Dave Sturrock always dreamed of having an Aussie Group C car; the dream came true, but not as he had imagined¦

Introduced in 1967 by GM Australia, the Torana model name was chosen from the aboriginal word meaning ‘to fly’, which in its race-oriented versions it most certainly did. It is surprising that the A9X Torana isn’t an international holy grail for collectors, though one must remember the Torana is indigenous to Australia, and only familiar to the relative few who watched the Australian touring car scene in the 1970s. It is one of the most desirable sports saloons ever, but outside the colonies little is known about this muscle-bound sports sedan.

In Europe and the States the Camaros, Mustangs and Falcons were masters of the big-banger series on the tracks, and only where pure agility came in could the Escorts, Capris and BMWs steal their limelight. Down under the Holden team had already worked out that given sufficient grunt, a small-bodied car could come close to out-manoeuvring the big V8s on every track; and if that was the case, why not put a V8 in there anyway, and finish the job off?

The Torana A9X is to the ’70s what the Cosworth Sierra RS500 was to the ’80s, only much, much rarer. If Ford had fitted a 5.0-litre V8 to a Capri in Europe the car would be a million dollar collector’s piece. Luckily, we have the A9X to ourselves. Sure, a real A9X Torana is highly sought after in Australasia, but it is somewhat of an enigma on the world scene.

Naturally, nearly all the real A9X Toranas are mothballed because of their value, but the door is open to collectors and racers to make their own replicas, and many have.

One of the latest examples is the gorgeous tangerine-coloured SS coupe of Dave Sturrock, built to race amongst the competitive Central Muscle Car series, and the Torana is already looking very fast straight out of the blocks.

Texas tech

Dave Sturrock has always had a passion for the Australian rules Group C racers. Peter Brock was, naturally, his hero. The big flared arches and spoilers that he watched on TV and read about in magazines were what turned him on, and one day he would have his own Group C VK Commodore to drive on the road.

There is many a slip twixt cup and lip, and in Dave’s case the entire mug-full ended up on the floor before he arrived at the masterpiece you see here.

Dave trained as a Jaguar technician at Ken Stout’s on the North Shore, and after his training he did his big OE and ended up in Dallas, Texas. To his delight he found that good Jaguar mechanics were like gold dust, and he was paid big money to staff the local Jag dealership. Kiwis are highly sought after because of their breadth of knowledge and application, so Dave was in a really good position. While he was in the US he went drag racing in a Pontiac Firebird, and did a NASCAR driving course.

He returned to New Zealand and worked for race engine builder Randall Edgell and driver Nigel Arkell of Roger’s Boat Shop, doing a bit of kart racing on the side, always maintaining the dream to build his Brockie VK.

He then met Shelley May, a NZ bare foot water ski champion in the late 1980s, and between them they started a business — MSI Imports — wholesaling water sports gear from the US. The business became very successful, and their O’Brien brand is the key sponsor of his muscle car challenger.

The VK project

With money in his pocket, Dave decided it was time to achieve his dream to own a Group C Commodore. He was also watching the fledgling muscle car series and fancied a go at it. Why not put the two together and race a VK Group C replica?

He went to see Willie Van Wersch in Winton, Australia, who had around 20 Aussie tourers for sale. The real Brock car had just been delivered back from the UK but was out of his league price-wise, and there was an ex Alan Jones/Warren Cullen car there for AU$20,000, but it was very sad and Dave decided not to buy it — a decision he regrets.

Dave eventually returned to New Zealand empty-handed, but soon located and purchased a standard VK and all the glass fibre extensions that he needed. Mark Herbert was tasked to study Aussie V8 Supercars so he could put together a four-link rear-end similar to those cars. A 4982cc (304ci) V8 with fuel injection heads was obtained from a VR that had been in a fire, and, with everything in place, they set about building the car.

Torana turns up

Dave was watching more and more muscle car races and getting itchy feet — he wanted to be out on the track now! Taking a break from the VK build, he visited a Christchurch boat show around three years ago. Whilst there he discovered a very attractive Torana SS (just like the one in our July 2004 issue) in a local trader magazine. The Torana already had a V8 installed, along with a Bond alloy roll cage. It had been brought in from Australia in the mid-’80s.

Dave got the owner to bring it along to the boat show, and once he had driven it Dave thought, “Sod it, I’m going to buy that and go racing now!” and drove it back to Auckland’s North Shore.
After four races he rediscovered his need for speed. He knew he had the basis for a great Muscle Car series entry, sold the VK and set about building an A9X replica on his newly acquired SS Torana three-door, which meant setting out a mammoth programme of work for the Torana.

It won’t have escaped your notice that Dave is a perfectionist, and the bare metal restoration of his Torana reflects that. Whilst he has had the A9X in mind, Dave doesn’t make any pretence that this car is a genuine car. It’s an SS Torana, originally fitted with a straight-six, but he bought it with the V8 already installed.

Race prep

Race preparation was handled superbly by Mark Herbert, including the fuel system installation and chrome-moly roll-cage. Because the car is not intended as an exact replica, Dave has been free to make some compromises in the interests of cost and reliability in order to make the car a better racer without the huge cost of replicating the original parts. Weight is now down to 1255kg, helped by a Perspex rear screen and a superb carbon fibre dashboard; the first attempt at a constructing such a dashboard by North Shore boat builder Mark Luxford.

Dave has purposely stayed away from electronic displays, preferring the look of traditional dials, albeit matched to the car’s colour scheme. The beautifully crafted cable runs and electrics were done by North Shore auto-electrician Conrad Timms.

In the business district the Holden 308 engine has been stroked, and had a thorough going over, starting with a billet steel crank, Carrillo rods, roller rockers and a 51kW dry sump system to keep the works fully oiled. Dave uses the massive experience he has gained over the years to build his own engines — they are good and strong, and he always uses Glen Jennett at AJ Automotive Engine Reconditioners for all his machining work.

The gearbox casing is a Ford top-loader with a Phitzner close-ratio four speed dog ’box kit fitted inside, feeding a Ford nine-inch differential.

The fully floating axle has 12-inch Wilwood ¨discs on each end, to complement the 13-inch Wilwood stoppers on the front, the bias being controlled by a Tilton pedal box.

Dave had originally intended to run the car to Auckland Muscle Car rules — which don’t allow modifications to the pedal box or suspension, and require cars to run road tyres. He was able to achieve pole position in the first round of that series, but he has found that he prefers to run in the faster Central Muscle Car Group 1 Series run by Steve Hildred, and whilst the car is very standard compared to some of his competitors in that series, the Torana still achieves regular top four placings.

Rae’s help

With Hoosier 275/40 ZR1 tyres mounted on his Simmons rims, this Torana is capable of a respectable 1.05 at Pukekohe.

Dave gives credit to Johnny Rae for the track speed he has achieved. Having gone through the same issues, Johnny gave Dave the benefit of his experience, saving considerable development time and avoiding blind alleys with the Torana, bringing it up to speed virtually straight away.

A few laps around Pukekohe in the car left me under no doubt that this is already a very well sorted car, in part due to Dave’s implacable standards. Its sits very firmly on the circuit but does not get too upset by Pukekohe’s new bumps. It has plenty of grip, and with a fabulous power and torque to weight ratio, coupled to nimble handling, the car is incredibly fast but does not seem to require man-handling round the circuit.

The Phitzner dog ’box gives quick, predictable and trouble-free changes and the brakes pull it up fast, straight and true. Dave is clearly a mean pedaller too, with the NASCAR and karting experience helping a great deal.

I watched Dave giving the car very creditable top four placings at the March Formula Libre Grand Prix meeting against some top dollar racing cars, and there is potential still to come. The car’s rear suspension geometry is still standard, and most of the panels still steel, meaning that with enough development Dave will be able to run with Paul Kirwan’s mighty Camaro, and he’ll be able to give Paul a hard time at the tight circuits like Taupo.

Dream Time – The Torana Years

The original Torana HB was based heavily on the European Viva HB, and it did not take the racing fraternity long to work out that the big Monaros and Falcons could be outpaced by the lithe Torana. The monitor of all things performance down under, Mount Panorama at Bathurst, saw Peter Brock take his first win in 1972 using an LJ Torana XU-1. The Torana went through LC, LJ, LH, TA, LX and UC models in its 11-year life, with four-and two-door versions using four, six and eight-cylinder engines.

Whilst the bread and butter models mostly faded into obscurity the X-U1, L34 and A9X versions claimed five Bathurst victories and made household names of Brock, Colin Bond, Allan Grice, Bob Morris and our own Jim Richards.
Only 200 XU-1s were produced, but they filled the finishing order at Bathurst for four years. They were narrow, long and slightly ungainly, but the replacement LH series put that problem to rest. The LH Torana was a medium car rather than a stretched small one. The SLR/5000 L34 (1974-1976) immortalised bolt-on wheel arch extensions and capitalised on the XU-1’s pioneering work. Being slightly longer and wider it could now make good use of a 5.0-litre V8 with a torque curve more massive than Ayers Rock.

In early 1976 the LH sedan was facelifted to LX, with the addition of a three-door hatchback version which is one of the tidiest styling jobs ever done: it looks as good today as it did a quarter of a century ago. Radial tuned suspension (RTS) became available on the lower order models and this was transferred to the SL/R 5000 in 1977, upgrading suspension geometry, springs and shock absorbers and adding roll bars to the front and rear suspension. Called the A9X option, and priced at AU$12,500, its rear floor panel pressing was revised to incorporate a rear axle assembly with upper trailing arms mounted further apart, and the steering gear mounted solidly to the front cross member to improve feel.

This A9X pack featured rear disc brakes, with HX alloy front brake assemblies, and a new PBR master cylinder with integral proportioning valve and plastic reservoir. The 14 by six-inch wheels were shrouded by the de-rigueur bolt-on flares, and a bonnet scoop facing the screen fed and cooled the L31 5.0-litre 308 V8, aided by a heavy-duty radiator and electric coolant fan. An M21 gearbox came with the A9X, but the Borg-Warner Super T-10 MC7 option could be ordered for race cars.

The 25 race cars built could only be bought with a current CAMS competition licence.

This specification would be ‘to-die-for’ on the world market, but the Torana A9X remains our little secret, and probably one of the best sports saloons ever produced, along with the South Africa-only Capri-based Perana.

The A9X failed to win its first (1977) Bathurst, Larry Perkins being placed third, but blasted the opposition the following year. Brockie won by six laps (37km), totally dominating the’ 77 to ’78 and ’79 seasons, and immortalising the Brock/Richards partnership. They rubbed salt into the Ford wounds by getting pole position, leading from start to finish six laps in front, and setting a new circuit record on the final lap of the 1000km race!

Words Tim Nevinson, Photos Quinn Hamill & Sean C