BATHURST - THE BIG THREE 4 Corners 1970 

True, the big 3 were awesome.

Thanks for the info, people will be interested to hear that, we're sure!

Is it black and red? That was a dream combo for the Monaro...

I still own the 2nd car I bought back in 85. LC XU1, cost me $2500.

@@jamescarney6894 Mine is white with black.

Good luck with it mate, I love the look of the LC/LJ Torana's.

Remember me in your Will.

😅00⁰0000p9ppph

Tooright, I couldn't agree more.

I cannot stand todays touring cars, no excitment

@clayton E 🤣

It sounds nice. But the racing wasn't very close back then and I think would be quite boring to watch on the Telly.

@@MetalMania3DTV-TAS-AUS 🤘💐🐜🍹

That's the spirit old son.

Thankyou for the story and sharing your memory.

You betchya. My old friend Mary, her husband and 2 boys attended Bathurst Races religiously during the 60s and 70s and on. At 94 Mary was still known as a petrol head. I bought a stock Hemi Pacer 265 in 1978. A friend of mine could testify, I had that bad boy doing 127 miles per hour regularly. I now drive a little Suzuki but I miss the good old days. I never injured anyone but had fun before the World went down the toilet. I earned the name BURNOUT before Summernats. If any of my ex Students are out there, catch up.

The sound of a V8 still stirs my blood. My wheel chair one day will have a V8 sound.

Daan Vaan they won just not Bathurst maybe if Chrysler spent more money like ford and Holden things could have been different but will never know

Although they used the American A body,the engine,3 speed trans and diff were all Australian. I remember the pacer had the pace but the engine was the 245 and it took a good driver to get one to move at the absolute limit to keep the cheating Fords at bay. I reckon Firms like Shelby were supplying the engines and the fourspeed trans gave them an edge,plus all of the different diff ratios available to them.As mustangs were simply a falcon in a fancy frock, there was a lot of know how being fed to the OZ teams back then. I have a customer who owned two Pacers, a red one and a blue one and the brakes were pretty ordinary,being locally made PBR units. We cured a lot of the brake issues by installing an extra booster under the backseats for the drums. If the cars had been built in the US,things like B body brakes, the mopar locking diffs, and the fourspeed trans could have been used,and if the front brakes were still no good,a set of imperial discs would have cured that.

Like when they put the six pack in the chargers and gave the falcon v8s a spanking.

The Falcon was heavier than the Valiant, but even in its first year the Cleveland 351 was outstanding.

@@Mercmad USA A body but was widened for the AUS cars

More than competitive. My Hemi 265 was legendary. People still talk about it. 127 miles an hour and still climbing. Only Ford 351 cars could compete. At 120mph the Fords crawled past me. Hats off to Ford GTHO.

Great standards then and still no journos who take their directives from Murdoch.

Now ABC is ??????????????????????getting worse.

Birdy Wirdy the 25 cars I was talking about were the first XU-1’s made for the 69-70 Bathurst. There is a book about Torana’s it has photos of the rarest and race models. I read it over 15 years ago so I could have mixed up the car and or number. But I’m sure it was the original small XU-1’s. I also wish they had made the 5000 because there would be more around. I could buy an old car in the 90’s and early 2000’s for under a grand. Then the government went and ruined old cars for good by bringing out that $2000 buy back of any car. So many old cars were lost. Now that’s bought up the prices. Cars worth $1000 20-15 years ago are worth $10,000 now it’s ridiculous and I’m pretty pissed off with what the government did. Also those fools that sold up all the old cars. Just getting a parts car now is so costly parts are now like gold, rare.

Australia now makes shit look like caviar.

A one off ABC 4 Corners episode. Still running weekly from its 1961 start. Some say inspired by BBC Panorama. Lots of comments below about the trends in the ABC and 4 Corners. The ABC in the mid seventies to around 1980 did present a weekly car focused show called Torque. With Peter Wherrett giving his opinions on new released cars and later the Marque series. Some can be found on RU-vid. So possibly well before the first Top Gear.

That win by the Cresta wasn't at Bathurst but the very first of the Armstrong 500's when it was held at Philip Island. So the 1960, 1961 and 1962 races were held there before changing over to the Bathurst Armstrong 500 in 1963.

Did you know Mike? I did, and his sister Geri. They were both creeps. Mike was a drunk, and Geri wanted me to use my Army contacts to steal grenades and other munitions for the IRA. RIP if you want, but he is not worth it.

John P.R. Ellis was just 28 years old.

My Hemi Pacer 265 stock was a WEAPON. Never had a smash or hurt anyone. Just pure pleasure and reliability.

Dona Morawaka A great era, that we will never see again. Vale the Australian automotive industry .

Yes the great Australian car industry will be remembered forever

Exactly I agree

Looking back, it was a fantastic era for enthusiast owners cars. The overall financial climate was favourable, petrol was reasonably priced, and we had an abundance of manufacturers producing affordable and desirable cars. Huge shame that they all pulled the plug on Australia.

A true golden age for sure & great times . sad to see these once blue collar beasts now treated & priced like rare Ming vases

Mate had an XU1 came back from the pub and wrote it off 71 Miles on the clock

All I had was an EH with a 186s, worked with a 149 Stage 3 Yella Terra head, 3/4 Race Cam, 650cfm Holley, Tuned Extractors, Balanced, Mags etc. She picked up her skirts and took off when pedal was at the metal. Not a bad daily driver also. Sold her to a guy who got it defected by the Cops in Hindley Street and then he broke it.

@@Leosarebetter Yes...who remembers the Brian Muir EH S4 ? The first Holden Special for Bathurst.

Regardless of who you think worked for who, the fact remains, The General Owns Bathurst, lol.

Bushtech 225 there are a couple of ht monaros though

I can't really see what body size has to do with it, you do realise the Torana had "full-size" six in it? even if it does sound a bit puny even for that era at 160hp for what was then a 2.6 litre engine.

If you think there was no cheating, you weren't there.

They were called "Wog Chariots" as well. Loved my Hemi 265.

Me too. My younger brother is still jealous of my Hemi 265 after 40 years. He has a modern XR8 and tells me it would kick the ass of my old car. I dont say anything, just wonder. Does he ring my Grandfather and brag that his XR8 is faster than a Model T Ford?

@@darylburnet8328 haha,I think the 265 was the fastest at one stage.I had a 318 V8 and wrote it off.

@@MrStevie57 The 318 was a kick ass motor. I agree, give me a 318 anyday. In the Snowy mountains a friend had a 318 Valiant VC with a 318. Im still jealous.

@@MrStevie57 Also, 6 cylinders go hard but V8s last longer.

That was one of the big arguments behind the supercar scare of the early 70s. I've always felt that having a performance vehicle built from the ground up is 1000% safer than some drunken bogan shoehorning a big V8 into a bog standard car though. Also by restricting cars as they did in the 70s they also restricted innovation and development in the local industry, probably the first nail in the coffin leading to the closures now.

Wow I wish there were more of these around. I saw Firths operation near glen ferrite. A smallish garage with 3 or 4 cars stuffed in. When the cars they were hardly pristine with rough superficial body repairs and awful paint jobs .. The money spent then was a joke. My dad had a GTS307 company car with 4 speed Muncie transmission top speed 115mph . This car did not even have radial tyres. The first car. I drove on the road, it really was a lethal beast, with awful brakes. Even then teams were driving cars up to Bathurst. Harry Firth may have had a couple of trailers given to him for the race but not much more. As he said he knew where the money came from. Moffat is on record as saying something like " what were we thinking driving those cars at Bathurst at the speed they were doing when the brake pedal would often go to the floor" It is amazing driver safety hardly rates a word. These guys were crazy driving these beasts, but we the fans loved them.

None of the factory road going versions of any of the cars that raced Bathurst in the last 30 or so years have been anywhere near the spec of the racing cars either. There would’ve been a lot more than a public scare if the road spec GTRs rolled off the production line pushing near 700hp and able to scrape the 300km/h barrier in the late 80s/early 90s. I do agree it’s a shame they ended up ceasing development in the way they did, as it very well could have been the first catalyst for the death of motor production in Australia. But it is amazing how quick cars from the 70s are, especially in relation to their braking and handling capabilities.

Typical uni student always telling lies

Stabilisers were only being born.

LDN Wholesale u

The Phase IV, V8 Torana and proposed V8 Charger (though Crysler execs to this day still deny it despite known testing by Leo and Pete Geoghegan at Mallala) were labeled "Bullets on wheels" by NSW Transport Minister Milton Morris. But as some argued, the well heeled could still go buy an imported Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar etc, all of which had performance capabilities that rivaled or bettered the Aussie cars, and they could still go kill themselves driving those as much they could any of the proposed Aussie V8's. I agree about Roxburgh. He really was a bit backwards (old fashioned) in his thinking. Ironically by the 1980s he was actually the FIA delegate for motor racing in Australia (CAMS) and New Zealand (MotorSport New Zealand).

And Warwick Farm, and Catalina (Katoomba)

Bit sad how they've all died, so glad I've got a couple aussie V8s in my shed.

AND no TV coverage.

My Ford XD with a 302 Clevo was the best car ever.

The coppers probably hid behind some of the signage and booked the poor bastads.

"Hey Charger". My 265 could tell you some stories to make you laugh.

its a shopping centre now as we look back in 2019 😢😢😢

Yes, this was the early circuit before the flyover was added on.

Not really. It was the likes of Evan Green, a motoring journo who believed that these vehicles were too powerful for the general public. Then the Government of the time stepped in and advised the auto makers that anyone that continued with the Hi po race, would be excluded from government contracts....A lucrative business for the big three.

It was also due to Victoria's record high road-toll - 1100ish in 1970 or 71.

@@wizzard5442 I recall the argument was that these cars woul end up in the hands of everyday drivers after a few years and that road toll was the final nail.

@@flamingfrancis I remember that too and they are now in the hands of everyday drivers but not driven because of their rarity. But there are now smaller (turbo-charged) and affordable cars that are quicker than the 67 XR Falcon GT. And nobody is kicking up a stink about that, let alone cars that are quicker than the HO's.

leongt1954 Roy Orbison ?

And Alan Moffat was mr arrogant up himself smart arse.

The Bill Bourke special was a 428 Cobrajet not a 429

7071t6, the 429 was NOT installed in any AUSTRALIAN factory built ford!

mark the xw of bill bourke was a special sent over to america and fitted out with the big block 428 cobra jet and shaker in black and gold stripe and still lives fully restored in australia ' read about it in australian muscle car mag

@@BCBtrucks64 I have been in the Bill Bourke xw gtho it was for sale in Adelaide in approx 1979 they had the article from the car magazine that it was in years earlier in the widow to show who's car it had been. It was the only auto gtho made it was black with a fine silver metallic flake it had xa style high back bucket seats shaker 428 bb ford and gtho badge on the glove box lid it had vaccum tank etc big36 gal fuel tank i wanted to buy it but couldn't raise the money at the time but about a year later i did buy a genuine jg33 xy gt nugget gold with a 4 speed ......cheers

A mate of mines son inlaw has the XW 429 up in Brisbane in his garage uninsured

"underdone Valiant setup" Bullshit!! You obviously haven't had a 70s Falcon and any Valiant up on a hoist and compared them The Ford's front end, and indeed the whole suspension, is just so light compared to the solid heavy duty Valiant. Which has been designed for ruggedness and durability AND tune-ability, compared to the Falcon's cost saving offering. You can clearly see how well they are handling on the track and are giving the much more powerful and wider tracked Falcons a good run. The exact same suspension is used on the Chargers and with their shorter wheel base and wider track they were unbeatable in the handling dept on the tight tracks - in New Zealand on the tighter racetracks they were unbeaten for 7 years. Allan Moffat sent a couple of cars (Falcons) over from Aust to try and take away their winning streak but were unable to out-handle the Chargers and went home without it.

(The torsion bar setup is better than the lame wishbones on the GMH/Fords...but it was still underdone - Chrysler was rather stingy and inconsistent with its budgets.)

@@montinaladine3264 I wouldn't call Valiant suspension 'durable' by any means. Ball joints could and did wear out pretty quick on them, at least Fords had spring loaded bottom ball joints which helped reduce wear and tear on them