As muscle car fever gripped the world, General Motors Holden
looked to bring the sports car with big performance ethos to Australian buyers.
Enter, the LC Torana GTR XU1.
The GTR was released in October of 1969 and Holden Dealer
Team maestro Harry Firth from the Australian Touring Car Championship was quick
to see the car as a race winner.
Harry had a competition version under development before the
first GTRs even appeared in Holden dealerships.
Code-named XU-1, and later named “Ultra-Performance”, Holden’s
new secret weapon to rival Ford’s mighty GTHO had a 3.1-litre ‘186’ engine with
triple Stromberg carburettors, that developed 119kW at the rear wheels in a car
that weighed just over 1,000kgs.
This was when the Holden VS Ford battle – the tribal war
that today’s V8 Supercar series was built on – exploded and the LC GTR XU1
Torana was right in the thick of it. And, it wasn’t only on the track where the
Torana dominated, this performance legend added four Australian Rally
Championships to its trophy cabinet too.
Today’s interests and desirability of the legendary XU1 are
evident in the three figure transactional values we see steadily increase as
time rolls on. The right cars are so tightly held too.
Peter Brock, said in 2009 for Trade Unique Cars Magazine “Performance
wasn’t the only aspect to impress Brock. "It makes some beautiful noises.
There is nothing like the exhaust notes of that era. They sound
magnificent."
Offered here is an incredibly rare find- an exceptionally
well preserved, totally original and unrestored, numbers matching and low
mileage 1971 Holden LC GTR XU1 Torana.
Travelled just 31,864 original miles and delivered new to the
country town of Beckom, NSW in April of 1971 by Leeton Motors this special car
was ordered in Lina Mint Green over Black leather- just as it presents today.
Retaining its correct 3100X motor, head, triple Strombergs,
4-speed manual transmission, original acrylic paint, crush pile carpets, trims,
factory fitted front air dam, bobtail spoiler, “wide” Black steel rims, and
front disc brakes, GTR decals and even its original NSW licence plates, this
XU1 would have to be one of the last and best-preserved originals remaining in
the country.
A credit to its last owner and an asset to the next, the dry,
country climate and the maintenance this car was kept with has preserved it
perfectly. Its only period changes are under dash air-conditioning and an AWA
Clarion radio that cost $235 (no GST) in 1985 and looks as fresh as the day it
came out of the box.
All tell-tale signs from the as new double-stitched leather
seat trims to the, leather gear lever boot, correct Sealed Beam head light
lenses and the “Made In Australia” stamps throughout the engine bay show a car
that has lived a cherished life.
Accompanying this car are its original and irreplaceable Log
Books, Owner’s Manual, Warranty Card, Torana GMH brochure, the original owner’s
NRMA membership card registered to the car, the original boot mat, tools,
licence plate and spare wheel.
One of the last remaining original XU1 Torana’s in existence
with such low mileage, as it left the factory and with all original
documentation and in turn-key condition this collector’s edition car with so
much rich race winning history from a purple patch of Australian car
manufacturing is unparalleled.
