Forget the occasional tiff between
Sydney and Melbourne, the real Australian rivalry is between Ford and
Holden ... and it accelerates to a head once a year in October. The
arena is called Mt Panorama and the event is called `Bathurst' after
the nearby township. Bathurst has hosted this major event – it is
more than just a long distance car race – since 1963, but genuine
rivalry did not surface until 1967.
Okay Cortina fans, I know Ford GT
Cortina's took out honours in 1963, 1964 and 1965. But this does not
constitute rivalry. Spice was added to the race in 1966 when a Mini
Cooper S took the chequered flag. Phillip Island originally hosted this
long distance race and winners leading up to the switch to Bathurst
included Vauxhall Cresta (1960) Mercedes-Benz 220 SE (1961) and six
cylinder Falcon XL (1962). Hardly the stuff of which legends are
made.
There are two significant vehicles –
combined with the Great Race – that started the Ford/Holden rivalry
ball rolling. The first was the 1967 Ford Falcon XR GT – a
bronze-only (Ford called it GT Gold) black upholstery, four door GT
variant of the garden-variety Falcon, powered by a 289 cubic inch V8
that put out 168 kW of power through a four speed manual shifter.
Similar engine to that found in the early Mustangs. Just 596 were
built which explains why seeing a genuine XR GT these days is a rare
occurrence worthy of celebration. Ford certainly celebrated when
Harry Firth and Fred Gibson took out the 1967 Bathurst in an XR GT,
with another not far behind in second place.
As a kid growing up in Melbourne if you
saw an XR GT on the road it was stop-and-stare time. It is hard to
explain the impact this car had on male Baby Boomers. We were
accustomed to `hotting up' cars, not having the manufacturer do it
for us.
We were again gob smacked in July 1968
when Holden released the Monaro coupe, our featured car. This was the
first Holden that was not simply a functional means of transport. And
to show they meant business GM Holden not only provided the standard
six-cylinder engines (161 cubic inch and 186 cubic inch) but two
Chevrolet-sourced V8s, a 5.0 litre and a 5.3 litre (327 cubic inch)
already found in Australian Chevrolet Impalas. Our pictured cars are
a rare five litre variant in yellow and a 327 in blue. GTS variants
came with the 186S engine, 5.0 litre and the so-called `Bathurst'
model with the 327 cubic inch V8 hooked up to a four speed manual
transmission. Around 1200 Bathurst models were manufactured.
Four months before the Monaro was
launched Ford upgraded the GT to the XT GT and slipped a 302 cubic
inch high-performance V8, also from Mustang, under the sheetmetal.
The stage was set. Mt Panorama could not wait. Bathurst, The Race,
boiled down to basics is theatre on a grand scale. It has all the
ingredients: drama, excitement, expectation, failure, success, a
twist at the end ... and since 1968 annual rivalry on a scale rarely
seen in any sport. Growing up in Melbourne in the 1950s and 1960s
there were some street rules. You had to follow an AFL (VFL) team and
after 1968 you were either `a Ford man' or a `Holden man'. For me it
was St Kilda and Holden. It was a pivotal year marking the beginning
of a fierce competition that is in it's 41st year.
At the 1968 Bathurst, Holden had the
edge: 327 cubic inches is bigger than 302 cubic inches. The Holden
also had more horsepower 275 bhp to 250 bhp. Both cars weighed the
same. There were six XT GTs entered and a lone XR GT against a car
park of 327s.
The early signs were not good for Ford.
XT GTs experienced engine overheating, tyre problems and overheating
brakes after just a few laps. Yet, with just 15 laps to go Fred
Gibson and Barry Seton were leading the race in their XT GT followed
by a string of 327s. Then, like the other XT GT's, the leading car
started to overheat and blew a piston. To have come so far and been
so close must have been heartbreaking for the drivers and crew.
Monaros took the first four places, followed by an Alfa Romeo 1750
GT, another 327 Monaro, another Alfa and surprise, surprise, the lone
1967 XR GT, followed by another Alfa.
Monaro's success at it's first
long-distance race in 1968 coming on top of the GT Falcon's 1967
Bathurst win set the scene for decades of rivalry between Falcon and
whatever Holden threw up: Monaro, Torana or Commodore.
But, the two cars that started it all,
the XR GT and 327 Monaro, were the pioneers of this obsession with
track success at Bathurst that has fascinated and polarised Ford and
Holden fans for more than four decades. Unfortunately I never did get
to drive a XR GT. But, I did own a 327 Monaro. As I said, in this era
you were either Ford or Holden.
It was a pristine machine I picked up
as a one-owner country car in 1972 with less than 30,000 miles on the
clock. I still recall the number plate: KBP 443. It was yellow with a
black vinyl roof and two black stripes running along the bonnet in
front of the driver's bucket seat. As a driver's car it was a
handful. No power steering, so parallel parking meant I developed the
biggest biceps of all my mates. The clutch was as heavy as lead and
the gearbox required a firm hand for every shift. The tachometer was
situated on the centre console in front of the gear lever, and was
probably an afterthought. You had to look down to see it. Great when
you hit conrod straight at 125 miles per hour.
Talk about taking your
eyes off the road. Luckily it was easy to tell when you had reached
optimum revs in each gear. The four downward facing exhaust pipes
ensured there was ample engine feedback. At full throttle it crackled
like several Gatling guns being fired at the same time. The spare
wheel was so wide it would not fit into the vertical wheel well and
had to sit flat in the boot, taking up most of the room. I loved that
car. The price new: $3790 compared to $2575 for the base, six
cylinder Monaro.
We found these examples at the Cleveland Auto
Extravaganza earlier this year and the racing shot is courtesy of GM
Holden. Do I regret selling the 327? Let's put it this way, if I had
kept it in similar condition it would have made up the major portion
of my superannuation. If regret is kicking yourself in the pants
every time you see a 327 Monaro, then I plead guilty on all counts of
flogging a car I should have kept.
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