Donate to the grommets Shave for a cure! my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/beaubutler Want to see more Holden VL content? check out one of our old build series! ruclips.net/video/jEMz4Zq6zQY/видео.html 304 Engine build : ruclips.net/video/L_yqnCfYqf8/видео.html
My memory of the Polarizer was that Brocky got involved with a Snake Oil chiropractor/salesman/conman by the name of Eric Dowker(?). He was a new-age 'doctor' and had treated Brock and his family for many issues. He convinced Brock that the magnets and crystals aligned molecules to create balance in the car, thereby increasing performance and reliability. I remember all the drama around this when it was made public. It was like Peter Brock had been brainwashed (and hey, I'm an old-school hippy from way back).
Yep, I remember it well, followed the whole story in detail. Brock was a sublime driver but had some interesting beliefs off the track. I remember when the Walkinshaw Commodore was released and a Brock HDT car was requested for comparison for a magazine test. The Brock car turned up with an auto box and had weird tyre pressures, which the testers weren't allowed to change. Kind of continued to sour the Brock legend for me.
Thanks for your support of the leukemia foundation boys. Coming from a father who's son is in the middle of his battle for the second time it's nice to feel the love 👍🏽
9:14 Al, the live axle is due to Australian content laws of the time. You could build Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits of foreign cars and call them Australian made, as long as they had a certain amount of Australian content in them. Companies like Borg Warner (BTR) axles, PBR brakes, TRW steering racks, VDO instruments and Yazaki electric looms were all common in most Australian made brands.
@@marnixhoebers5176 Yes, sure is. I converted an Aussie 910 Bluebird sedan to the Jap spec SSS Turbo for rallying in the 90s. Luckily the process was pretty easy. Located the mounting holes in the chassis under the Aussie mounts, fitted the IRS from the R30 Skyline (Same as Jap 910), the front crossmember from a series 3 Bluebird (CA20C engine here) Same mounts as the Z18ET and then used R31 Aussie front vented discs. 👌
What an epic run-down of the HDT SV story. I've read everything I've ever been able to get my hands on about this story, from magazines, news articles, books, etc and spoken to everyone I could who had first-hand knowledge, including Jim Richards and John Harvey. You got every detail spot-on. The only thing worth adding is that the IRS issue got particularly thorny when a dealer had the balls to sell a Director as a new car. By that time, you had to pay full freight for a V8 Calais and then have HDT do their thing on it, but a dealer had one done before he registered it for himself. This meant that a Holden dealer had sold a Holden car with suspension that wasn't complied and possibly didn't satisfy ADRs, which was the thing that cemented Brocky on Holden's shit list way more than the vegan doctor and his crystals.
This video popped up in my YT feed yesterday. As a one-time owner of a HDT "enhanced" VK Commodore and a massive HDT fan back in the day, this story resonates with me. That a childhood hero could plummet to such depths was, at the time, a bit soul destroying. Then I read the book, "The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock" by Bill Tuckey (I still have it today) and to read what went behind the scenes and how they treated their loyal friends and employees was gut wrenching. The guys in this video are spot on in the retelling of this sad and sorry saga. I've also learned a bit about Holden V8 development, such as the head design, for example. I look forward to watching how this old Calais is restored.
Great video Al and Woody...! Brocky is an absolute legend despite temporary crystal madness. After the Holden split, he ran an E30 M3 for 88 then moved to the Sierra RS500 Cosworth for 89 and 90. I was very lucky to be able to acquire the 89 Brock Sierra back in 2017 and am happy to report she's still going strong 😎👍
@@piffiiiiiiit Thank you. That's very kind of you to say. I consider myself very lucky indeed, although I know even more now how divisive Brocky in a Ford is for Aussie racing fans...! Copped a load of flak over the years for it like I'm some sort of heretic, but I get it 😆
Fun Fact2: when a late VK HDT commodore (that had a polariser) was tested by wheels magazine they were told it had to be run with specific (low) tyre pressures. They tested back to back with another commodore (sans Polarizer) which had std Holden pressures. The car with the polariser certainly handled the slalom course differently, and apparently it was nothing to do with pressures, but all to do with the Polarizer according to Brock. From memory the recommendation was lower than the tyre manufacturer suggested as well, so was quite controversial…..
I recall reading the tyre pressure story. Can't remember what car it was though. But they had to run the tyres at something ridiculously low like 15psi.
@@MrJimibarrett there were a few differences, least not the considerable budget, facilities and expertise the guys at Walkinshaw had, but there was a really obvious massive advantage on the Walkinshaw car too. For the comparison the Brock Commodore was intentionally hobbled by an auto gearbox and the 22psi in the tyres, it might have been closer with a manual gearbox and 30psi in both cars, but the Brock car was never going to come out on top and HDT knew it. The whole episode was handled well by the journo who wrote the article, but when it came out in print it just stunk of sour grapes.
I remember the wheels article, they were clearly torn between dismissing it as a fantasy and wanting it to be true. Later articles laughed at the terrible performance of running tyres with no air haha
The tyre pressure recommended by Brock on the 16” Aero wheels was 22psi cold. We tested this on my HDT Enhanced VK as well as Gil Cameron’s VK (Road & Track Dyno Service). We noted additional grip, but “you could see the tyres wearing”… So we both returned the tyres to regular pressures.
When Peter Brock was young he and his brother used to hoon around the family farm in a brake-less buggy they made from Austin7 parts. Years later this was saved from destruction by John Needham (Old Car Gearboxes Melb) and hung from his workshop ceiling for many years. After Brocky died, word got around and his brother attended John’s workshop, looked up upon entering and immediately said “That’s It!”… the buggy was purchased.. some time later they needed a second one made for a museum show piece, John and his son Ben built a replica to the exact standard of the original using all original Austin7 parts etc and it is now in a museum I think up in Queensland somewhere. If anyone needs a gearbox fixed for a pre 1974 car then you will find no other place in Australia with more knowledge that Ben and John. They are amazing, they made me a close ratio gearbox for my rally car.
I have some old modern motor and wheels mags from 86 when the strife went down. Holden were already unhappy due to the polariser but the straw that broke the camels back was Brock not letting Holden's engineers test the Director before it's release to ensure it met the Australian design rules and was a product they could offer their warranty on. He went rogue, he was warned what would happen and still refused.
I saw an interview Brock gave at the time. Brock seemed to assume that the cars were his, my understanding is the dealers actually owned the cars when they left the plant the factory. The Director was a mess, panel fit was just awful. My recollection was the V8 was not available at the release of the VL. I have some knowledge of what happened with Brock & Holden. Walkinshaw was sniffing around & the Holden tendered out the special Vehicles to a number of interested parties . I am aware of 1 at least as well as Walkinshaw. Holden Special Vehicles began operating in Notting Hill.
Love the content mate was great to see this era of Aus motoring history get some air time! The polarizer was also commonly mounted within that air cowl above the bonnet to the right (looking into the engine bay) Brocky also had some weird ideas about running super low tyre pressures (22psi) in the polarizer cars - again making Holden hard to justify how to provide warranty on such a car. Another really crazy-80s item was HDT (and those that got to option up their HDT commodores with Brock himself) would usually be able to 'sneak in' a bit of extra power for those that were willing to pay that little bit extra for the blueprinting option on the engine/carburetor combos. Which was yet another sticking point between HDT and Holden being that they had to warrant cars which went truly above the power figures they were rated at; and had them being driven on the streets most of the time :P (little wonder so many ended up around trees ahaha) The trusty Trimatic is known as a TH180 (or 3L30) overseas and was in a very strange combination of cars (including a XT130 Corona!)
I recall reading an article in Car Australia or maybe Wheels ( both could be wrong ) about lap times with tyre pressures at 22 psi and 35-38 psi and the quicker lap times were at the higher pressure......ahhh memories....I wish I kept my enormous collection of car mags from that era.
Lower tyre pressure would make the vehicle seem alot quieter & smoother. This would lead someone even further down the rabbit hole in believing that the crystal thing is working.
Fun Fact: for the VL Group A - not the Walkinshaw, the red carby one (which was a “Holden” not a HDT technically) you only got a Brocky’s signature on it if you optioned the Polarizer via the “Plus Pack” Holden thought it was a box of bullshit - so refused to allow them to be fitted - but then Brocky refused to have his signature decals on it - so there was two options. About a 1/3rd were the latter. Seems every one for sale is a “plus pack” these days. Stickers must not be hard to acquire……!
As per what Brockie said in an interview way back when, he proposed that the crystal aligned the molecules which made the fuel burn more efficiently. When it was tested there was no discernible difference. Holden waited for this result prior to severing the ties to Brockie. I saw quite a few interviews and information on this when I was still a young man hahaha...
Peter Brock was Holden and I was a Ford supporter/ nut case. When Brocky split with Holden and started racing under powered BMWs I was for the first time really able to appreciate what a masterful driver he was. Watching him at Winton raceway be competitive and win in a slower less powerful car with him being so smooth is something I'll never forget. Brocky was the king, the ultimate driver.
Love the story of the guy who brought brocks first race car thinking it must be some sort of rocket only to find it was mostly brocks driving that made the car fast
Thank you for the detailed content, I'm proud that we had an Aussie car industry with its own history 💪 The knowledge about these cars is slowly being lost, I'm glad that we have this on video for future generations to share our passion. Keep up the good work fellas 👍
Great content, been watching you guys from your first VL vid since you departed from that Moog guy at MCM with no idea, couldn't stand him. Being an HDT guy I would like to add the following:- 1) It wasn't Moffat that left HDT over the Polarizer debarcle but rather Larry Perkins after Bev Brock went haywire with the mystic crap and started hanging cd's in the hdt workshop, Larry being an educated engineering guy wouldn't stand for the crap. 2) Bev Brock was the instigator of the polarizer and should have kept her nose out and stayed at home baking cakes. 3) No Vl sports were ever ordered / delivered with a turbo 400, if auto 304 they were trimatic and would have to have been retro fitted T400 after initial sale by Harrop etc. 4) Polarizers were never mounted on the parcel shelf, they were always in the scuttle tray of the engine bay. A polarizer lightning sticker was attached to the rear window as per hdt instructions and had to be perfectly centered for the box of rocks to work correctly.
The TH400 was fitted by HDT, it is in the sale documents. It also had a Wade 246 cam fitted by HDT. It had a towbar also and we speculate that the original owner might have towed one of those giant 80's speedboats because he was super baller.
A lot of expensive cars purchased back in the HDT Commodore days were part of a salary package & paid for by the owners employer. In the car business a lot can be made in profit from upgrades & accessories. If you had $30,000 to spend on a car paid for by your employer you would spend the whole amount. The poleriser was another upgrade to add to the spec sheet. One of the reasons Australia's car industry went busy is the Government closing the tax loophole regarding a car as part of an employee's salary not being taxed.
I was under the impression that Holden weren't allowed to have a factory team, so the basically said "nah the dealers are funding it" and poured money in that way. But that could just be a pub story. Also, The Dollop have a great podcast episode on Peter Brock. Worth a listern for the laughs and reactions to the crystals
Both replies are correct. GM USA put in a rule that no other GM brands can race unless they were US based GM brands (Chev, Buick, Oldsmobile, etc.). As a result, Holden and the dealers gave the USA the proverbial bird and HDT was born. It also happened with Opel and Vauxhall in Europe who funded themselves in many forms of motorsports due to this rule. 👍
First as always thank you for doing what you do! Love the skid Factory . I remember around 1985 1986 in the US that they were doing things with trying to align fuel molecules with magnets, I remember my dad saying it was a bunch of horse doo-doo. LOL I had a 1970 Maverick where I put a bunch of magnets on the steel fuel line hoping it did something. Obviously it didn't other than help RadioShack sell magnets😂
There’s still “that guy” selling the air intake thingy and his fuel line magnets. @MotoringBox did a great video on them which concluded they were pretty much a load of flog. (My words not his)
@@FuManchu5ltr I remember those. I think they were called "Hiclone" or something. To me they just functioned as an intake restrictor but some folks believed in them.
Did a power steer hose on a 70s gm USA import here in New zealand looking at the carb I found a magnitiser taped around the rubber fuel line. Someone paid money for it as they were made to fit together with the fuel line in the middle
What a rare car this is. Great to see one. As a big Brocky fan from when I first saw Australian touring car racing the 80s, he certainly did court his fair share of controversy. That said, the bust up with Holden and HDT/Brocky did lead to him running the Sierra RS500 Cosworth in 89 and 90 which arguably was more controversial than the polariser...! Unlike the polariser however, I wholly approved of Brocky in a Sierra 😎😎😎
A book titled ‘The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock” indicates that the split between Holden and Peter had more to do with un tested and uncertified changes Brock made to the Brake Master cylinder and so the the cars were not ADR compliant and GM were fearful of litigation. The Poleriser was also a concern because the claims made about it could not be measured or quantified.
I think HDT and Brocky played fast and loose with ADR regs and some of their engine mods, and got away with it because - well, it's Brocky, and the fact that you were Technically taking delivery of the car and then it was going back to HDT for the mods. But most of these cars, by VK and VL time cost almost Porsche 911 or BMW M series money and you the car you got was still a family car built to a price with a plasticy interior and nowhere near the refinement..
HDT car were covered by GM warranty I believe, so when Brocky started modifying cars in ways that didn't meet ADR or GM standards and didn't show any benefit(like the polariser), there was no way they would apply their warranty to HDT cars, like they had up to that point.
There's a book called "The rise & fall of Peter Brock" by Bill Tuckey, which goes deep into the whole Polariser debacle. Great read if you can find a copy.
I still have my copy. If anyone can get a hold of the book it's a great look into the industry at the time. Tuckey wrote that there was a lot more of the story but chose to leave it out due to legal reasons. I wonder if his estate has all of his research now that most of the main people in the book are no longer around.
The add on plastic on the “a” pillar is probably to stop the original plastic trim over the windscreen seal from blowing off at 200+ lol I’m sure plenty of other vl owners can agree!
Turn the Energy polarizer backward, forward, and both again upside down during dyno runs. And make sure the sphere of influence encompasses the dyno rollers just to be sure. Mood of Technician may affect results. If acceleration is poor, but braking is good, the polarizer maybe backward. Also calibration maybe be needed if track/course/Garage is negitive or positve, as the polarizing sphere of influence should be unidirectional. Results may vary. You may also need to use a mood ring on the driver to confirm correct calibration and placement of the Energy polarizer. Caution: do not use Energy polarizer on a building as it can polarize doorways leading to only an exit/entrance condition. Exit condition can result in lose of business, Entrance condition is against health and fire codes. Can be used with Hydroencabulator, TurboEncabulator, or Snycroencabultors. Electroencabulators Requires a magnetic upgrade kit sold separately. Opticalencabulator or Power crystal optional by request only. Not to be confused with magnetized toroidal Fuel polarizer. Not a source of void energy. Void word where prohibited. Thx for the insight and the video. MCM did a good episode about bunk items. i would bet a colabartion would pull so many of these out of air. It could be a series. Would be cool to see stateside scams too.
First car was a JE Camira,, added a 1ggze supercharger and extractors. Had more fun in that car than any other car I've had since The sheer look of disgust and denial beating people in the traffic light derby as pure joy.
I recall stuff in the media at the time, that Brocky was advising customers with cars fitted with the energy polariser, should run only 21 psi in the types. This caused Holden kiniptions, due to that fact that this was well out side the recommended tyre pressures calculated by the tyre manufacturers engineers. Holden felt that because the close association with Brock, that claims like this from Brock, without refutation from Holden, would be seen by the public as Holden approving of the practice. As I understand it, it was outrageous claims like this along with the rest of the snake oil Brocky was peddling about the Energy Polarizer at the time that Caused his business Partner Larry Perkins to up stumps and Leave HDT too. Love Brocky to bits, as great Aussie hero/icon that he was, but he was off his twig thought he mid 80's! Great video... looking forward to see the next one on this little beastie!
The Polariser thing caused not only a disagreement between Holden and HDT, but also Moffat and Brock and a bunch of other team members. A whole bunch of them quit.
Make sure you run the tyre pressures at 23psi with the Polarizer. 😄 I borrowed one of Brockies mods on my 5ltr VB SLE with a 5 speed Toyota box, 'The hot fuel handling package' which tucked the fuels lines inside the chassis members to stop vapour lock when driving...spirited. 🙂
The energy polariser was first unveiled in 1986 and then it was fitted to every HDT director. It was nothing more than a couple of magnets with a bit of crystal in the middle. It was held in place on the vehicle with one self tapping screw. At the beginning of all that Brocky didn't really want anyone to know about it but he used in his car during a race (can't remember what race) but it came unstuck and flew around the cabin. He had to explain it to official's and was almost disqualified because of it. Don't really know what was going through Brockys mind at the time but it made no sense and no provable difference to the cars handling or proformance. Just a load of hippy bulldust...
What was going through his mind at the time was the breakdown of his marriage and a new girlfriend who would spend hours every day mediating under a pyramid frame!
@666theninja I'm pretty sure his driving skill had something to do with the win but it did go to his head and he ordered that every HDT sold had it installed.
My first ever car was a VL and I regret how I treated it, I turbo'ed it made way to much power for my abilities at the time and crashed it writing the whole car off, I now realize that I should have looked after it. Thanks for sharing the story behind the car I didn't even know about it 👍
Oooof, great cars. I grew up in this era too, I learnt how to build engines in the 90's and 480hp is no slouch in a real Commodore, which in my opinion was the last good one. I did like the VN though, especially for taking the heads, but gee they were expensive back then. I owned a VHSS and A VK Brock Group A, amazing cars and I had plenty of power to match, some of the best cars IMO. Although chassis like the MX5 came out not long after and were amazing handlers. The best thing I remember was the steering racks, you could drive these things ballistic in the wet and dry and you would never lose the back end of them. Definitely light enough compared to modern cars too, I nearly bought my VK back from the guy I sold to 25 years ago and it was a very good price mind you. Sadly the reason he was selling it was not a pleasant story (lot of drug problems with permanent hospitalisation) so given my circumstances and the history of the car in his ownership, I decided not to buy it back. This is not the energy pulveriser or whatever Al, but I do believe in negative energy's with some people and buying a car from someone who has fallen to the drug world in a serious manner, you can feel bad shit in and around everything they own. Yeah it might sound like crazy talk, but I have seen some scary stuff around some toxic people that would make your skin crawl, so the car was let go to someone else, what a shame, I loved that thing when I had it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Al, these were the engines that I grew up on and lucky for me, I had a friend who was 15 years older than me who was a ridiculously good drag car builder and he taught me nearly everything to with Holden's and Chev SB and BB engines, even for the mid 90's, running mid 9's in street cars, we were a minority and gee did we learn how to drive well, very quickly indeed. No-one got hurt, but we were always taught to respect machinery and build up progressively. I remember driving a very stout Torana with a monster combo in it one night and my mate Brad was telling me to Rev it out more (we were testing a recent cam grind/head combination) and I could not go any harder than I was, we were literally sliding all over the place in 2nd and 3rd (4 speed Muncie) trying to get power down on the street, I was still a 1000rpm off redline on the 6AL MSD limiter....... Lol. Fun times 😊👍
Love to hear what Bocky said himself not a lot of hear say ,from a Ford Fan, fun facts for you Brocky drove a Ford Sierra as you had to if you wanted to win. Can you feature the Brock 1990 XR6 and XR8. He obviously had an open mind. I love all the legends Dick Johnson, Peter Brock, Larry Perkins, John Goss, John Bowe and of course Alan Moffat.
I think Brock stealing Holden's thunder by offering the IRS before Holden was going to drip feed it to us was THE reason, but the box of hippy rocks was a more palatable reason to snap it off than say publicly "We've been holding off on offering IRS since 78, so our peepee got hurt"
Wasn’t the bigger issue that he was adding big cams etc the Brock v8s and Holden was getting worried that his motors were far from emissions compliant, and they were fully factory backed and therefore going to be liable
Yep bang on! Brock imported a few Opel Monzas (which had factory IRS) after driving one on an overseas trip and wanted to run it in the race cars - I couldnt imagine the race body / Holden were too pleased with him 'jumping the gun' before them. He did build a few HDT Monzas from the Opels he imported - basically transplanting the trusty 308/manual box in lieu of the inline 6/auto jobby they came with but leaving the IRS. Would have been awesome to see what one would do around Bathurst!
@@roccoloops The Hobart Mercury printed a very interesting full page history of the Commodore about the time the VN launched. It mentioned that when Opel was testing the 'VB' Calton/Rekord they decided the 5 link live axle was too sketch with their 3 litre ohc 6 and only sold it with the 1.9 4cyl and developed the semi longitudinal trailing arm irs to be sold with the 6. Where as GMH considered the 5 link live was perfectly fine with a 308 😄
Neat, I love hearing about some odd bits of automotive history like this, where there is a tiff or spat between builders, like Ford vs Ferrari, or the time Soichiro
The reason why Commodores of that era didn't have IRS is that there was still tariffs on minimum local content & the rear ends were sourced from Borg Warner to keep the local content quota, the local Borg Warner division just didn't make IRS, it's the same as how Australian Datsun 200Bs are mostly Borg Warner solid rear ends but they are IRS everywhere else, Australian Mitsubishi Starions are solid rear axle for similar reasons.
Great show again Al & Woody. For those that don't know our great Australian Peter Brock lost his life in a Ford Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe designed by an equally brilliant American also named Peter Brock, uncanny?
It was a Daytona Coupe kit car made in Australia. It was a replica of the US Shelby with a similar name, but to say Ford, Shelby or Cobra were involved in that particular car is wrong
@@Itsaworkinburkin Mate, regardless of whether or not it was a Ford Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe real car or kit without both Peter Brock's that accident would not have happened.
Brockie also recommended running the tyres at a much lower pressure because the orgon energy from the polariser meant it was fine (or some crap like that) which was just another reason to alarm holden.
I should stop commenting halfway through videos, but this made me laugh: Al: It made the molecules align...... Woody:........???? Hang on?????!! This is how I imagine the conversation went between Brocky and Holden. :P
I owned an Opel Senator ( known to you as the Holden Commodore) way back in the "90's that had irs and the 3 lt Opel straight 6. She was thirsty but could tow my 2 ton "stock car" with ease. We also had the Opel Commodore that had the live rear axle in it. The Senator handled much better than the Commodore because of the rear suspension. The 3lt straight 6 had a bit of performance as it stayed with a 2lt Opel Kadette 0-120 kmh and pulled away from 120 onwards. The only Opel that blew it into the weeds performance wise was the 2lt 16v red top engines. Lotus did a bit of work on the 3lt Opel engine and turned out the Opel Lotus Omega that was the fastest production saloon way back in the day. If memory serves it could do 260 + kmh on the Autobahn. Btw I am based in South Africa and the one thing I always wanted to see was Brockie racing at Bathurst.
I watched a vid on youtube ages ago about the US Pete Brock, it included footage of a Torana being pedalled around Mt Panorama. Lots of "wrong Peter Brock!" comments.
I think HDT VL stroker was only 5.6ltr. Also the 355 harrop crank, if using SBC journal size, will run rods and Pistons from SBC 383 stroker kit. Because shorter deck height. But great video! I hope the boys raise lots of money before agreeing to chop that awesome mop!
My grandfather had an 88 VL, 3ltr 5spd. He purchased whenn brand new. Unfortunately when he got older (83) and struggled with the clutch, a dodgy car salesman talked him into an auto Toyota Corona. He purchased the VL off my grandfather (privately) for only $3000, told him it wasn't worth anything. It was an immaculate, 80km car. Beautiful dark metallic grey. Later on a friend had a modified factory VL turbo, this was early 2000's, was the fastest thing I'd ever been in.
Being a big Brock fan, I loved the episode. But Im really interested in how you adapt the crank angle sensor to the Iron Lion. I’ve got a build Im sort of planning (it’s a long way off)and would like to know the options for crank/cam timing for aftermarket ECU’s
A friend of mine had an “SV88” it was a Calais Holden built after the the divorce with HDT but had all the HDT spec options in it. His was the Turbo 6 and a previous owner had retuned the original ECU. It had increased boost pressure and increased fuel rail pressure. I remember riding in it in the early ‘90’s and for the time it had mind blowing performance. It also used more fuel that you would believe possible :-) Eventually it had to be tuned back to standard to make driving affordable.
Great episode loved this, Brocky was my hero back in the day, always the rival between Dicky and Peter, but full respect to both drivers - Brocky HDT did some awesome cars - blue meanie..etc etc . Loved this car today rare as !!
Whilst 'the Polarizer' has often been cited for the split between Brock and Holden, it was only part of it. Brock wanting to dictate to Holden as to the sale and exporting ambitions of his newly derived Calais Director that hadn't even been subject to any testing to meet design rules etc... was the nail in the coffin for the partnership. Not only could Holden see absolutely no merit, scientific or measurable difference with the Polarizer, but to be told how their business model was to run was the last straw. Spending time with Chiropractor Dr Eric Dowker and a 'Feng Shui' approach to motor racing didn't help his cause very much!!
Man, it is sometimes really hard to believe what some people do believe in, especially if you are working in an industry where physics is the first language.
M2, you touched on a part of the REAL story that caused the final public rift. The public polarizer blowup and the role the Director played in it, were simply a convenient PR campaign facade that GMH imposed on HDT to ditch Brock. The European connection you referred to was the real itch that GMH was scratching. Apparently Brock’s time in the European racing circles allowed him to network, and quickly realise there was massive potential for marketing the high performance GT style HDT cars to the super-rich, and keenly interested, European racing fanboys. His production, and ultimately transgression of IRS’ing the Director with the intention of shipping them into Europe (hence no local ADR testing!!) became known to OPEL, GM’s German/European subsidiary. This was quickly followed by a call to Detroit GM HQ by OPEL asking WTAF is going on this this Aussie renegade supplying GM branded GT’s in Europe?!! That’s when GMH got the call to “shut him down!”, and the smart move was using a “questionable technology”, which was already drawing much industry and race attention in the media, to fuel the final fire to seperate. It would have been too awkward to venture into the politically sensitive (remember GMH were still getting a shit tone of AusGov industry subsidy at the time, and AusGov would’ve latched onto the “export opportunity” HDT Director actually represented- think about it!) “EXPORT” territory in public press statements.
It wasn’t just the polariser. Brock was doing stuff to engines per customer request which Holden wouldn’t warrant. So HDT warranted them. High output ones and 5.6 litre strokers.
Love ya work mate. First time I Tuned in. Polarizer apparently gave better fuel consumption etc. You could buy them for any car. Holden thought Brock was a mad..
For a little bit extra you could also purchase a HDT race edition tinfoil hat to shield you from Holdens negative thought waves..sick car Al..try not to polarize it too much please, just make it run awesome again
Also with the body kit on the director, the rear window had to come out to install it. That’s probably why he only had the front a pillar moulds put on. It was a headache to install and took about a week to do.
All Brockie had to do was give people the Polariser, but Dr Dowker who actually did good things for Brockie, helping him give up grog and smoking and eating healthier, wanted to be paid for it. If Brock just fitted them to the cars and let the owners decide if they wanted to keep it fitted there would have been no issues with it. But when he made them a compulsory $500 option. The Director, yes it was an amazing car, I knew a bloke who had one, it was top of the line of everything. In this case GMH factory had not tested any of the major options, like the brake changes, independent rear, and a few other mods that Brock was selling them with. GMH told Brock not to go ahead with the public release of it, Brock thought he was more powerful than the Factory and they had no choice but to cut ties with him. If Brock had still held the shin dig, called it a Concept Car, the factory would have moved hell and high water to make it work, but without a test mule, they could not guarantee they would comply with the Australian Design Rules, nor guarantee the vehicles would pass all of the reliability tests that the Factory and the Dealers would then have to be responsible for. The factory would have backed his work so homologation for the new worldwide Group A series would have had Holden on the front row of the world stage. Which leads to the next sad part of the show. If Brock had got the Director IRS through, motor racing would never have had to ban the Nissan GTR. Ford would have had to up their game with AWD Sierras or maybe developed the Dick Johnson Turbo Falcons. Holden would have up their game with AWD Commodores. Ford and Holden would have moved to OHC V8 engines or Turbo 6s in AWD chassis' to compete against the likes of AWD Audi and Nissans, and V8 BMW Ms, Mercedes AMGs. Maybe they would have developed both to compete against both classes. All of those advancements would have been developed in the late 80s to mid 90s instead of the 2000s. Holden and Ford would have been competing and regularly beating the best Europe had to offer, that would have ensured better sales, and would have prevented the demise of the Australian Car industry.
Interesting. Not being able to sell the commodore overseas I see as one of the great failures of Australian manufacturing business. At the end of its reign, it was an excellent sedan car. You shed some light on to why it never happened
@@Bluepilled-c5t Which is strange considering Holden had been selling to places like South Africa, and some Asian countries for decades. The Commodore was also based on the Euro GM Opal body shell, so no problem introducing an Opal Variant, and used the same 5 to 6 litre V8 architecture as North America, so there would be potential markets there, and Euro and US eventually had Aussie built cars sold there. We can blame most of that on the US based CEOs of the day, but I put a fair chunk of blame on the Oz marketing and engineers for nothing getting in the ear of the US Execs and convincing them that there was alternative markets.
Used to pre deliver these old timers. I still have a clear vision of the Polariser mounted on the firewall in front of the passenger side. It was also quite a bit bigger than the one Al is putting in his pocket. It had a sticker on it quite bright and purplish...maybe like fireworks...something like this.
I've been consulting my inner lion. He tells me the energy polariser was designed to increase you chakra radiance and magnify the clarity of your 3rd eye. But my large collection of crystals has been blocking my emotional perception of reality recently so I might be wrong. Peace, love and Limited Slip Diffs!!!
The amount of respect and restraint shown for a piece of 'equipment' that deserves to have the piss absolutely ripped out of it is admirable. I like your style, boyz
Love the history lesson, doubly so because it's a vehicle that never existed where I live! Holden denying IRS on a vehicle that was delivered elsewhere in the world *with* IRS is just plain daft though.
Killing it boys loving the videos the mix of big builds, small builds and other escapades are awesome! The post credits if that's what you call them are mint 👌
Yo the polariser from memory watching Brocky talk about it on the tv , was meant to go on the fuel line. The thing was allegedly meant to polarise the fuel molecules with apparently improved atomisation ,fuel economy, saving you fuel and increasing performance.
Boys another great episode another couple of wives tales of the polarizer was that it changrd the molecular structer of the body of the car so it had less drag and i think it also helped with greater fuel efficiency and i also like the give a huge thanks to the grommets for what they are doing with people likes these i wouldnt be able to fight this disease for the past 15 years thanks once again tot he grommets 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Donate to the grommets Shave for a cure! my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/beaubutler
Want to see more Holden VL content? check out one of our old build series! ruclips.net/video/jEMz4Zq6zQY/видео.html
304 Engine build : ruclips.net/video/L_yqnCfYqf8/видео.html
Wasn't ready for Beau's voice to be that deep w
Come on Allen machine shop
Smoosh-chine shop
You get a sting and a level and you drill the block out mate
Jk boys 😂
For those who don’t know sarcasm
Junior has the deeeepest voice ever. Get him on Radio
Donated what legends 👏
The Skid factory. The 304 was used in race cars until 1993
My memory of the Polarizer was that Brocky got involved with a Snake Oil chiropractor/salesman/conman by the name of Eric Dowker(?). He was a new-age 'doctor' and had treated Brock and his family for many issues. He convinced Brock that the magnets and crystals aligned molecules to create balance in the car, thereby increasing performance and reliability. I remember all the drama around this when it was made public. It was like Peter Brock had been brainwashed (and hey, I'm an old-school hippy from way back).
Correct
Around the same time he met the woman he left his wife for?
Yep, I remember it well, followed the whole story in detail. Brock was a sublime driver but had some interesting beliefs off the track. I remember when the Walkinshaw Commodore was released and a Brock HDT car was requested for comparison for a magazine test. The Brock car turned up with an auto box and had weird tyre pressures, which the testers weren't allowed to change. Kind of continued to sour the Brock legend for me.
@@greybeard27 100% was some weird shit going on then, it definitely tarnished Brocks career
@@deanadams7198 michele downs ?
Thanks for your support of the leukemia foundation boys. Coming from a father who's son is in the middle of his battle for the second time it's nice to feel the love 👍🏽
good luck mate, I hope he fights and kicks it as soon as he can. stay strong, you're doing a great job.
Mate fight the good fight
He will be alright. Stay positive. I have 2 family members who are survivors ✊
God bless you, your son and your family, I have an uncle fighting lymphoma, they are all fighters!
9:14 Al, the live axle is due to Australian content laws of the time.
You could build Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits of foreign cars and call them Australian made, as long as they had a certain amount of Australian content in them.
Companies like Borg Warner (BTR) axles, PBR brakes, TRW steering racks, VDO instruments and Yazaki electric looms were all common in most Australian made brands.
Is that why the aussie assembled r31 skyline had live axle aswel?
@@marnixhoebers5176 sure is, same as many other cars, Datsuns that had IRS over seas but live axle here
@@marnixhoebers5176
Yes, sure is.
I converted an Aussie 910 Bluebird sedan to the Jap spec SSS Turbo for rallying in the 90s.
Luckily the process was pretty easy.
Located the mounting holes in the chassis under the Aussie mounts, fitted the IRS from the R30 Skyline (Same as Jap 910), the front crossmember from a series 3 Bluebird (CA20C engine here) Same mounts as the Z18ET and then used R31 Aussie front vented discs. 👌
@@tx5brent all the Datsun Z's had IRS
@@Wrayza because they weren't built in Australia as far as I know
I like the way you guys are mixing up the content. Appreciate your effort.
Not only a whole episode, but a great charity bit AND an encore!? You spoil us.
What an epic run-down of the HDT SV story. I've read everything I've ever been able to get my hands on about this story, from magazines, news articles, books, etc and spoken to everyone I could who had first-hand knowledge, including Jim Richards and John Harvey. You got every detail spot-on.
The only thing worth adding is that the IRS issue got particularly thorny when a dealer had the balls to sell a Director as a new car. By that time, you had to pay full freight for a V8 Calais and then have HDT do their thing on it, but a dealer had one done before he registered it for himself. This meant that a Holden dealer had sold a Holden car with suspension that wasn't complied and possibly didn't satisfy ADRs, which was the thing that cemented Brocky on Holden's shit list way more than the vegan doctor and his crystals.
This video popped up in my YT feed yesterday. As a one-time owner of a HDT "enhanced" VK Commodore and a massive HDT fan back in the day, this story resonates with me. That a childhood hero could plummet to such depths was, at the time, a bit soul destroying. Then I read the book, "The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock" by Bill Tuckey (I still have it today) and to read what went behind the scenes and how they treated their loyal friends and employees was gut wrenching.
The guys in this video are spot on in the retelling of this sad and sorry saga. I've also learned a bit about Holden V8 development, such as the head design, for example.
I look forward to watching how this old Calais is restored.
Great video Al and Woody...! Brocky is an absolute legend despite temporary crystal madness. After the Holden split, he ran an E30 M3 for 88 then moved to the Sierra RS500 Cosworth for 89 and 90. I was very lucky to be able to acquire the 89 Brock Sierra back in 2017 and am happy to report she's still going strong 😎👍
Are you the bloke in the UK with his Cossie, or do I have my wires crossed?
@@piffiiiiiiit Yes sir. I'm very humbled to be the custodian of the old girl.
@@FastAsFunk Mate, that's terrific. I came across a great interview on youtube a while back. Chapeau!
@@piffiiiiiiit Thank you. That's very kind of you to say. I consider myself very lucky indeed, although I know even more now how divisive Brocky in a Ford is for Aussie racing fans...! Copped a load of flak over the years for it like I'm some sort of heretic, but I get it 😆
It was a good thing Brocky raced a Ford at Bathurst first, or else I might have cried when Lowndes went and drove for Gibson.
Fun Fact2: when a late VK HDT commodore (that had a polariser) was tested by wheels magazine they were told it had to be run with specific (low) tyre pressures.
They tested back to back with another commodore (sans Polarizer) which had std Holden pressures.
The car with the polariser certainly handled the slalom course differently, and apparently it was nothing to do with pressures, but all to do with the Polarizer according to Brock.
From memory the recommendation was lower than the tyre manufacturer suggested as well, so was quite controversial…..
I recall reading the tyre pressure story. Can't remember what car it was though. But they had to run the tyres at something ridiculously low like 15psi.
The comparison with the Walkinshaw Commodore is still available online if you Google it.
@@MrJimibarrett there were a few differences, least not the considerable budget, facilities and expertise the guys at Walkinshaw had, but there was a really obvious massive advantage on the Walkinshaw car too. For the comparison the Brock Commodore was intentionally hobbled by an auto gearbox and the 22psi in the tyres, it might have been closer with a manual gearbox and 30psi in both cars, but the Brock car was never going to come out on top and HDT knew it. The whole episode was handled well by the journo who wrote the article, but when it came out in print it just stunk of sour grapes.
I remember the wheels article, they were clearly torn between dismissing it as a fantasy and wanting it to be true. Later articles laughed at the terrible performance of running tyres with no air haha
The tyre pressure recommended by Brock on the 16” Aero wheels was 22psi cold. We tested this on my HDT Enhanced VK as well as Gil Cameron’s VK (Road & Track Dyno Service). We noted additional grip, but “you could see the tyres wearing”… So we both returned the tyres to regular pressures.
When Peter Brock was young he and his brother used to hoon around the family farm in a brake-less buggy they made from Austin7 parts. Years later this was saved from destruction by John Needham (Old Car Gearboxes Melb) and hung from his workshop ceiling for many years. After Brocky died, word got around and his brother attended John’s workshop, looked up upon entering and immediately said “That’s It!”… the buggy was purchased.. some time later they needed a second one made for a museum show piece, John and his son Ben built a replica to the exact standard of the original using all original Austin7 parts etc and it is now in a museum I think up in Queensland somewhere. If anyone needs a gearbox fixed for a pre 1974 car then you will find no other place in Australia with more knowledge that Ben and John. They are amazing, they made me a close ratio gearbox for my rally car.
I have some old modern motor and wheels mags from 86 when the strife went down. Holden were already unhappy due to the polariser but the straw that broke the camels back was Brock not letting Holden's engineers test the Director before it's release to ensure it met the Australian design rules and was a product they could offer their warranty on. He went rogue, he was warned what would happen and still refused.
I saw an interview Brock gave at the time. Brock seemed to assume that the cars were his, my understanding is the dealers actually owned the cars when they left the plant the factory. The Director was a mess, panel fit was just awful. My recollection was the V8 was not available at the release of the VL. I have some knowledge of what happened with Brock & Holden. Walkinshaw was sniffing around & the Holden tendered out the special Vehicles to a number of interested parties . I am aware of 1 at least as well as Walkinshaw. Holden Special Vehicles began operating in Notting Hill.
Love the content mate was great to see this era of Aus motoring history get some air time!
The polarizer was also commonly mounted within that air cowl above the bonnet to the right (looking into the engine bay)
Brocky also had some weird ideas about running super low tyre pressures (22psi) in the polarizer cars - again making Holden hard to justify how to provide warranty on such a car.
Another really crazy-80s item was HDT (and those that got to option up their HDT commodores with Brock himself) would usually be able to 'sneak in' a bit of extra power for those that were willing to pay that little bit extra for the blueprinting option on the engine/carburetor combos. Which was yet another sticking point between HDT and Holden being that they had to warrant cars which went truly above the power figures they were rated at; and had them being driven on the streets most of the time :P (little wonder so many ended up around trees ahaha)
The trusty Trimatic is known as a TH180 (or 3L30) overseas and was in a very strange combination of cars (including a XT130 Corona!)
I recall reading an article in Car Australia or maybe Wheels ( both could be wrong ) about lap times with tyre pressures at 22 psi and 35-38 psi and the quicker lap times were at the higher pressure......ahhh memories....I wish I kept my enormous collection of car mags from that era.
Lower tyre pressure would make the vehicle seem alot quieter & smoother. This would lead someone even further down the rabbit hole in believing that the crystal thing is working.
Really love your detailed history lessons on the certain models.
Please do more of them!
Fun Fact: for the VL Group A - not the Walkinshaw, the red carby one (which was a “Holden” not a HDT technically) you only got a Brocky’s signature on it if you optioned the Polarizer via the “Plus Pack”
Holden thought it was a box of bullshit - so refused to allow them to be fitted - but then Brocky refused to have his signature decals on it - so there was two options. About a 1/3rd were the latter.
Seems every one for sale is a “plus pack” these days. Stickers must not be hard to acquire……!
As per what Brockie said in an interview way back when, he proposed that the crystal aligned the molecules which made the fuel burn more efficiently. When it was tested there was no discernible difference. Holden waited for this result prior to severing the ties to Brockie. I saw quite a few interviews and information on this when I was still a young man hahaha...
Yeah but everyone knew that was BS because all the lead in the fuel wasn't magnetized :p
you are the BEST host Al! Such a pleasure to listen to.
Peter Brock was Holden and I was a Ford supporter/ nut case. When Brocky split with Holden and started racing under powered BMWs I was for the first time really able to appreciate what a masterful driver he was. Watching him at Winton raceway be competitive and win in a slower less powerful car with him being so smooth is something I'll never forget.
Brocky was the king, the ultimate driver.
Love the story of the guy who brought brocks first race car thinking it must be some sort of rocket only to find it was mostly brocks driving that made the car fast
Thank you for the detailed content, I'm proud that we had an Aussie car industry with its own history 💪
The knowledge about these cars is slowly being lost, I'm glad that we have this on video for future generations to share our passion.
Keep up the good work fellas 👍
Great content, been watching you guys from your first VL vid since you departed from that Moog guy at MCM with no idea, couldn't stand him. Being an HDT guy I would like to add the following:-
1) It wasn't Moffat that left HDT over the Polarizer debarcle but rather Larry Perkins after Bev Brock went haywire with the mystic crap and started hanging cd's in the hdt workshop, Larry being an educated engineering guy wouldn't stand for the crap.
2) Bev Brock was the instigator of the polarizer and should have kept her nose out and stayed at home baking cakes.
3) No Vl sports were ever ordered / delivered with a turbo 400, if auto 304 they were trimatic and would have to have been retro fitted T400 after initial sale by Harrop etc.
4) Polarizers were never mounted on the parcel shelf, they were always in the scuttle tray of the engine bay. A polarizer lightning sticker was attached to the rear window as per hdt instructions and had to be perfectly centered for the box of rocks to work correctly.
The TH400 was fitted by HDT, it is in the sale documents. It also had a Wade 246 cam fitted by HDT. It had a towbar also and we speculate that the original owner might have towed one of those giant 80's speedboats because he was super baller.
I agree. I remember photos of the polarizer being only in the engine bay. Plus i also agree it was Bev Brock behind the idea!
@@theskidfactory Wade supplied cams for the Xu1 too.
Peter Bowden is the guy to speak to. He's local too in Mooloolah Valley.
A lot of expensive cars purchased back in the HDT Commodore days were part of a salary package & paid for by the owners employer. In the car business a lot can be made in profit from upgrades & accessories. If you had $30,000 to spend on a car paid for by your employer you would spend the whole amount. The poleriser was another upgrade to add to the spec sheet. One of the reasons Australia's car industry went busy is the Government closing the tax loophole regarding a car as part of an employee's salary not being taxed.
I was under the impression that Holden weren't allowed to have a factory team, so the basically said "nah the dealers are funding it" and poured money in that way. But that could just be a pub story.
Also, The Dollop have a great podcast episode on Peter Brock. Worth a listern for the laughs and reactions to the crystals
I heard that was a GM rule that no subsidiary was allowed to fund a race team, except chev probably.
Both replies are correct. GM USA put in a rule that no other GM brands can race unless they were US based GM brands (Chev, Buick, Oldsmobile, etc.). As a result, Holden and the dealers gave the USA the proverbial bird and HDT was born. It also happened with Opel and Vauxhall in Europe who funded themselves in many forms of motorsports due to this rule. 👍
They made handy donations.
Oh man the Dollop is fantastic but I haven't heard that episode yet. I know what I'm doing tonight!
@@modernpizza I enjoy the Dollop but that one was all all Brocky bashing and the live audience weren’t on board
First as always thank you for doing what you do! Love the skid Factory . I remember around 1985 1986 in the US that they were doing things with trying to align fuel molecules with magnets, I remember my dad saying it was a bunch of horse doo-doo. LOL I had a 1970 Maverick where I put a bunch of magnets on the steel fuel line hoping it did something. Obviously it didn't other than help RadioShack sell magnets😂
I have seen mid 2000s japanese imports with very professional looking magnet packs on the fuel hoses.
There’s still “that guy” selling the air intake thingy and his fuel line magnets. @MotoringBox did a great video on them which concluded they were pretty much a load of flog. (My words not his)
@@FuManchu5ltr I remember those. I think they were called "Hiclone" or something. To me they just functioned as an intake restrictor but some folks believed in them.
Did a power steer hose on a 70s gm USA import here in New zealand looking at the carb I found a magnitiser taped around the rubber fuel line. Someone paid money for it as they were made to fit together with the fuel line in the middle
I just think it’s awesome that keeping even the original style heads!! That is some thing that doesn’t happen ever any more!
Soo good to see an Aussie icon in the skid factory 🤘
What a rare car this is. Great to see one. As a big Brocky fan from when I first saw Australian touring car racing the 80s, he certainly did court his fair share of controversy. That said, the bust up with Holden and HDT/Brocky did lead to him running the Sierra RS500 Cosworth in 89 and 90 which arguably was more controversial than the polariser...! Unlike the polariser however, I wholly approved of Brocky in a Sierra 😎😎😎
A book titled ‘The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock” indicates that the split between Holden and Peter had more to do with un tested and uncertified changes Brock made to the Brake Master cylinder and so the the cars were not ADR compliant and GM were fearful of litigation. The Poleriser was also a concern because the claims made about it could not be measured or quantified.
I think HDT and Brocky played fast and loose with ADR regs and some of their engine mods, and got away with it because - well, it's Brocky, and the fact that you were Technically taking delivery of the car and then it was going back to HDT for the mods. But most of these cars, by VK and VL time cost almost Porsche 911 or BMW M series money and you the car you got was still a family car built to a price with a plasticy interior and nowhere near the refinement..
I'm a brocky fan, but this book is a good read.
HDT car were covered by GM warranty I believe, so when Brocky started modifying cars in ways that didn't meet ADR or GM standards and didn't show any benefit(like the polariser), there was no way they would apply their warranty to HDT cars, like they had up to that point.
There's a book called "The rise & fall of Peter Brock" by Bill Tuckey, which goes deep into the whole Polariser debacle. Great read if you can find a copy.
Yes, l had it ..don't know where it is but l doubt l would have thrown it out..maybe someone else may have.
I still have my copy. If anyone can get a hold of the book it's a great look into the industry at the time. Tuckey wrote that there was a lot more of the story but chose to leave it out due to legal reasons. I wonder if his estate has all of his research now that most of the main people in the book are no longer around.
Sick car, interesting history to it. Man I wish modern day cars had this sort of character..
and an energy polariser.
This is my mates car. So happy for him - he’s loved this thing for 25 years that I’ve known him
The add on plastic on the “a” pillar is probably to stop the original plastic trim over the windscreen seal from blowing off at 200+ lol I’m sure plenty of other vl owners can agree!
Its part of the aero kit that came on the directors this car seem to only have half the kit though
Every one of us vl nuts were thinking exactly the same haha
I am well aware of such phenomena! Had to Sikaflex mine down to stop them getting ripped off.
@@URHYNS yep a tube of 227 does wonders lol
@@cammos you’re right there! it likely wasn’t such an issue with new plastics back in the day but time gets to em
Turn the Energy polarizer backward, forward, and both again upside down during dyno runs. And make sure the sphere of influence encompasses the dyno rollers just to be sure. Mood of Technician may affect results. If acceleration is poor, but braking is good, the polarizer maybe backward. Also calibration maybe be needed if track/course/Garage is negitive or positve, as the polarizing sphere of influence should be unidirectional. Results may vary. You may also need to use a mood ring on the driver to confirm correct calibration and placement of the Energy polarizer. Caution: do not use Energy polarizer on a building as it can polarize doorways leading to only an exit/entrance condition. Exit condition can result in lose of business, Entrance condition is against health and fire codes. Can be used with Hydroencabulator, TurboEncabulator, or Snycroencabultors. Electroencabulators Requires a magnetic upgrade kit sold separately. Opticalencabulator or Power crystal optional by request only. Not to be confused with magnetized toroidal Fuel polarizer. Not a source of void energy. Void word where prohibited. Thx for the insight and the video. MCM did a good episode about bunk items. i would bet a colabartion would pull so many of these out of air. It could be a series. Would be cool to see stateside scams too.
Yo! Looooooved this! Brock/HDT, etc... so good. Keen for the next vid on this car
Lost my mum to chronic myloid leaukimea much respect for your work 🙏🏻🇦🇺 Brockys still my idol 💪🏻
"If you can hear it, then it's bad, really bad" spot on
First car was a JE Camira,, added a 1ggze supercharger and extractors. Had more fun in that car than any other car I've had since The sheer look of disgust and denial beating people in the traffic light derby as pure joy.
The 2l EFI camiras were pretty decent for the time actually. The older carby versions were not great.
The Boys have raised $4981.19 so far.
Legends
I recall stuff in the media at the time, that Brocky was advising customers with cars fitted with the energy polariser, should run only 21 psi in the types. This caused Holden kiniptions, due to that fact that this was well out side the recommended tyre pressures calculated by the tyre manufacturers engineers. Holden felt that because the close association with Brock, that claims like this from Brock, without refutation from Holden, would be seen by the public as Holden approving of the practice. As I understand it, it was outrageous claims like this along with the rest of the snake oil Brocky was peddling about the Energy Polarizer at the time that Caused his business Partner Larry Perkins to up stumps and Leave HDT too. Love Brocky to bits, as great Aussie hero/icon that he was, but he was off his twig thought he mid 80's! Great video... looking forward to see the next one on this little beastie!
Al's knowledgeful on camera presentations are becoming very professional. Love the paint on that car.
I got to meet Peter Brock as a teenager at Pukekohe raceway. Still got a autographed program from that event.
I bought a second hand engine off of him, he was a great bloke.
The Polariser thing caused not only a disagreement between Holden and HDT, but also Moffat and Brock and a bunch of other team members. A whole bunch of them quit.
Well, it polarised Brock & Moffat and other team members...so I guess it worked.
Make sure you run the tyre pressures at 23psi with the Polarizer. 😄
I borrowed one of Brockies mods on my 5ltr VB SLE with a 5 speed Toyota box, 'The hot fuel handling package' which tucked the fuels lines inside the chassis members to stop vapour lock when driving...spirited. 🙂
The energy polariser was first unveiled in 1986 and then it was fitted to every HDT director. It was nothing more than a couple of magnets with a bit of crystal in the middle. It was held in place on the vehicle with one self tapping screw. At the beginning of all that Brocky didn't really want anyone to know about it but he used in his car during a race (can't remember what race) but it came unstuck and flew around the cabin. He had to explain it to official's and was almost disqualified because of it. Don't really know what was going through Brockys mind at the time but it made no sense and no provable difference to the cars handling or proformance. Just a load of hippy bulldust...
Anti rust device... rust will ruin handling.
What was going through his mind at the time was the breakdown of his marriage and a new girlfriend who would spend hours every day mediating under a pyramid frame!
Bathurst 1987 Win in the HDT VL proved the Polarizer worked, he Polarized the opposition and took home the Win.
Brockie had too many cones
@666theninja I'm pretty sure his driving skill had something to do with the win but it did go to his head and he ordered that every HDT sold had it installed.
Excuse me Al, I had a mullet well into the late 80s and early 90s. I had to, because I owned a HZ Monaro so is was compulsory.🤣😂
We fitted an extra. Great gains. My VL had so much torque that the chassis twisted coming off the line.
I’m excited to see this build, owning a 334 pack VK (factory V8 manual Calais) that’s probably slower than a Camry this is going to be exciting
Yeah but not as stylish as a vk😆, to be honest i never shoulda sold my 202 vk loved it , keep on driving it brother 🤘🤠👍
@@dangdang3970 don’t worry no plans of ever getting rid of it 😊
I haven't been this excited since the Iron Lion build!
My first ever car was a VL and I regret how I treated it, I turbo'ed it made way to much power for my abilities at the time and crashed it writing the whole car off, I now realize that I should have looked after it. Thanks for sharing the story behind the car I didn't even know about it 👍
So awesome to hear the Holden/hdt stories!! Love it
Another interesting thing about Peter Brock is that he is a suspect in an unsolved murder case from the late 70s. No joke.
He was implicated by a wacky psychic who also named a dozen other blokes. All turned out to be false.
Got any more details? Where ? Who ?
Loved the background on the car etc. Would be keen to see more of this on other unique builds with a smaller scope compared to the longer projects
Oooof, great cars.
I grew up in this era too, I learnt how to build engines in the 90's and 480hp is no slouch in a real Commodore, which in my opinion was the last good one.
I did like the VN though, especially for taking the heads, but gee they were expensive back then.
I owned a VHSS and A VK Brock Group A, amazing cars and I had plenty of power to match, some of the best cars IMO.
Although chassis like the MX5 came out not long after and were amazing handlers.
The best thing I remember was the steering racks, you could drive these things ballistic in the wet and dry and you would never lose the back end of them.
Definitely light enough compared to modern cars too, I nearly bought my VK back from the guy I sold to 25 years ago and it was a very good price mind you.
Sadly the reason he was selling it was not a pleasant story (lot of drug problems with permanent hospitalisation) so given my circumstances and the history of the car in his ownership, I decided not to buy it back.
This is not the energy pulveriser or whatever Al, but I do believe in negative energy's with some people and buying a car from someone who has fallen to the drug world in a serious manner, you can feel bad shit in and around everything they own.
Yeah it might sound like crazy talk, but I have seen some scary stuff around some toxic people that would make your skin crawl, so the car was let go to someone else, what a shame, I loved that thing when I had it.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane Al, these were the engines that I grew up on and lucky for me, I had a friend who was 15 years older than me who was a ridiculously good drag car builder and he taught me nearly everything to with Holden's and Chev SB and BB engines, even for the mid 90's, running mid 9's in street cars, we were a minority and gee did we learn how to drive well, very quickly indeed.
No-one got hurt, but we were always taught to respect machinery and build up progressively.
I remember driving a very stout Torana with a monster combo in it one night and my mate Brad was telling me to Rev it out more (we were testing a recent cam grind/head combination) and I could not go any harder than I was, we were literally sliding all over the place in 2nd and 3rd (4 speed Muncie) trying to get power down on the street, I was still a 1000rpm off redline on the 6AL MSD limiter....... Lol.
Fun times 😊👍
Love to hear what Bocky said himself not a lot of hear say ,from a Ford Fan, fun facts for you Brocky drove a Ford Sierra as you had to if you wanted to win. Can you feature the Brock 1990 XR6 and XR8. He obviously had an open mind. I love all the legends Dick Johnson, Peter Brock, Larry Perkins, John Goss, John Bowe and of course Alan Moffat.
True fact...! Brocky's 89 Sierra is still going strong all these years later 😎👍
I think Brock stealing Holden's thunder by offering the IRS before Holden was going to drip feed it to us was THE reason, but the box of hippy rocks was a more palatable reason to snap it off than say publicly "We've been holding off on offering IRS since 78, so our peepee got hurt"
Finally, someone stating it for what it really was!
Wasn’t the bigger issue that he was adding big cams etc the Brock v8s and Holden was getting worried that his motors were far from emissions compliant, and they were fully factory backed and therefore going to be liable
Yep bang on! Brock imported a few Opel Monzas (which had factory IRS) after driving one on an overseas trip and wanted to run it in the race cars - I couldnt imagine the race body / Holden were too pleased with him 'jumping the gun' before them.
He did build a few HDT Monzas from the Opels he imported - basically transplanting the trusty 308/manual box in lieu of the inline 6/auto jobby they came with but leaving the IRS.
Would have been awesome to see what one would do around Bathurst!
@@slalomhokko Honestly hadn't heard that, but it would of been a bit of a deal if the EPA had to slap Holden for it.
@@roccoloops The Hobart Mercury printed a very interesting full page history of the Commodore about the time the VN launched. It mentioned that when Opel was testing the 'VB' Calton/Rekord they decided the 5 link live axle was too sketch with their 3 litre ohc 6 and only sold it with the 1.9 4cyl and developed the semi longitudinal trailing arm irs to be sold with the 6. Where as GMH considered the 5 link live was perfectly fine with a 308 😄
Neat, I love hearing about some odd bits of automotive history like this, where there is a tiff or spat between builders, like Ford vs Ferrari, or the time Soichiro
The reason why Commodores of that era didn't have IRS is that there was still tariffs on minimum local content & the rear ends were sourced from Borg Warner to keep the local content quota, the local Borg Warner division just didn't make IRS, it's the same as how Australian Datsun 200Bs are mostly Borg Warner solid rear ends but they are IRS everywhere else, Australian Mitsubishi Starions are solid rear axle for similar reasons.
Really looking forward to this series! Epic and rare car. I believe our UK cousin of this car was the Vauxhall Senator
Great show again Al & Woody.
For those that don't know our great Australian Peter Brock lost his life in a Ford Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe designed by an equally brilliant American also named Peter Brock, uncanny?
It was a Daytona Coupe kit car made in Australia. It was a replica of the US Shelby with a similar name, but to say Ford, Shelby or Cobra were involved in that particular car is wrong
@@Itsaworkinburkin Mate, regardless of whether or not it was a Ford Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe real car or kit without both Peter Brock's that accident would not have happened.
Illuminati sacrifice
Without the polariser!
Very comprehensive video. Excellent. Great knowledge of the facts. Fantastic, professional.
Brockie also recommended running the tyres at a much lower pressure because the orgon energy from the polariser meant it was fine (or some crap like that) which was just another reason to alarm holden.
My best friend in the 80's father, had a VL Calais 5.0 as a company car. We went for cruises in it and blew away old corvettes. Such fun memories
Must of been old!
I think you summed HDT pretty well. From memory Holden spent something like $280k to test the polariser and found no data to back up any benefit.
I should stop commenting halfway through videos, but this made me laugh:
Al: It made the molecules align......
Woody:........???? Hang on?????!!
This is how I imagine the conversation went between Brocky and Holden. :P
I owned an Opel Senator ( known to you as the Holden Commodore) way back in the "90's that had irs and the 3 lt Opel straight 6. She was thirsty but could tow my 2 ton "stock car" with ease. We also had the Opel Commodore that had the live rear axle in it. The Senator handled much better than the Commodore because of the rear suspension.
The 3lt straight 6 had a bit of performance as it stayed with a 2lt Opel Kadette 0-120 kmh and pulled away from 120 onwards. The only Opel that blew it into the weeds performance wise was the 2lt 16v red top engines.
Lotus did a bit of work on the 3lt Opel engine and turned out the Opel Lotus Omega that was the fastest production saloon way back in the day. If memory serves it could do 260 + kmh on the Autobahn.
Btw I am based in South Africa and the one thing I always wanted to see was Brockie racing at Bathurst.
I didn't know about Australia's Peter Brock. America had our own Peter (Pete) Brock. He designed the Stingray Corvette and Daytona Cobra.
I watched a vid on youtube ages ago about the US Pete Brock, it included footage of a Torana being pedalled around Mt Panorama. Lots of "wrong Peter Brock!" comments.
Really? That is a terrible coincidence.
Looking forward to this build. I remember when all this went down with Holden and HDT. IMHO the VK HDT was the best.
I think HDT VL stroker was only 5.6ltr.
Also the 355 harrop crank, if using SBC journal size, will run rods and Pistons from SBC 383 stroker kit.
Because shorter deck height.
But great video!
I hope the boys raise lots of money before agreeing to chop that awesome mop!
By far one of the best episode I think I have seen by these boys in a long time. Keep it up boys
This red Calais is my dream car.....the VL Calais will forever hold a place at the top of my dream car list.
Hey it's my first time watching your videos. If you can explain what the polariser did, the whole world will be grateful
My grandfather had an 88 VL, 3ltr 5spd. He purchased whenn brand new. Unfortunately when he got older (83) and struggled with the clutch, a dodgy car salesman talked him into an auto Toyota Corona. He purchased the VL off my grandfather (privately) for only $3000, told him it wasn't worth anything. It was an immaculate, 80km car. Beautiful dark metallic grey. Later on a friend had a modified factory VL turbo, this was early 2000's, was the fastest thing I'd ever been in.
For only 3k your grandfather ripped him off
The Trimatic was designated the TH180 / 3L30 and originally a European design. It was apparently used in Fiats, Suzukis and even in De Loreans.
Would like to see what Suzuki it was used in
@@crf80fdarkdays late 80s/early 90s Vitara
Being a big Brock fan, I loved the episode. But Im really interested in how you adapt the crank angle sensor to the Iron Lion. I’ve got a build Im sort of planning (it’s a long way off)and would like to know the options for crank/cam timing for aftermarket ECU’s
I would not recommend using cherry sensors for crank trigger.
A friend of mine had an “SV88” it was a Calais Holden built after the the divorce with HDT but had all the HDT spec options in it. His was the Turbo 6 and a previous owner had retuned the original ECU. It had increased boost pressure and increased fuel rail pressure. I remember riding in it in the early ‘90’s and for the time it had mind blowing performance. It also used more fuel that you would believe possible :-) Eventually it had to be tuned back to standard to make driving affordable.
Bloody awesome episode fellas, keen for the next one. Didn't know the actual history of hdt till now
It's absolutely a beautiful ride. That red on it really makes it. Great video.
10:00 "it's just not like that anymore, you just buy a car, you can pick the colour, that's probably about it"
very true, it hurts
Great episode loved this, Brocky was my hero back in the day, always the rival between Dicky and Peter, but full respect to both drivers - Brocky HDT did some awesome cars - blue meanie..etc etc . Loved this car today rare as !!
Whilst 'the Polarizer' has often been cited for the split between Brock and Holden, it was only part of it. Brock wanting to dictate to Holden as to the sale and exporting ambitions of his newly derived Calais Director that hadn't even been subject to any testing to meet design rules etc... was the nail in the coffin for the partnership. Not only could Holden see absolutely no merit, scientific or measurable difference with the Polarizer, but to be told how their business model was to run was the last straw. Spending time with Chiropractor Dr Eric Dowker and a 'Feng Shui' approach to motor racing didn't help his cause very much!!
Man, it is sometimes really hard to believe what some people do believe in, especially if you are working in an industry where physics is the first language.
M2, you touched on a part of the REAL story that caused the final public rift. The public polarizer blowup and the role the Director played in it, were simply a convenient PR campaign facade that GMH imposed on HDT to ditch Brock. The European connection you referred to was the real itch that GMH was scratching. Apparently Brock’s time in the European racing circles allowed him to network, and quickly realise there was massive potential for marketing the high performance GT style HDT cars to the super-rich, and keenly interested, European racing fanboys. His production, and ultimately transgression of IRS’ing the Director with the intention of shipping them into Europe (hence no local ADR testing!!) became known to OPEL, GM’s German/European subsidiary. This was quickly followed by a call to Detroit GM HQ by OPEL asking WTAF is going on this this Aussie renegade supplying GM branded GT’s in Europe?!!
That’s when GMH got the call to “shut him down!”, and the smart move was using a “questionable technology”, which was already drawing much industry and race attention in the media, to fuel the final fire to seperate. It would have been too awkward to venture into the politically sensitive (remember GMH were still getting a shit tone of AusGov industry subsidy at the time, and AusGov would’ve latched onto the “export opportunity” HDT Director actually represented- think about it!) “EXPORT” territory in public press statements.
@@Retinalism i think you answered to me instead of M2...
but i appreciate your explanation.
It wasn’t just the polariser. Brock was doing stuff to engines per customer request which Holden wouldn’t warrant. So HDT warranted them. High output ones and 5.6 litre strokers.
@@BGSF That’s what I said! It wasn’t just the Polarizer as most people cite, it was all of Brock’s activity behind the scenes.
American here. This thing is rad. I wish we got these. One bad sedan!!
The energy polariser gives off IDENTICAL vibes as those wrist bands from the early 2000’s😂
Anything VL and your views are about to go nuts.. love it ❤❤❤
Beautiful VL. My dad owned an Opel Rekord back in the early 80's. Always loved these Opels/Holdens. Brockie was one heck of a driver.
Love ya work mate. First time I Tuned in.
Polarizer apparently gave better fuel consumption etc. You could buy them for any car. Holden thought Brock was a mad..
i love how you guys cover alot of aussie cars 😁
For a little bit extra you could also purchase a HDT race edition tinfoil hat to shield you from Holdens negative thought waves..sick car Al..try not to polarize it too much please, just make it run awesome again
Also with the body kit on the director, the rear window had to come out to install it. That’s probably why he only had the front a pillar moulds put on. It was a headache to install and took about a week to do.
Been waiting for another vl on this channel ❤️❤️❤️ I've got two for sale a a8 Calais turbo mockup, and a factory 5 speed manual wagon
All Brockie had to do was give people the Polariser, but Dr Dowker who actually did good things for Brockie, helping him give up grog and smoking and eating healthier, wanted to be paid for it.
If Brock just fitted them to the cars and let the owners decide if they wanted to keep it fitted there would have been no issues with it. But when he made them a compulsory $500 option.
The Director, yes it was an amazing car, I knew a bloke who had one, it was top of the line of everything. In this case GMH factory had not tested any of the major options, like the brake changes, independent rear, and a few other mods that Brock was selling them with.
GMH told Brock not to go ahead with the public release of it, Brock thought he was more powerful than the Factory and they had no choice but to cut ties with him.
If Brock had still held the shin dig, called it a Concept Car, the factory would have moved hell and high water to make it work, but without a test mule, they could not guarantee they would comply with the Australian Design Rules, nor guarantee the vehicles would pass all of the reliability tests that the Factory and the Dealers would then have to be responsible for.
The factory would have backed his work so homologation for the new worldwide Group A series would have had Holden on the front row of the world stage.
Which leads to the next sad part of the show. If Brock had got the Director IRS through, motor racing would never have had to ban the Nissan GTR. Ford would have had to up their game with AWD Sierras or maybe developed the Dick Johnson Turbo Falcons. Holden would have up their game with AWD Commodores. Ford and Holden would have moved to OHC V8 engines or Turbo 6s in AWD chassis' to compete against the likes of AWD Audi and Nissans, and V8 BMW Ms, Mercedes AMGs. Maybe they would have developed both to compete against both classes.
All of those advancements would have been developed in the late 80s to mid 90s instead of the 2000s. Holden and Ford would have been competing and regularly beating the best Europe had to offer, that would have ensured better sales, and would have prevented the demise of the Australian Car industry.
Interesting. Not being able to sell the commodore overseas I see as one of the great failures of Australian manufacturing business. At the end of its reign, it was an excellent sedan car. You shed some light on to why it never happened
@@Bluepilled-c5t Which is strange considering Holden had been selling to places like South Africa, and some Asian countries for decades.
The Commodore was also based on the Euro GM Opal body shell, so no problem introducing an Opal Variant, and used the same 5 to 6 litre V8 architecture as North America, so there would be potential markets there, and Euro and US eventually had Aussie built cars sold there. We can blame most of that on the US based CEOs of the day, but I put a fair chunk of blame on the Oz marketing and engineers for nothing getting in the ear of the US Execs and convincing them that there was alternative markets.
@ spot on. My thoughts exactly. Great shame, what a waste. Incompetence.
Used to pre deliver these old timers. I still have a clear vision of the Polariser mounted on the firewall in front of the passenger side. It was also quite a bit bigger than the one Al is putting in his pocket. It had a sticker on it quite bright and purplish...maybe like fireworks...something like this.
They were mounted in a plastic box originally until Holden cracked it and then they were hidden in the car like this one.
I tottally agree!
I've been consulting my inner lion. He tells me the energy polariser was designed to increase you chakra radiance and magnify the clarity of your 3rd eye. But my large collection of crystals has been blocking my emotional perception of reality recently so I might be wrong. Peace, love and Limited Slip Diffs!!!
Great work guys, love the idea of modernising older cars so they can be used!
The amount of respect and restraint shown for a piece of 'equipment' that deserves to have the piss absolutely ripped out of it is admirable.
I like your style, boyz
I can listen to Al talk all bloody day
Love the history lesson, doubly so because it's a vehicle that never existed where I live!
Holden denying IRS on a vehicle that was delivered elsewhere in the world *with* IRS is just plain daft though.
Never knew about the resin block. I guess the most talented people in the world are often the kookiest as well
Peter Brock WAS conned buy some guru that was hanging around Coning him out of his money no doubt
Killing it boys loving the videos the mix of big builds, small builds and other escapades are awesome! The post credits if that's what you call them are mint 👌
Yo the polariser from memory watching Brocky talk about it on the tv , was meant to go on the fuel line. The thing was allegedly meant to polarise the fuel molecules with apparently improved atomisation ,fuel economy, saving you fuel and increasing performance.
Boys another great episode another couple of wives tales of the polarizer was that it changrd the molecular structer of the body of the car so it had less drag and i think it also helped with greater fuel efficiency and i also like the give a huge thanks to the grommets for what they are doing with people likes these i wouldnt be able to fight this disease for the past 15 years thanks once again tot he grommets 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍