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HDT A9X ....Where Is It Now


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#76 REDA9X

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Posted 17 June 2010 - 12:56 PM

Thats the one. Yes, the car had no seen much use, but it certainly had been raced.

#77 _A9XONE_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 03:42 PM

There was a story on Garry Della's A9X in Road Warriors mid 80's?. I notice in one of the photos that the left hand rail has got numbers stamped on a plate that is riveted to the rail (maybe for rego).Garry died in March 1986 and his brother John took over the running of the car,it also went to the 87/88 summernats,where is it today?
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#78 _outer control_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:33 PM


Ok, this comes up a bit, so lets have a quick look at the HDT shells, going back to the L34's.
HDT started with 2 L34's, one for Brock, one for Bond, I'll call them L34 1 (Brock) and L34 2 (Bond).
L34 1 was raced by Brock till he left at the end of 75 then used as a spare
L34 2 was raced by bond and damaged very badly at Amaroo in 76.

Harry bought a new shell cut it in half and welded the rear of it to L34 2.The front half of the new shell went to another driver, going off memory it was Skelton. The damaged parts of those two cars were roughly welded together and the plan was to send them to Alan Grice who caused the accident at Amaroo, but they ended up at the tip.

What happened to L34 1 in 77 I won't comment on for good reasons, but when Harvey came and Bond left, harvey initially raced L34 2. At the Symmons Plains round Harvey complained the car would only turn in one direction. This is where Harvey and Firth disagree (and part of the reason you don't believe everything someone from the team tells you after 30 odd years), again, i won't comment for good reason on why, but a new shell was purchased, this became L34 3, however log books may say something else.

At the end of 77 when the A9X was released, L34 2 and L34 3 were upgraded to A9X specs. These then became A9X 1 (L34 2) and A9X 2 (L34 3).
Meanwhile Harry had been using his own hatchback to develop the A9X, rego HF001.

In early Harry had an SS hatchback specially delivered to him that was converted to become an A9X hatchback race car, this was the car Harvey drove at the end of 77 and during some of 78, Brock drove this car during 78 also, I'll call this car A9X 3.

In 78 John Sheppard took over, an article was done on the workshop for a magazine, photos showed A9X 3 in the foreground in pieces, A9X 1 parked next to it, (you can just see the rear spoiler), A9X 2 on the hoist, and 2 plain white hatches.

The first plain white hatch is the new car being prepared for Brock, this would be the car he was supposed to start the 78 season with, I will call it A9X 4. The second hatch at the rear of the workshop is the car Brock would drive in 79, I'll call it A9X 5.

A9X 3 was being stripped down, however the team grumbled so Sheppo told them to put it back together.

A9X 4 was prepared as Brocks car after he had started the season with A9X 2.

A9X 4 was later destroyed at the Amaroo round. Harvey had been complaining about his car A9X 3, so he took A9X 4 out in practice, his foot got jammed and he slammed into the wall at over 100km/h destroying the car. Harvey sat out that round and Brock drove A9X 3. At the next few rounds Harvey drove A9X 2 while Brock continued to use A9X 3. If you look at the Wanaroo round pictures you will see Harvey is driving a sedan, this is the reason why. The Wannaroo round was the famous HDT 123. Wayne Negus had his own HDT hatch he prepared himself, however the car came through HDT so I will call it HDT 6.

Another shell was used to repair A9X 4 and so became A9X 7, the shell from A9X 4 went to the wreckers, along with A9X 1 and 2.

In 79 Harvey was given A9X 7, A9X 3 became the test vehicle and A9X 5 was prepared as a race car for Brock.

A9X 5 had been at the back of the workshop and many of it's parts had been removed over the preivious year or so, it was returned to the factory and Mike Prowse pushed the car around on a trolley getting whatever bit's he could get his hands on at the time to complete the car. The Marlboro paintwork was then completed IN THE FACTORY without signage and the car returned to HDT. Brock loved the UC SLE trim because it matched the trim in his UC he had been given to drive on the road.

Brock used A9X 5 through the entire 79 season, however for some reason he told everyone, (and I think it was on one of the videos) that this car was brand new prior to Bathurst or Sandown. the fact was the cars were stripped down prior to Sandown and rebuilt.

A9X 5 came first at Sandown, with A9X 7 coming second.

At Bathurst, A9X 5 went on to have that famous win, while A9X 7 crashed on Griffend bend, flipping the fence.

Holden hired Jim Shepherd to rebuilt A9X 7 for a museum back in the Richards Brock signage from the 78 win, and supplied all the parts to finish the job. Holden pulled out of the deal leaving Jim with the car. He asked Harvey to drive the car in a sports sedan race, however after a datson rubbed a tyre down the side, harvey pulled into the pits and the car sat idle for a few years before it was sold.

A9X 5 went on to become a prized possession of Brock until 1993.

So whats around today?

L34 1 reappeared and is used in Group C today, interestingly it's never been converted to A9X and is owned by Mick and Anna.

L34 2/ A9X 1 lives in the Peter Champion Museum, incorectly painted as Brocks car (A9X 2), the fact was it never raced under John Sheppards management.

l34 3/ A9X 2 lives in Victoria and is raced in Group C owned by Tony and Chiomi.

A9X 3 is raced by Paul Stubber as the 77 Harvey car

A9X 4 is surrounded by controvesy, some people believe it is a myth, one person claims to own the car, the tag and the story behind it causes the main problems, but I won't get into that.

A9X 5 is in the Bowden ownership

A9X 6 is the Negus car owned by Paul Stubber

A9X 7 is the car owned by the Bowdens represented as the Brock Richards 78 bathurst winning car.

HF 001 ended up in Broken Hill and is now in Victoria and has been under restoration for a number of years. Harry has verified this car and all the paperwork exists to prove the car is HF001. The car in QLD was a HF customer car and the tags don't match for HF001

Now, to add to this, there were other spares that HDT had possession of. One, I will call HDT 8 was apparently being prepared to race when Garry Rogers destroyed his car at Amaroo in 79. A shell was sourced from HDT and a restoration a few years ago apparently revealed the HDT paintwork underneath. Interestingly this car doesn't have the A9X trim either.

At least one more shell existed in the HDT storage, but this shell was never raced or prepared at all and was cut up.

Hopefully that will answer a few questions.

you have confirmed my own research my two replicas are a9x 2 and a9x 3



#79 _outer control_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:41 PM

What happened to the L34 that fell off the trailer going to Calder and all components put in a new car and also the L34 rally car was not a myth
as i have seen lots of photos so that makes 4 not 2 before the Sawford converted A9X that you refer to and thats not counting the T car which is also well recorded, not trying to be smart but my maths equals more than 2.

#80 Swarbs

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 08:21 PM

Red
Would either 4 or 8 be in West Oz apparently / supposedly / maybe?

#81 REDA9X

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 09:41 PM

I never mentioned the T car or the rally car, which are, one in the same car. I know it exists, I know the guy who owns it, and it's also the reason Chris made comment earlier. As for the car falling off the trailer, considering the T car/rally car was actually raced early in it's life in group C, I would suggest this is the car that fell off the trailer, however, I wasn't told of a car falling off a trailer and damaged that badly when I was at harrys.
4 is supposedly in NZ, 8 is here in Sydney.

#82 _outer control_

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Posted 19 July 2010 - 05:56 PM

[quote name='REDA9X' date='23 June 2010 - 10:41 PM' timestamp='1277293269' post='517532']
I never mentioned the T car or the rally car, which are, one in the same car. I know it exists, I know the guy who owns it, and it's also the reason Chris made comment earlier. As for the car falling off the trailer, considering the T car/rally car was actually raced early in it's life in group C, I would suggest this is the car that fell off the trailer, however, I wasn't told of a car falling off a trailer and damaged that badly when I was at harrys.
4 is supposedly in NZ, 8 is here in Sydney.
[/quot

Attached Files


Edited by outer control, 19 July 2010 - 05:58 PM.


#83 REDA9X

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Posted 20 July 2010 - 11:55 AM

[quote name='outer control' date='19 July 2010 - 06:56 PM' timestamp='1279526197' post='524237']
[quote name='REDA9X' date='23 June 2010 - 10:41 PM' timestamp='1277293269' post='517532']
I never mentioned the T car or the rally car, which are, one in the same car. I know it exists, I know the guy who owns it, and it's also the reason Chris made comment earlier. As for the car falling off the trailer, considering the T car/rally car was actually raced early in it's life in group C, I would suggest this is the car that fell off the trailer, however, I wasn't told of a car falling off a trailer and damaged that badly when I was at harrys.
4 is supposedly in NZ, 8 is here in Sydney.
[/quot
[/quote]

I'd have to double check my facts here, but I'm pretty sure HDT only actually entered one car in the race in 1975, which would mean this car pictured is just the second car, not the car refered to as the "T" car or Rally car. In 74 they took 3 cars, you see the T car on the trailer in the mud in one of the pictures at the back of AMC a few years ago. Harry says that never became the rally car, but there is proof to say otherwise.

#84 MONZA1

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Posted 20 July 2010 - 09:01 PM

[quote name='REDA9X' date='20 July 2010 - 12:55 PM' timestamp='1279590903' post='524435']
[quote name='outer control' date='19 July 2010 - 06:56 PM' timestamp='1279526197' post='524237']
[quote name='REDA9X' date='23 June 2010 - 10:41 PM' timestamp='1277293269' post='517532']
I never mentioned the T car or the rally car, which are, one in the same car. I know it exists, I know the guy who owns it, and it's also the reason Chris made comment earlier. As for the car falling off the trailer, considering the T car/rally car was actually raced early in it's life in group C, I would suggest this is the car that fell off the trailer, however, I wasn't told of a car falling off a trailer and damaged that badly when I was at harrys.
4 is supposedly in NZ, 8 is here in Sydney.
[/quot
[/quote]

I'd have to double check my facts here, but I'm pretty sure HDT only actually entered one car in the race in 1975, which would mean this car pictured is just the second car, not the car refered to as the "T" car or Rally car. In 74 they took 3 cars, you see the T car on the trailer in the mud in one of the pictures at the back of AMC a few years ago. Harry says that never became the rally car, but there is proof to say otherwise.
[/quote]

No need to double-check Red. You are correct - just the one HDT car for Bond/Walker.

#85 _hurst_

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 08:22 PM

Hello...I have enjoyed reading the last 4 pages on the history of these great cars, since I first started with the Brock A9X at our old servo...

I found a couple more pictures from the night...

One has a group of us, me in the blue overalls and my young bloke sitting on PB's car...aged 1...you can see the Geissler Holden sign in the background...

I have since given a copy of this picture to the others there on the night some 23 years later....it suprised a few..

You can just see the Holden ute with its bonnet up, that was towing the Brock car....

On the other front picture of the A9X, you can just make out some of the writing that was on the utes side...can anyone make out the tow car...

thanks....hurst...


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#86 xu2308

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 10:00 PM

Attached File  AIG140 A9X Race Hatch.jpg   1.05MB   30 downloads

I'd love to know where this one is now.
From what I'm reading, it's a spare shell, not EX HDT or ex Grice necesserily. The wheels are Bathurst Globes, they actually look like the 10" front and rear with different offsets exactly as HDT ran, but they never used them in 79. Yes, the Brock car has them on it now, but it never used them in 79, HDT used Jongbloeds in 79.




Attached File  AIG140 A9X Race Hatch.jpg   1.05MB   30 downloads



Here the A9X Hatch that Super Formance owned in 1980,now owned by Christopher Grgic,the Vic Rego Number the same AIG.140, now REDA9X if you go through Vic Roads Archives,and give them AIG.140 you will get its Chassis Number and Engine Number to help you work out which Ex Race A9X Hatch it might be.

Sorry The Super Plus A9X Hatch from 1980.
Christopher Grgic owned it in 1985,so after Super Plus owned it,i hope that helps REDA9X

#87 REDA9X

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 10:42 PM

Attached File  AIG140 A9X Race Hatch.jpg   1.05MB   30 downloads


I'd love to know where this one is now.
From what I'm reading, it's a spare shell, not EX HDT or ex Grice necesserily. The wheels are Bathurst Globes, they actually look like the 10" front and rear with different offsets exactly as HDT ran, but they never used them in 79. Yes, the Brock car has them on it now, but it never used them in 79, HDT used Jongbloeds in 79.




Attached File  AIG140 A9X Race Hatch.jpg   1.05MB   30 downloads



Here the A9X Hatch that Super Formance owned in 1980,now owned by Christopher Grgic,the Vic Rego Number the same AIG.140, now REDA9X if you go through Vic Roads Archives,and give them AIG.140 you will get its Chassis Number and Engine Number to help you work out which Ex Race A9X Hatch it might be.

Sorry The Super Plus A9X Hatch from 1980.
Christopher Grgic owned it in 1985,so after Super Plus owned it,i hope that helps REDA9X


Here is a classic example of how old wives tails begin. The first article clearly states the car was a spare and never used, and there is no evidence it was ever prepared for racing and no roll cage fitted. The car also has a 350 chev fitted. The second article says it's an old race car and the cage and most of the good mechanical bits are still there.
I believe the car was a spare that was never raced, tracing that might be hard. I still never get how there were 33 rolling shells produced and in 1979, teams like Grice and Garry Rogers had to scab shells from other teams because they couldn't get new shells, yet years later these shells pop up that were never raced.

#88 xu2308

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 10:50 PM

Yeah for sure REDA9X as the next Guy after Super Plus in 1980,says its a 308 and not the Super Plus 350 Chev v8 Motor and Auto,and now it was a Ex Race car on the track not a Spare Shell as Super Plus Says it was,was some of the 33 Shells stashed away and then surfaced in 1980's Like the Super Plus A9X Shell

#89 _TBKXU1_

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Posted 31 May 2013 - 09:23 PM

Some years later, i can answer the question of what happened to this car, and its original history.

I bought the car in 1990, with a very tired bog 308 and Aussie 4 spd in it. I doubt if it had a T-10 in it - there was no tunnel hump fitted, no evidence that one had been removed. What it did have was an HDT alloy cage, HDT/Globe magnesium alloys - but L34 14 inch, not A9X 15 inch, with a staggered offset rear setup with the required spacers - a single 3 inch exhaust, and Scheel bucket seats. After a motor rebuild, I used the car for a couple of years as a club racer and very quick road car. However the shell was VERY tired, and it was pretty loose on the track, so I swapped it for a restored XU1. From there its history is documented in the Victorian courts - it was rebuilt as the Cullen Pioneer car, and the body number changed to reflect a genuine log book for the Cullen car. It was then sold as a genuine Grp C car, and passed on through a couple of different owners after a residence in the Bathurst museum. The person responsible for the deception subsequently pleaded guilty to fraud (this car, and others) in 2011 in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

As a result of the investigation the following was established by VicPol: the car was one of three sequential GMP&A cars down the Dandenong production line, designated for HDT, although A. Grice is also refenced for the third shell - which became AIG140. It was held as a spare car, receiving only the cage; subsequently it was not raced, but converted to road specs and sold with the cage still fitted. It is not known if the HDT wheels were fitted at that stage, or by the first owner; as they were 14 inch versions they may have been supplied on the car to get rid of old parts from the workshop.

Do I kick myself for getting rid of it?? If I'd had a crystal ball, it would still be in the shed, but at the time it was a reasonable thing to do. Its just another one on the list of cars I should have kept (its a long list), but thats the way things go.






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