86 replies to this topic

[Struggler]

This is an accurate account of events, no names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I think it was 1996 and I was working in a speed shop when a regular brought in an alloy headed SBC for freshening. He said it had come out of an old A9X that this guy was getting rid of. Always on the look out for projects I decided to investigate. I went round to this guys place and had a look at this 4door LX that by now had a 308 and M21 sitting in the engine bay but the owner had moved to QLD and left the car with his brother to sell. I had a quick look at it, it had a disc brake 10 bolt, HQ front discs and a dirty big trans tunnel. I thought it must be an A9x so struck up a deal with the brother (hence A9brother) and gave him $4500 for the wreck. It had an L34 paint scheme, rust and bog hanging out everywhere, wasn't running, had a boot full of old parts and was missing the compliance plate but I figured it had a future. I came back the next day with a tilt tray and winched it on, but just before I drove off he came running out of the house with two small green books, "here are the CAMS log books for it" he said. Figuring it must have been an old hill climber I said thanks and drove away. I spent the next couple of days getting it running and registered, there was a minor hiccup with the lack of compliance plate and the body number being "GMP&A" but as it had been registered before it got passed again.

Driving home from rego the gearbox failed, it had no oil and I had neglected to check it. Luckily there was a spare in the boot but unfortunately it was a Super T10 and required another bellhousing and tailshaft. While I had it up in the air I was surprised to see a panhard rod fitted to the diff and the floor was bashed up under the pass. seat. Anyway I got it going again and discovered new delight in shredding tyre at every opportunity for a while until the diff got noisy. I yanked it apart only to discover this weird looking centre. I took it to a diff specialist who said it was a Detroit Locker, and he had never seen one in a Salisbury diff before. This prompted me to have a look at all the crap I had pulled out of the boot and in there I found a pair of 4 spot calipers, floating front hubs and a sidepipe exhaust (this when fitted explained the bashed up floor on the pass.side) amongst other antique car parts. I then dug up the log books and to my surprise discovered that this was in fact a Group C race car, and had started its career at Sandown in 1977 !!

To cut a long story short I spent the next 3 years tracking down all the history and parts I could to return the car to as close to original as possible. I sold it in 2000 pretty much as it would have been raced... brakes fitted, Group C engine, 15x10's f&r, retrimmed standard interior and a coat of white tinter (as it left the factory). It had a documented and confirmed history from CAMS that included owners such as Bob Morris, Charlie O'Brien and Gary Whittaker. It was one of the first A9X's raced (Sandown 1977) and was the last Group C A9X on the track (1982).

The new owner decided to race the car and had someone (who will remain nameless) build him a stroker engine and change some things to make the car competitive. Unfortunately I believe some of the original '70s gear was "misplaced". Anyway he repainted it in '77 race paint and attended a few parade laps.

You have probably already guessed, it is the car currently for sale for somewhere around $120K.

I am sure there are some non believers out there but I can assure you this is all true. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them.

I feel pretty lucky really, not many people have got to blast around the suburbs in a Group C race car. My fondest memories are of ripping gears and pulling 7000 rpm through Fyshwick (A.C.T. industrial suburb) at night with the side pipe fitted.

[REDA9X]

I remember when you brought it to the first nationals and it looked a shocker. I few people laughed at the time, but I bet they wouldn't be now.

[Tiny]

Bet your kicking yourself now.. not for the money but for the fact that it was a genuine piece of history!

As you say though.. not too many can say they actually owned one... let alone drove one around!

Well done.. and to the eagle eyed.. there are these things out there!

[Struggler]

That would have been a surprise to find out it was a group C car!

Yeah. I purchased it thinking it was an A9X that someone had played with to go hillclimbing or whatever, I didn't even look at the log books initially, as it turned out they were the best part of the purchase !!

I remember when you brought it to the first A9X nationals and it looked a shocker. I few people laughed at the time, but I bet they wouldn't be now.

Do you remember the bagging I got on the first day, then I took it home that night and started to rub the paint off the roof with 80 grit...... there was about 12 layers of paint, all the way down to parts of the Aust. Flag that it was first raced with. The next day the Group C gurus gave it the nod and there was some jaw dropping then !!

Bet your kicking yourself now.. not for the money but for the fact that it was a genuine piece of history!

Yes in a way, but it did go on to better pastures, I was never the worlds best steerer and as such was too scared to really race it, I looked at it as a liability, what would I do if something happened to it ? At the time my wife was expecting No. 2 and the money was handy, I would have no doubt made that sort of profit in equity in my home, and haven't had to spend much (don't get to drive the family home around though !).

[Racehatch]

Wow its my dream to own an original group c torana..... Given their value these days i guess its unlikely... but stories like these always give me hope!

[REDA9X]

Yeah I remember the sanding back, I have a pic somewhere. Not much chance of finding one these days, most have come out of the woodwork, or were destroyed. The number of people who have told me they have an EX Grice hatch though makes you wonder lol.

[ToRunYa]

i'm gonna read that to my kids for a bedtime story, my daughter will love it

[Struggler]

Spill the beans and put us out of our misery Andrew, which car?

Initially the 1977 Channel 7 4 door raced by Bob Morris (DNF at Bathurst - blew up on lap 115 or so, gets good footage on the video !)

Here is a link.... http://www.duttondir...cars/view/id:40

and another ... http://www.my105.com...ied.asp?id=4303

[Racehatch]

The funny thing is, sure it would be nice to own one, but we are both going to do something similar. We are going to race LH/LX Toranas', sure not Group C but our cars are bigger and better (technically). Our class freedoms allow modifications Group C cars can only dream of...all except slicks of course.

I'll just be glad to say that I have raced a torana! Thats an honour on its own!!

[REDA9X]

Here she is at the 96 Nationals in Goulburn after Andrew sanded a patch of roof back.

Click Here

Pic to link to make reading easier,

Edited by Dagabond, 21 January 2007 - 02:31 PM.

[Struggler]

Did it have the roll cage in it when you bought it?

It had a bolt in alloy cage, as could be seen in all the race photos of it I could find. I never refitted the cage after the resto, it was in the trailer full of spares I provided the new owner. He saw fit, however, to fit the welded in steel cage.

As for that photo Mick..... what can I say. I never took a pic of it in its unrestored state. Sure brings back some memories !!!!

If you look closely you can see quite a few patches of rubbed back paint. It looked like a fair wreck but I really loved it in that guise..... no-one but I knew what it was and it was a great handling package (as you could imagine ).

It was actually a R&D vehicle for a while. I was trying out various 308 builds and cams etc and as it was manual it was great for consistent results on the chassis dyno. Saw a few blow-ups too !! Oh happy days !!! I even did a burnout comp in it once ! Mates still talk of the sound of the big comp, stock stroke 308 at 7400. Music to the ears

[gtrboyy]

You got to own a race car,have a shitload of memories & fun Now I wish I had of bought that lc xu1 that had a race history for $2500 when I was younger

[dattoman]

Sadly the old race cars weren't looked after too well when they were just "old cars"
My boss used to own the Wayne Negus HDT #4 car.
He bought it off a guy that had got it from Negus for the princely sum of around $10 000
He then restored the car back to road going condition and painted it plain white
He then wanted to buy this TR8 thing so sold the car to a hairy nerdy guy for about $10 000 again
Car changed habd a few times and underwent resto back to proper HDT colours
The then owner wasn't allowed to take it to our local track as it was covered in Malboro signage
So he cracked the shits and sold the car to Stubber (thru a middle man cause Stubber didn't want to deal direct)
The car is now in USA competing in the US Historic series (sorry don't know the proper name)

My boss kicks himself cause he should have hung onto it....... but ya get that

Same guy offered me and Tinks a panama green 4 dr A9X January 2004 for $20 000.
It had fresh paint (some incorrect) and interior it just needed the engine freshened. Sadly I didn't have $20k at the time so no deal for me.

[Struggler]

So he cracked the shits and sold the car to Stubber (thru a middle man cause Stubber didn't want to deal direct)

Funny you mention that name, Paul Stubber tried to buy the car off me a few times, seemed like a nice enough guy just didn't want to spend the right amount of money. I was negotiating a deal with him that included a road going A9X 4 door (I think it was yellow) and some $$$$ when Michael Wilson contacted me. At the time I think he considered the A9X of his to be worth about 10-12K, this was only about 6 years ago.

Sadly the old race cars weren't looked after too well when they were just "old cars"

This is too true. When the Whittaker brothers were told they could no longer race the car in Group C they were going to chuck it out !! A customer of theirs ( I believe they still own a mechanical repair business in south Bris.) talked them into tidying it up so he could register it ! Lucky he did otherwise it would have been scrapped. To them if it couldn't be raced it had no value.

[Toranavista]

A story well worth revisiting in 2007

[Struggler]

Another year on and still it seems like yesterday.........

Thanks for the bump, it is a good read.

[Struggler]

In fact this has reminded me of a couple of good stories I might relate later on when I have some time.

[arrimar]

Same guy offered me and Tinks a panama green 4 dr A9X January 2004 for $20 000.
It had fresh paint (some incorrect) and interior it just needed the engine freshened. Sadly I didn't have $20k at the time so no deal for me.

i saw the same car two weeks ago. no engine ,repainted, interior like new.

[boomfunk]

that is a good read.....