OT - interesting "for sale" in north antarctica right before xmas, GM (holden) pre production prototype Options

[wonkipop]

saw the white one when i was a kid back in 70/71.
and more recently after now defunct GM-H retrieved it from storage and restored it.
holden built two prototypes. one for the show circuit and one to test.
they destruction tested the original twin.




always rumoured to be a third one.
pre production. almost built up before project was abandoned.
what was left of it was supposed to be hidden in some shed somewhere.



suddenly for sale.

https://www.ecuriebowden.com.au/inventory/1...qtUbt95AV7RIvl8


god knows what you would do with it.
or how you could even finish it.

[Shivers]

That is pretty darn cool. All the panels are there. Get a late 80’s corvette and put that drive train in it.

[rick 918-S]

Dig it alot! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drooley.gif)

[porschetub]

That is pretty darn cool. All the panels are there. Get a late 80’s corvette and put that drive train in it.

Not sure I could agree with that,why would you butcher such a rare car ,the car is very light and the 186 cu inch 6 would be enough give it good performance ,these were "built" motors ,triple carbs and headwork with cam and if I remember correctly high comp pistons as the cast originals were to prone cracking @ the ring grooves and forged crank.
I fear if this car gets finished it may be relegated to display only as it has never been registered for the road ,being fiberglass it may be another victom of OZ ADR rules but sure that wonkipop would know more ..hope he chimes in .
Merry Xmas, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) .

[wonkipop]

@porschetub

this is what holden white coats built up #3 to.



was having a 202 inserted in. from the under development HQ Holden.
next step up from the 186.

also was a two pedal job.
they were testing out fitting an auto box!



these are photos from the build up of #3.
don't think they got to fitting out interior fully.

i did see this car through a contact i had who used to look after another wealthy trucking magnates car collection. was back in the late 80s just before i left for the USA to study.
there was a lot missing from it even back then. glass. like a WINDSCREEN!
it got built up to close to finish by holden but by the time it was sold at tender in the late 80s a lot of stuff had gone missing.

i think its better left as an artifact.
i kind of believe the guy who had it tucked away for 30 years thought the same thing.
but he passed away a few years ago so i guess the family are disposing of it now.

as the listing notes - its a piece of aus folklore.
a true legend.

the company who did the body moulds were about a block away from my old german mechanic in clayton who looked after my old squareback and where i used to first take my 914 when i got back from stateside. misinformation said bowell did the body moulds but thats not so. it was another mob.

i suspect the car had the potential to be good. but i believe it was far from worked out properly in engineering terms. journalists who drove it around the holden test track reportedly said it got more than a bit scary above 90 mph.

however the white one, which i have looked over closely several times in my life sure is sexy as a design object. no doubt about it. every bit as low as a 914. and similarl kind of cabin intimacy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

there is just too much missing from whats left of #3 for it to be ever finished.
if you did finish it you would be faking it. if you know what i mean.
and that is not really all that interesting. be like faking a 914 prototype. no point.
no historical interest.

some more pics.


vac operated pop up headlights.
cheaper than 914 over engineered electric motor units. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

photo from around the time i must have seen it first.
even looks like me as a 10 year old in the background.
but its not. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Craigers17]

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but it reminds me a little bit of the Kellison J-cars. O.K. .....maybe it's a stretch....I think it's just the back. Either way....pretty cool.... thanks for posting.

[rhodyguy]

What was the ‘1972 Supercar Scare’ down under? Mentioned in the Torana write up.

[Shivers]

That is what I thought, where would you get parts to restore it. But it is such a cool car, it seems a shame to waste it. As it was glass, and so is the vette, seems like a good match to build a tribute resto mod. Independent suspension front and rear, slam it to the ground with tires that fill the wheel wells. Sexy. The studebaker avanti ended up being built later as the avanti II because it was such a cool looking car, especially for the time of the first production. There was a company taking your older vette and turning them into a split window vette. To me it just seems like such a waste when it was such a beautiful piece of art. Merry Christmas
@wonkipop

[rick 918-S]

Love the redline tires. So period correct.

[wonkipop]

What was the ‘1972 Supercar Scare’ down under? Mentioned in the Torana write up.

supercar scare was similar to the demise of the muscle car in the USA.
except not just insurance companies - the govt. itself threatened to introduce legislation to curb and control power output for cars.

aus car scene was ruled by the big 3 who all had outpost divisions here.
(now sadly all gone post GFC. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) )
Ford, GM and Chrysler.
on the outskirts of that Leyland had an operation here and VW as well.

Ford was basically building the US Falcon as the everyman car down here.
and it continued as a name plate and evolved into a relatively unique aus product.
also sold a mixture of euro and USA ford product. all were bumped up in engineering terms to cope with poor australian post war roads.

Holden (GM) ran product that during the 60s might have been characterised as enlarged vauxhals (GM UK) engineered for aus conditions. until bill mitchell of GM legend decided that Holden needed a bit of wrench away from obsessions with the "mother land" and sent in the detroit junior squad. good thing he did too. gave aus the monaro and ultimately the HQ holden.

Chrysler started out building a variation of the dodge dart as the eveyman car.
called the valiant.
by the early 70s chrysler was making local product.

all three claimed to be making cars designed here locally for australian conditions.
sort of true. but not really. the basis for all the cars was detroit design and engineering.

all this evolved into an "arms race" at the Bathurst 500 every year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

by 1972 this arms race had escalated to epic proportions. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

.....and then the govt. stepped in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercar_scare

there was going to be a phase 4 Ford Falcon GTHO.
(3 survived the cancelled programm and command outrageous prices).

https://www.drive.com.au/news/ford-falcon-g...-made-road-car/

the Holden Torana GTR-XU2. - a V8 stuffed into the nose of what was basically a stretched vauxhal viva. would have been fast. except when it came to a corner.
that particular car is definitely a unicorn. folks insist 2 existed.
think its been established neither survived.

https://www.australianmusclecarsales.com.au...a-308-v8-218633

and chrysler had ideas for the Charger. which was not a USA charger.
purely local design. a lot smaller and more nimble than the USA namesake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Valiant_Charger

by 1972 you could as an 18 year old walk into any of the three company dealerships and buy a bathurst spec (not far off) Falcon GTHO, Torana GTR-XU1 or Charger E-39, having just got your driver's license at the cop shop in the morning and kill yourself by tea time.
(assuming you had a lucrative paper run during your teenage years to have the $ in the bank).

the motoring journalist evan green started the whole debacle in the press.
he became the equal of ralph nader in australia.
he left for england shortly after that time. probably for personal safety. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

here ends potted history of aus muscle car era.
a golden time you might say.

-------

the torana GTR-X dates from that time.
its widely held it was a pure local design.
a guy called phil zmood is credited with it.
however deeper probing histories have shown it started with a series of sketches in GM's detroit studios. not sure which division. the design was then worked up here by the locals.

the white prototype was recovered from storage and restored for GM's centenary celebrations in the USA in the early 2000s. was on display in the USA for that.
then it was shipped back here. it usually resides in the national motor museum in south australia these days. but it gets exhibited in various other exhibitions from time to time.

[wonkipop]

Love the redline tires. So period correct.

right on.

i think the deep dish chrome steelies with redlines are just....... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)
think thats why i have a soft spot for my star steelies on the 914.
childhood memories of torana gtr-xu1 s with chrome steelies and redlines.
the white prototype was shod with standard street issue XU1 wheels and tyre.

my memory is all the falcon GTHO s and Valiant Chargers had the same redline tyres too.

even have memories of VW type 3 fastbacks with fake fuchs hubcaps (factory option). side stripes with 1600 written and redwall tyres. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[wonkipop]

That is what I thought, where would you get parts to restore it. But it is such a cool car, it seems a shame to waste it. As it was glass, and so is the vette, seems like a good match to build a tribute resto mod. Independent suspension front and rear, slam it to the ground with tires that fill the wheel wells. Sexy. The studebaker avanti ended up being built later as the avanti II because it was such a cool looking car, especially for the time of the first production. There was a company taking your older vette and turning them into a split window vette. To me it just seems like such a waste when it was such a beautiful piece of art. Merry Christmas
@wonkipop

merry xmas mate.

i believe all the factory body moulds are being sold with the #3 prototype.
the guy who owned the proto and had it stashed for 30 years had also recovered the body moulds separately from a paddock next to the glass factory that made them.

personally i believe the family ought to have donated the car to the national motor museum. it would make sense to display the unfinished #3 next to the white #2 car that is already there. the family must believe there is more money to be made by trying to sell it to a collector on the open market. if it was one of the major art galliries and this was an art work they would have already have bought it for their collections.
unfortunately the national motor museum does not have the budgets of major art galleries and cars are not considered art. they should be? or at least they should be regarded as design objects. another suitable place for it to go would be the powerhouse museum in sydney which does have the $ maybe. thats the museum of design. it has a reasonable operating budget and is a government institution. we shall see.
i imagine the powerhouse might be taking a look at it. not being complete would put them off.

[wonkipop]

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but it reminds me a little bit of the Kellison J-cars. O.K. .....maybe it's a stretch....I think it's just the back. Either way....pretty cool.... thanks for posting.

not a stretch at all.
mechanical layout similar.
a bit like an early TVR as well.

engine set well back. you might say almost front mid engined.
not quite but close in the case of the GTR-X.
and a diff literally right behind your backside.

which might have been why the journos who did drive the GTR-X said it got a git skittish at 90mh on the test track. early TVRs are a bit of a handful i understand.
never driven one.

[rhodyguy]

I was pretty keen on the American version of the Holden Morano. First one I saw was on display at Detroit Int Airport.