XU-1 Noise
Having been a long term subscriber to your fabulous magazine I just love the way that it sometimes throws up little conversation starters. Currently enthralled by the article on the LC GTR XU-1, wow, what an Aussie icon. Absolutely loved the article and the featured car. Back in the 70s, having owned and rallied one in Yellow Dolly and my brother having raced a Plum Dinger in Series Production that article certainly brought back some fond memories to a couple of ageing enthusiasts.
It also raised a question for you guys, (maybe Morley) to investigate and provide an answer to. Not right up there with the Red Motor in EJ series that has been running longer than Blue Hills, but there is an issue with the rear muff ler fitted to the featured car. Our recollection of the LC XU-1 series when they were first released was they were fitted with a single outlet large diameter exhaust which gave the little “triple carburettor baby moon rocket” a very unique sound. Even loud!
We note that the featured car has been restored with a LJ-style twin outlet muff ler and we are now wondering whether the LC was ever sold with this “quiet” muff ler as an option or whether there is an issue with obtaining the period correct item. This may be the case as having seen a couple of these beautifully restored cars at Cars and Coffee meets recently they have also been fitted with the twin outlet muff ler and just don’t sound quite like the original.
Hopefully, the UC Team can assist to sort this one out but that aside, congratulations to the Morgillo family on the fantastic job they have done to bring this one back to life. Note that the article also mentions a 4 speed Aussie box, but we will forgive that one as the original Opel boxes were a bit fragile so that’s a common sense move.
Brian Palmer
THANKS BRIAN, that had us scrambling to the files. I suspect there will be someone in a Torana club somewhere who will have this down to the last detail – so feel free to share with us. What we have established is that early versions did have a single tailpipe, but Holden had what was described as a forked twin tailpipe in the market around September 1970, so within the life of the LC. This and other arcane information can be found in Norm Darwin’s excellent book, Torana Tough.