HOLDEN TORANA LC GTR
THE GENERAL’S GIANT-KILLER HAS LASTING APPEAL
We’re talking the model before the absolute all-time legend for this shape Torana. A little before Peter Brock used an LJ six to defeat the roaring V8 Fords at Mount Panorama. This is the car that led to that success, the LC series.
It was effectively a stretched Vauxhall, albeit with a lot of redevelopment sunk into it to not only cope with our rough local roads, but to accept an inline six powerplant. And that was the key, all of a sudden we’re talking about a compact coupe with a full-size sedan’s engine shoe-horned into the nose. Perfect.
By other standards, a 161ci (2.6lt) engine is hardly something calculated to strike fear into the heart of the driver. but, at the time, it was a serious statement that this is a performance car to be taken seriously. With the input of numerous folk, including wily race team manager Harry Firth, the GTR was given more carburettors and further development to become the GTR XU-1.
If the idea of a compact six appealed and you didn’t have a huge budget, the GTR was the perfect starting point and remains so today.
In 1969, the 161 powerplant was lifted out of the base Belmont sedans and given a modified cylinder head, camshaft, a dual-throat carburettor and different exhaust. That lot was enough to boost the output to 93kW , so we’re still not talking massive amounts of power. However much of the Torana’s secret lay in the fact it weighed 300 kilos less than a full-size
“A COMBINATION OF YOUTHFUL EXUBERANCE AND RUST SAW MANY END UP AT THE SCRAP YARD”
sedan, so it could do a whole lot more with what power was available. Throw in a four-speed manual transmission, disc brakes up front, some nice wheels and fancy instruments and you have yourself a nice pocket rocket. Just to reinforce the message, the driver also copped a GTS Monaro steering wheel.
Once overlooked in favour of the more glamorous and quicker XU-1s, GTRs in both LC and LJ form are very much back on the collector menu.
The big trick is finding one in decent condition, as a combination of youthful exuberance on the part of owners plus abundant rust saw many of them end up at the scrap yard.
Now we’ll let you into a secret: the car you see here is a replica and didn’t start life as a GTR. We spotted it at Hanging Rock some months ago and tracked down the owner, who makes no pretence that it’s anything other than a tribute car.
It proves two things: one is that you can build one yourself; the other is you need to know what you’re looking at when you go shopping. That’s where membership of a club – and Torana owners are well looked-after in that direction – could save you a lot of grief.
There is a belief that a well-sorted GTR is actually a good thing to drive, and probably a little more civilised than the equivalent XU-1. In any case, with XU-1s now well into the hundreds of thousands, they’re an investment vehicle and well beyond the reach of most.
GTRs however can still be found for around the mid-thirties in reasonable shape, more for a perfect one. And a tribute car like the peach shown here? That’s up for debate...