"THE ARDUOUS BATHURST 12-HOUR DELIVERED THE TX3 4WD ITS MOST SIGNIFICANT MOTORSPORT RESULT"
comforts. The TX3 did manage to offer power steering and electric mirror adjustment but you wound your own windows up and down, the sound system was basic and air-conditioning an option at around $2000 on top of the $26,245 starting price.
Peek underneath a TX3 and you could see immediately where a lot of the money had gone. Helping direct the engine’s output to wherever it would do the most good was a sophisticated AWD system with viscous coupling as used in the serious rally contenders including Toyota’s GT-4 Celica and the Mitsubishi Galant VR4.
Underpinning the TX3’s great grip was a simple but very competent independent suspension plus super-quick 2.75:1 steering rack. Front and rear struts with anti-roll bars killed body-roll in anything but the tightest of bends yet provided sufficient compliance to keep tyres in contact with the road, even when challenged by nasty mid-bend corrugations.
This compact Ford may have looked more at home in events involving unsealed roads, but the arduous Bathurst 12-Hour event delivered the TX3 4WD its most significant motorsport result.
At the inaugural event in 1991 and despite being monstered by V8 Commodores, Supra Turbos and a Galant VR4 with rally ace
George Fury heading its driving team, the sole TX3 finished in second place and only three laps adrift of the winning Supra.
A couple of years later the Laser’s racing career ended in ignominy when a car co-driven by Dick Johnson and son Steven detonated its turbocharger before completing a lap. Some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
October 1992 brought a Series 2 version of the KH TX3 with minimal change but a major price increase. Australia was battling recession and the AUD was a basket case, causing imported car and component prices to soar. For a while, Ford managed to keep TX3 4WD versions just beneath the $30,000 price barrier but within months that was pushed upward by a further $2000 and Ford’s endearing All-Wheel Drive was no more.
ON THE ROAD
It's not every day that someone tosses you the keys to a car you secretly would love to own and say “Have fun, try not to bend it.”
Words to that effect were spoken in 1992 outside Ford’s Sydney HQ before navigational guru Wayne Kenny and I set off to route check that year’s Camp Quality Car Rally; a semi-serious endurance event that exposed competitors to some of the more daunting sections of road (track) to be found in SE Australia.
Ford’s Press Test fleet never seemed to be without at least one TX3. Some years earlier at an event sponsored by Shell to promote its 95 Octane Premium fuel, members of the media and automotive PR chaps (of which I was one) spent literally hours hooting around what remained of the wonderful Warwick Farm circuit in a Turbo TX3 described by its FoMoCo minder as ‘a bit tweaked’.
Our KH was black so in the interests
of safety the folk at Ford had thoughtfully striped it up so the thing stood out like canine genitalia no matter what its surroundings. Easy to find in the motel carpark though.
Down the highway and from there to some wonderfully deserted Snowy Mountains bitumen the baby Ford went about its task without ever looking or feeling spectacular. Even at quite prodigious pace it never stepped out of line or caused concern. Slipping back a couple of cogs to pass something you could feel just where the turbocharger was at its peak but the torque splitting technology meant no fighting of the wheel as happened with front-wheel drive turbo cars like the Telstar or Mitsubishi Cordia.
Once into some serious dirt roads our little black Laser grew horns and a tail. The harder you pushed the more it would tease. “Is that the best you've got?” it seemed to be saying.
It wasn’t, but caution on roads shared with other traffic was of prime importance and just how hard the TX3 could have gone under those conditions was never discovered. However the time taken for us to traverse one winding, narrow section that climbed for 67 kilometres above increasingly scary drops, was four minutes quicker than the best achieved by pre-1980s two-wheel drive vehicles running with the road closed to oncoming traffic.
The Laser’s four disc brakes were brilliant and even when pounded during rapid and very steep descents never complained. No ABS yet but for those who like getting stuck in on loose surfaces that’s probably a good thing.
The tyres might look a little skimpy and a lot of Lasers have been fitted over the years with larger, lower-profile rubber. However during 3500 kilometres of challenging driving I can’t recall an instance where we were
"CARS LIKE OUR WELL-KEPT EXAMPLE RARELY APPEAR FOR SALE. OWNERS NORMALLY HAVE A STRING OF NUMBERS TO CALL"
wished for more – or even different – rubber.
Gearing is crucial to the TX3’s ability to maintain pace. Whether winding in second slot through tight terrain or loping along a deserted stretch of dead-flat bitumen the Laser can deliver an instant response or keep your fuel bill in check.
As everyday transport the TX3 isn’t going to offer as much in terms of interior space or accessibility. However, they are most likely these days to be bought as a fun car not family transport. And that’s not to say that the front section of the cabin isn’t a pleasant place to be.
On the journey south from Sydney my fellow occupant, who measured close on two metres tall and 120 kilograms, found driving or occupying the passenger seat not at all uncomfortable. The rear seat however is better suited to those with short legs or aged 10 and under.
BUYING
The most difficult aspect of owning a TX3 is finding one. Cars like our well-kept black example rarely appear for sale in the open market. Owners with cars of this quality will normally have a string of numbers to call if ever they do decide to sell.
Scouring on-line sales sites revealed a few 4WD TX3s available but none which was going to have enthusiasts queuing around the block. One car on offer recently looked OK but had done more than 350,000 so an asking price of just $5500 was probably fair.
TX3s can command double that money and more but they need to be in exceptional, original condition or significantly modified.
Of the modded cars kicking around, some have been lowered so far that it must affect usability, Shortened springs, stiff shock absorbers and near solid bushings work fine if the car is used exclusively for cutting quick laps on a race circuit. However they will make it feel rough, nervous and in some situations dangerous under normal on-road conditions.
Checking service records, especially relating to the turbocharger, cylinder head or transmission repairs can save lots of money. A car that has been treated recently to a replacement turbo, had the valve-train reconditioned, a clutch and timing belt can provide years of economical motoring.