) and Dick Johnson (17). Non-Aussies or Kiwis cannot appreciate the rivalry between Holden (the Australian GM car) and Ford that went on here- and continues today, even though neither manufacturer produces full-size sedans anymore. I love all your Australian "stuff".
I've seen several mentions in the comments on the "Hoey 3"- the Ford XY model Falcon GTHO Phase III. The 351 V8 was published as producing 300 DIN horsepower. But this was just to get the authorities off Ford's back. The true figure was closer to, or slightly in excess of, 375- or even 400, of you believe some sources. In 1971, the US was using the SAE system, which runs around 15 to 20% higher, so an equivalent engine in the US would need to be or the order of 430 to 480 HP. At 147 mph from the factory, it took the record for the fasted four-door sedan off the Mercedes Benz 350 Sel 6.3. Obscene amounts of money change hands for these cars- over 1 million Aussie dollars. The ultra limited GHTO Pase IV, is even more special to Ford fans.
Those two Chevy SS's. the first one was based on the 1971 to 1974 HQ series, the second on either the HG or HT from 1967 to 1971.
20:30 The "ss" is "Aussie" is pronounced as a "zed". As a 'Murican, you will win friends here knowing that! The E49 is the Charger to go for.
Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is a special division that was separate from Holden itself. Based on the regular Holden Commodore and the long-wheelbase Statesman, HSV tarted up the exterior and interior and tuned the engines to give tyre-shredding performance in a road-registerable vehicle.
In the 50s and 60s General Motors seemed to come in 3 sizes . Small ( British Vauxhall ) , medium ( Australian Holden ) and large ( American Chevrolet) .
You forgot the Germans, Opel. In all sizes.
The Firenza Can-Am was basically an Opel Manta A, which was itself the coupe version of the Ascona A. You should know the last one from the 70s Rally videos.
Vauxhall Firenza, not Opel Manta A
Brilliant, absolutely enjoyed this, only wish it covered more, when I was in South Africa I spotted a 71 Demon but it was called a Valiant Charger and a 67 Barracuda with Dodge on it if I remember correctly, this was many years ago, I'll put my 5 cents in and say 68 Chargers get my vote
As an Aussie I really loved this vid, and it makes me happy you guys loved our cars.. I'm a Mopar man aswell, I had a beautiful 70 vg valiant hardtop. Basically a dart body, 245 straight six hemi.. 3spd auto, great car. Shouldn't have sold her
the Australian equivalent of the Brazilian Charger would be the VF Valiant 770 V8 two door Mexico (it had the same buttresses).
Hermosas las Opala Wagon,🤩
Here in Uruguay they were almost exclusively used by the highway police.(policia caminera)
The Valiant Charger E39 was a race design. One of my teachers had one that was taken to Bathurst and never raced and it went. Triple double choke carb is how. One throat per cylinder.
With the Brazilian Opela bung a set of tripple Carbs it and you've got a Brazilian XU1Torry!!!
22:06 1978 Ford Falcon XC Cobra. This my hill, and I will die on it.
302 or 351 version?
What about the goss?
You can build a pretty convincing Interceptor replica out of a Torino with some '73 Mustang parts.
Seriously we just did it better across the board. Check out the lines and look of our cars here in Australia. Dimensionally ours just hit right.
A mate, years ago said that if you wanted to build the best car ever as a standard sedan type effort, then you would use Chrysler mechanicals, Ford interiors and Holden bodies. And being the owner of a wrecking yard, he did just that. And I know the beast still exist, buried in a shed somewhere. HQ Munro body, warmed over 318, 4 speed BorgWarner, Halibrand quick change rear end. And it hauled. And very few had any idea what the hell was under the bonnet and was kicking the shit out of everything.
OUR DESIGN WAS V8 IN MEDIUM SIZE COMPARED TO AMERICAN. WHICH GAVE OUR CARS SUPERIOR HANDLING. NO ARGUMENT WHEN LATEST MUSTANG /CAMARO WHEELBASE ARE FALCON AND MONARO.
@@user-mj5vx8xj8tGUESS YOU DONT REALISE THE FALCON WAS THE QUICKEST 4 DOOR PRODUCTION IN THE WORLD. PLUS LATEST MUSTANG /CAMARO WHEELBASE ARE FROM AUSTRALIA'S FALCON AND MONARO. OUR MUSCLE CARS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUPERIOR IN HANDLING AS WE CHOOSE SMALLER CHASSIS FOR V8s
A friend of mine had a Vauxhall Magnum 2300 back in the 1980s, which is the same car as the Vauxhall/Chevy Firenza, just in sedan body style insted of coupe. (All these cars are basically Vauxhall Vivas.) It had a 130 hp 2.3 liter 4 cylinder, which was the largest engine available in those cars here i Europe. I drove that car a couple of times. It's a very small and light car, and it was reasonably quick even with 130 Hp. At least by that era's standards. It's such a small car that even with the 2.3 liter 4 cylinder it was a bit front heavy and understeered in tight corners. I can't even imagine how that car would handle with a z28 302 in it. It sure must have been fast. A real beast of a car.
I absolutely love the Video coming from a corner expanding bigger and bigger from that corner effect.
Nice! Really very nice!
Back in the 70s my Dad rented one of the Aussie Chargers when he was going somewhere business related. He's driving down a country highway (we have them all over here) and the front left wheel came off. Thank you Avis. Anyway, off the road he went, into a tree, giving his head a bit of a bonk. The people in the house he crashed in front of pulled him out, sat him in the kitchen and gave him a cup of tea while he called Avis to tell them what happened. It's not a myth dude, any country with a heavy British influence really does do the whole cup of tea thing when things go to pot. Anyway he was alright, the car wasn't. Again, thank you Avis.
I was in Australia in 1981 for a liberty call in the US Navy, and I saw one of those Chargers. I just stood there, staring at it, wondering what the heck it was. Now I know. Thanks.
Holden Torana, the first to take a 4cyl, 6cyl or 8cyl engine by simply changing the engine mounts.
Thanks for the video from an Aussie car enthusiast we love the old Ford's, some I would like you to view is the Ford Falcon XA, XB, XC 4 door sedans, 2 door coupe and Panel Vans, the other one, the beast, a Ford Landau, and XC FORD COBRA.
That South African SS is not modeled on the HQ Monaro shown but the HG/HT Monaro 1968 to 1971. Fact!! And you can tell from the rear slope over the quarter window. Unfortunately the e49 charger was eclipsed by the Phase 3 GTHO in Australia as they were brought out at the same time. The Phase 3 was, and still is the favourite here, but the charger was genuinely a BEAST.
That ‘72 Dodge Charger R/T looks identical to the vf Chrysler valiant regal 770 hardtop v8 from Australia.
Valiant pacer
Still remember an old lady who drove that exact one, colour and all, 318s ran 135hp and although two cylinders less- 265s run 130hp so you can see how six pack 265s were pretty wild, also straight six is one of the best configurations for engine balance.
R/T Charger was and still is the best looking and performing Aussie muscle car of that era.
Love that a9x in the background. Certainly was a favourite of mine too.
At 12.48 is a Holden HQ 1971--74 ... At 23.42 are Holden models HK HT HG 1968--71 Both have there South African versions . Holdens were sold in Indonesia , Japan ,England also
i see the Firenza Can-AM mentioned several times of the SA "muscle-cars" but one that gets little attention from down there is Ford Capri Perana V8.
i had an Capri 3.0S and that thing was a handfull for that frame, would not think how it would bee with a V8 from a Mustang under the bonnet.
Sadly they missed one very nice EU muscle car, the 1977-1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
I love the design of this car and it got a 5.3 V8 with up to 430hp.
Best car in Australia was the Torana A9X hatchback well made and tough
And yet it’s only a fraction of the value of a phase 3. Hmm how come. Hehe
But seriously… a9x was fantastic and looked tough.
Your right the GT phase 3 is a great car and worthy of it’s title very tough car
The Chevy Opala uses the same GM platform as the Opel Kadet and the Holden Torana. The Holden Torana was also produced in South Korea as the Daewoo-Chevrolet 1700.
Great video, nice to see you repping the Falcon of Johnson and the Commodore of Brock behind you.
And the Calais badge too!
There’s a real hot replica of Greens Tuff getting around Penrith these days, a true head turner for sure
@baddaddy8718 I live on Queensland, the Bowden Collection is about 5 minutes up the road, the real Tru-Blu and the reborn Greens-Tuff are both there
In the mid '80s in Sydney the customers at wrecking yards pulled the parts they wanted from the cars themselves. I saw a lot of Chrysler Valiant slant 6 motors with a piston rod through the block. Hi revs must have been a big temptation.
The GT HO was the best muscle car Australia produced. The Charger was dangerous because on Outback roads it got airborne on some humps resulting in deaths and write offs.
Canberra, Australia.
The 1971 - 1976 Valiant Charger came with so many engine options over the years...
215 Hemi 6, 245 Hemi 6, 265 Hemi 6, 318 V8, 340 V8 and 360 V8.
The performance and race 'R/T' cars were always the 6-cylinder with triple carbs.
Why? Because the local Chrysler plant had spent up big on the tooling to produce big Hemi sixes that were unique to Australia, and they needed to sell them because they got more profit from promoting and selling their own engine.
When you ticked the box for a 360, 340 or 318, you got a 2-barrel carb. and a T-Bar auto.
There WAS a sports 360 option pack with tighter handling and minimal trim - but only the Highway Patrol could order them!
Back in the day, I test drove an "ex-chaser" 360 Charger that was sitting near the back of a used car lot.... for $2995.
If only I had bought it. Worth about 50+ grand now.
It's interesting how many unique models you'll find in places like Brazil and South Africa, and not just with US brands.
like.. South Africa got a unique BMW E30, one with a 3.3 liter engine, so the BMW E30 333i, instead of getting the M3.
They also got a special South Africa only model of the Ford Sierra, the Ford Sierra XR8, here in Europe we got the XR4i which had a 2.8 V6, and later XR4x4 which was an AWD version of the XR4i
The South African Sierra XR8 had a 302 V8... I wish we had gotten this model in Europe.
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! nice video! Mate, my dad had an XB coupe (not a Gt) and my mum had an XA coupe Superbird (the model before the XB) before I was born, unfortunately. Its funny everyone drools over them now (even me) but back in the day apparently, those body shapes didn't sell too well and to get rid of the old stock ford dressed them up all sporty and gave us the XB Jon Goss Special and believe it or not the XC Cobra with the blue stripes. I found all that very interesting! Keep up the good work and also just wanted to say that the guy from that video didn't mention that another body type was available along with the ute and wagon etc was the humble panel van! Cheers!
Sure missed several great performance cars from Australia. The many models released as specials, to get into Bathurst would one group. Monaro, which a South Africa variant mentioned, and above all Torana muscle car versions would on such list.
Yeah those v8 Torana A9X were Awesome beasts !
Yah, had a mate who had a HG Bathurst Monaro which as soon as he hit the road with it, it got taken off again. Was dark blue and I think it was HG, it's a long time ago now. Another mate (Robert iirc) had the XU-1 and Mick had a SLR 5000. Those were the days, I just get around in a sedate VF SS Commodore these days lol. The old cars had so much more character
Excited for mail time. Looking forward to seeing your awesome reaction. Later mate! Cheers 🍻 bro 😎.
I was like c'moooooon where's my car that I'm currently leaning against in the shed while watching this video and yep, number one spot lol
Hi from New Zealand. Ex owner of a 1975 XB Ford Fairmont coupe. Interesting car to drive, especially with it's big arse. Very hard to see what was behind you. I hear they are worth a lot of money now.
Here in Norway you learn to drive with a stick shift. Stick shift is still very common, and when renting a car, stick shifts cars cost way less. I guess mist ppl never fell in love with the automatic gear like you dud in the US. It's the same way in most European countries
You missed the South African Ford Sierra XR8
In south Africa they had a demon/duster/valiant mix called a charger , the Brazilian charger with extended buttress was also made in Mexico as a dart , in 1970 the Australian vg valiant 770 was optionally available with the extended buttress and was called the Mexicana only 200 were to be made very rare now
In Chile I saw many XYGT body style Fords. Some fella near the family home had 2 in fact. There are earlier style Falcons also running around that were made in Bariloche, Argentina until the early 80’s.
Genuine R/T Chargers didn't have a fuel filler at the rear, it had a filler on the rear pillars for racing
My brother had a VJ Valiant with a 440 hemi. It was 100% made in our home town in Adelaide, Australia. It was poo brown, factory paint...
For me the Charger 770 with the 360 v8 was the car, throw the stock suspension out and bring in some handling bits and pieces and it left the RT for dead. In Australia the 770 was the equivalent of the luxury Regal model.
That was a Holden HT or HK Monaro GTS there was also a Holden HQ Monaro GTS and it wasn't from South Africa.
THe Brazillian Charger was marketed in Australia as a Valiant Pacer with a straight six & a 3 peed floor shift
My favourite is the Ford Falcon XB GT from Australia. Not just tge Mad Max version which in itself is a Beast , but the Hard top coupe , plus it comes in right hand drive , just a shame they never built it here in the UK
Just saw a South African Ford Capri Perana at the all Ford show in Hamilton NZ, this Sunday 10th September 2023, fitted with basically a Shelby type 302 Windsor !!
In the days of production racing I believe that there had to be at least 200 production models made for public sale. Trouble with a Ute, you want to go fast, you need a stable weight in the bucket or your backend slides out to much.
I'm a Mopar guy but I think they missed out the HQ GTS Monaro, the GTR XU1Torana and the SLR5000 Torana ... all worthy Aussie muscle cars.
My dream car was the 1975 XB GT Ford ……. Just bloody gorgeous !!!!!
Had a XA Coupe - (and XB and XC...) - regret sale.... but so so many Aussie mussle missing aside for the E49 charger and XA Coupe.. the Torana XU1, SLR5000, Holdern Monaro's ...and panel vans/utes...
Fun fact: the easiest way to identify an XA/XB/XC or XD/XE/XF Falcon is by their taillights.
I knew Highway patrolman back in the day. He preferred the Valiant charger with the 265 Hemi as it was quicker to get up to speed from a standing start, then the 351 Cleveland Ford Falcon hardtop.
1st car and it's a variant of my 66 chevelle SS which I absolutely loved, wish I still had it now!
The best Australian mussel car was the Holden torana LH SL/R or ss fast back or the the XU1 in my opinion
I know someone who just sold his phase 3 he had since new in NZ, unfortunately without numbers matching engine which was stolen while getting a freshen up.
The 1971 GT-HO Phase 3 was actually 380HP, due to insurance premiums, etc Ford had to underpower the GTHO on paper and change the GT-HO as HO From HIGH OUTPUT, to HANDLING OPTION,
HK monaro was cool. XB coupe was my fav, but the HQ ute was the most popular by far. Aussie muscle.
None of them had decent brakes though. Lol
XB had ventilated four wheel disc brakes as standard. They stop pretty good.
Ian,
Commenter mentioned that Ford sold XY & XW Falcon GT's as a Fairmont
Gt , that is correct but the name difference is
The south African Fairmont gt was denoted by the RHINO decal,
Our Aussie Falcon gt
Was the Superoo !
And I agree with you that
Americans and many other nationalities should NEVER Try copying the AUSTRALIAN Accent !
I finally know. Ive been trying to figure out for years, if Mad Max's car was xb or xc. Theyre very similar.
In the movie, the dashboard should have been the obvious giveaway........ they're totally different.
@@noelgibson5956 Really. I'm gonna check that. I thought they were the same. Just different headlights, which were changed.
I love the style of the HQ monaro but man the E49 charger is tuff looking , Australia 🇦🇺
Don't know if this classify as a muscle car, but the Jensen Interceptor v8 383, my uncle owned one years ago.
I don't think there's any doubt about the Jensen. It fits all the muscle car criteria.
Also the Euro Spec 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage outMustanged Mustangs and was quite rapid. whilst for some reason the U.S. version was anemic.
Crashed one into a swamp back in 83, it belonged to a friends father and we were NOT supposed to be driving it!
Muscle cars usually based on affordable mass produced cars.
The 383 and 440 Jensen Interceptor and FF were not that.
Neither were the numerous Italian GT cars using the simplicity of a US or even Australian V8.
American brand names in AUstralia in those days were generally all Australian design, engineered and manufactured with no American input.
That super bee logo is surprisingly similar to the Aussie Super Roo logo 😁
the SS is a copy of the Australian HK - HG (1968) Manaro however the photo shown was a HQ Monaro (1971), the next iteration - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Monaro
Firenza was an Opel Kadett which had 1,3L-1,6L engines if I recall... The SA peeps are wild!...
Vauxhall Firenza, the coupe version of the Vauxhall Viva
Lots of beautiful muscle cars around the world but The XA GT Hardtop will always be my favourite ,
1978 valiant regal ..the police in Melbourne Australia used them in 78/ 79....
15:00 also had a 355 stroker option
One really nice muscle car built in Australia but never got onto the showroom floor is the Leyland P-76 coupe. Leyland shut down its Australian plant after only 12 cars were built.
15:34
As an ozzy , at first look, it looks like a 4 cylinder Torana , with an old gemini back end..
Australia HSV holden were best mucule cars from 80 to late 2017.
Dime a dozen. They’re like assholes… everyone’s got one.
Hdt we’re better from Holden. Gts from ford, hemis from Chrysler.
Opala is similar sized to a Nova, you can see the similarities on the mk1 grill... I don't know why people compares with the Vega, that car is similar to the Chevette, we had it too and is almost half the size of the Opala 😅
And this inline 6 was more than sufficient, Chevy did a racing version for the SS model called "250-S" which was a higher compression and cammed version that was made to beat the Ford 302 on the Maverick and Dodge 318 on the Dart (Charger), and beat so hard that both left the market.
So so sorry mate it wasn't the Valient Charger the can take a 44gal drum, it's the Lalyand P76.
The problem with getting OLD memory gets mixed then might jump back for a couple hours or days..
Had a 2 door Ford XB Falcon when I was a lot younger , ( 20 ) .
It wasn’t a GT 351 V8 but a 302 Boss V8 4 Speed ( White with Blue Boss striping and logos ) had gold/silver Globe 5 spoke wheels .
Was a great car , plenty of power and reliable but didn’t handle very well , heavy clutch / steering and brakes were very ordinary compared to todays cars .
Nevertheless a great car , would be worth for more than the $3200 I paid for it back then.
As a mopar fan as well I love all types of muscle cars but the 70 dodge charger R/T I liked and newest one's as well
The opals had a Holden red motor 6 cylinder a little bit bigger than we had in early toranas but without the performance bits
Holden never ran an Opal motor as a red 6. It was a rotten little 4, dumped in the TC, 1971 Torana. Ugly car, shithouse motor and definitely a shithouse gearbox.
I wish car companies would still give you the option of water power plant to throw in
I went to a car meet 20+ years ago and there was a guy there that had a immaculate Valiant panel van. I hadn’t seen one before, we got to talking and I told him I hadn’t seen one before. He said that a lot of people tell him the same thing. I swear I’ve only ever seen one on the road since. And from memory I think he had owned it since he was a teenager.
I saw a clip from a 70s cop show with a VJ panel van paddy wagon chasing another car. Surprised as hell because Chrysler wasn't building panel vans until the CL. Was an aftermarket body builder model but looked exactly like the later factory jobs. No surprises where the styling came from.
The one they did forget was the Holden SLR5000 Torana
Valiant chargers in Aussie did in fact have a v8 model as well it had a 360 in it & sedans also had 318 & 360 fitted to them ,the six pack models were e37 e38 e49 & the 360 was a e55 .Chevy ss or Holden Monaro also came with a 327 & 253 & some that come here to NZ had 307 chev v8's in them .
The E55 had the 340 cid engine.
yes sorry they did ,,E57 was the 360 model & thats the only ones we got here in NZ & limo had the 360 also we got quite a few of them here in NZ ,,they all rusted bad here very few left but you see the odd one turn up ..@@stocksucks9281
so many Holden/Opel/Vaxhaull
One notable omission here is the Mexican Maverick based Shelbys.
Second from the left is a long wheelbase Chrysler by Chrysler Coupe built on 4 door chassis, Charger had shorter chassis
Triple Weber's is what made
Sixes sing
Nope. It's the VH Regal Hardtop, again, a body shedding exercise, like the HQ SS and the LE Monaro, to unload the leftover Chrysler by Chrysler coupes that didn't sell all that well. The same as the Ford Landau coupe, designed to offload the last of the two door hardtops. But no one really wanted a luxo barge that could only fit 4 people, and were a pain in the arse to get in and out of.
The Chrysler Charger E49 is the most beautiful car Australia ever produced, and with a little luck it would have won Bathurst in 1972 franking it's legendary status.