Roadpacer Engine
    
Counting
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Welcome
to the all new Holden Heaven
This
site was first established in 1999
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Overview
The Giant Killer GTR XU1 was the work of Harry Firth and the Holden engineers
with parts availability and price in mind. The cost to do a home grown
six cylinder with after market and factory bits was going to be about half
the cost of going the American V8 way. What they achieved was an
amazing little car that in 186 cid form with it's triple stromberg 150CD
carbs and the twin branch headers had a claimed output of 160 bhp.
The Aussie 4 speed (M21) which was special in it's design replaced the
weaker Opel units, they were also given heavy duty radiators. After
proving that it was a competitive race car the 186ci it was replaced by
the newly developed 202ci and the carbs were increased in size to the 175CD's
along with larger valves, ported head with combustion chamber modifacations,
revised camshaft, roller rockers, lighter flywheel (approx 20 pounds) and
larger exhaust system. That was where the XU1 was going to end for
the XU2 V8 was well under way until it was terminated which forced Harry
Firths team to produce the ultimate six cylinder Holden race car, these
cars at Bathurst were putting out in excess of 240 bhp (twin throat webber
carbs). Just 150 Bathurst Specials were built with random engine numbers
from JP 386598 to JP 404176, the public were never told of these
but were given to dealers to pass them on to the right type of person.
The unmistakable signs of an original 1973 Bathurst Model are, extra stiffening
down the centre tunnel and braces under the front guards, these bodies
were intended for the V8 version, the XU-2.
The
Reason
The
history of the GTR XU-1 really began with the GTS 350 Monaro. The
Monaro, as good as it was, was going to be expensive to build into a good
handling, braking and power-to-weight race car. It would also have to source
it's parts from GM in America which would make things even more expensive
and against GM company rules about racing so it was decided to build a
home-grown light weight car that used easily acquired parts! This way it
could be hidden as a sports alternative to the family cars. GM in
America was dead against any involvment in racing and frowned on even the
suggestion of a team to do this.
The
Beginning of a legend
The
first car was built early 1970 and raced in the sports sedan class by Anthony
(Tony) Roberts under the guise of the HDT with a 186ci engine it
had a small chamber blueprinted 161ci head to increase compression, and
had triple Stromberg carburettors. HDT (Holden Dealer Team) was a
group of dealerships who banded together to race the cars that they sold
in the showrooms. GM-H did not back racing officially but did
decide to build a Torana and called it 'GTR XU-1' which they released to
the public on 19th August 1970 so enough would sell to allow it race under
the homolagation rules. The price for these cars was just A$3148
which made it an easily acquired race car for many privateers.
Racing
begins
The
XU-1 was not an instant success on the track and a lot work went into the
handling and steering of the early cars which had understeer. A balance
between tyres, shocks and springs sorted this out without going beyond
the rules. Harry Firth who was snapped up by HDT after working for the
Ford racing team saw the Torana as a potent racing machine. He also saw
a young man in a Monaro GTS 350 that could be moulded into a sensational
driver, Peter Brock. Sandown saw the first race of the now named GTR XU-1
in the annual September 250 mile race, Ford also debuted it's new GT Falcon,
so a lot of interest was developed in the meeting of these two brand new
cars. The fastest XU-1 which was driven by Colin Bond was four seconds
a lap slower than the fastest GT and could only manage 6th position on
the grid. The Falcon's were dominating the race but one by one fell by
the wayside with mostly engine failures and when the chequered flag dropped
the XU-1 of Colin Bond finished in second place, one lap down from Alan
Moffats Falcon and in front of Norm Beechey's Valiant Pacer with Peter
Brock in fourth.
Bathurst
1970
Bathurst
1970 saw 12 Torana XU-1's, 3 were from the HDT in which Colin Bond had
one to himself, Peter Brock and Bob Morris paired in another plus the pairing
of Women drivers Christine Cole(later Gibson) and Sandra Bennett. The other
makes were represented well with 14 GT Falcons and 6 Valiant Pacers among
others. Just before the race CAMS (Confederation
of
Australian Motor Sport) allowed some adjustments to the XU-1 to help it
become competitve. Some of these adjustments included a revised camshaft
profile (specifications bottom of this page), new axle tube baffles, modified
clutch & pressure plate, modified rear suspensionbump stops, front
suspension alignment settings, baffling in the fuel tank, front guard lips
were rolled to allow for wider front tires and wheel spacers.
Practice:
The fastest Torana was the HDT car of Colin Bond with a best lap of
2:54s which put him in fourth spot on the grid with Alan Moffat taking
pole some 5 seconds quicker. During the practice sessions many of the Falcons
suffered engine problems and the Torana's were running reliably so the
feeling was high that the Falcons could breakdown during the running and
allow the reliable cars in!
Race
day: And they're off with Bond in hot pursuit of Moffat up the hill,
over the top and Bond is sitting on Moffat's exhaust, then down Conrod
Straight where the big Falcon could stretch it's legs until the end where
the big car took some stopping and Bond dived in front under brakes. Going
along the front straight the crowd gave a huge cheer of approval to the
little Torana, the dice between Bond and Moffat went on for 5 laps until
Moffat regained the lead and wasn't headed. The Torana's with Bond and
Brock were 2nd and 3rd for quite a while but eventually succumbed to mechanical
problems and dashed any hope of a HDT Torana being on the Podium but the
privateer entry of Don Holland took third outright and a class win. In
fact five privately entered XU-1's were in the top ten, third, sixth, seventh,
ninth, and tenth outright plus the HDT all women pairing of Cole/Bennett
taking 13th outright, this showed that the six cylinder 186ci Torana was
close to the 351ci Falcon's but needed a bit more work to become a superior
package! It turned out that the mechanical problems with HDT cars were
a manufacturer fault with the valves, this also affected some private entries
as well.
The
rest of 1970
Phillip
Island:The phillip Island 100 mile production race was 3 weeks after
Bathurst and no works Falcons or HDT Torana's were entered but there were
plenty of privateers of the three big marques. The Falcons continued to
have mechanical problems and when the chequered flag fell it was a clean
sweep from 1st to 5th for Holdens with Torana's filling the first five
spots and a GTS 350 taking 5th.
Surfers
Paradise: The Rothman's 250 production race at Surfers Paradise was
the second last race of 1970, and Moffat took the win, with a privately
entered XU-1 of Brock/Digby Cooke coming in second position on the same
lap. Colin Bond was running in second until a puncture and minor panel
damage forced him back into fifth position.
Lakeside:
The
last series production race for 1970 was the Lakeside 150 which was comprised
of two fifty lap heat's. Peter Brock and Colin Bond went on to finish
first and second in both race's
Rallycross:
Brock
also won both support race's at Lakeside in the supercharged rallycross
Torana called "The Beast" which was a supercharged XU-1 that was pumping
out over 300 bhp and has been reported to have had 320 bhp (238kW). Peter
Brock also took out the 1970 Rallycross Championship in this 'Beast'.
The
1970 LC Torana GTR XU-1 had a reasonably successful year but the one race
that all the manufacturers wanted to win was the Bathurst race, HDT would
have to wait for another crack at the big one!
Torana
GTR XU-1 1971.
1971
was very successful for the XU-1 with successes in rallies, hill climbs,
rally-cross and circuit races, it also became very popular with the privateers
due to the competitiveness and the cost of maintaining it compared to the
GTHO. This year saw the introduction of a Manufacturers Championship
in which the first round was the Easter Bathurst meeting, Peter Brock took
third place and Colin Bond fourth. The second round was at Warick
Farm and this time Colin Bond won it from Peter Brock coming second.
Sandown
250: The third round saw the debut of the new Bathurst XU-1 at the
Sandown 250, also on debut was the new Phase III GTHO Falcon. After
the previous years engine failures, Ford had tested the 351 Cleveland extensively
and claimed the power to be 300 bhp (224kW) but in race trim was around
380 bhp (284kW). In practice Moffat (pole 1m21.4s) was 1.9 seconds
faster than Bond (3rd) and a huge 3.4 seconds faster than Brock. In the
race though both Moffat and French had mechanical problems and Bond ran
strongly to take the win and finished a tremendous 5 laps in front of second
place Murray Carter (GTHO) with Tony Roberts 3rd (XU-1) and Bruce McPhee
(XU-1) 4th.
Bathurst:
This
was not part of the Manufacturers Championship but was the next race and
of course all eyes were on the 'Great Race'. Bathurst saw a new foe
in the Valiant E38 harger with it's triple webbers on the Hemi 265 engine
which produced 280 bhp (209kW) and until recently held the title as the
fastest Australian production car in a straight line! But as fast as the
Valiant was it was limited with only a 3-speed gearbox and unpower assisted
brakes so the mountain was not very kind to this car. The Bathurst
race wasn't kind on the HDT and saw Moffat on pole with 2m38.9s and the
fastest XU-1 was Brocks car with a 2m46.3. Moffat led from flag to
flag with Bond finishing 4th and Brock coming in 6th with some problems.
Phillip
Island: The 500 km race at Phillip Island resumed the Manufacturers
Championship and was just three weeks after the demoralising Bathurst race.
The Big Falcons had big problems here, as they cooked and ripped there
tyres up the Torana XU-1's of Bond and Brock did a 1-2 for the HDT
with Doug Chivas well behind in his Valiant Charger. Even a privately
entered Torana beat the 5th placed Moffat home!
Surfers
Paradise: The Rothmans 250 was the final race to find honours in the
Manufacturers Championship and Moffat took the win, with Brock in 3rd and
Bond in 4th it was enough to win the title for GM-H.
Overseas:
One
of more unusual races the Torana XU-1 took part in was a race around the
streets of Macau. This came about when the invitation was given
to Harry Firth to bring a car and race against some very exotic machinery
and was fully funded by a GM-H dealership in Hong Kong. Up against some
very formidable vehicles from all over the world, the XU-1 in the hands
of the young pilot finished in 2nd place which I am sure surprised the
rest of the field but not Harry Firth or Peter Brock!
Off
road XU-1: This was Colin Bond's year in the HDT Torana XU-1 won the
Australian Rally Championship, 3000km Southern Cross Rally, 5000 km Dulux
Rally and the South Pacific Touring Series. Such was the success of the
Torana offroad that Torana's filled five of the top seven places in the
Championship. Also worthy of a mention is the successful private team City
State Racing with Stewart Mcleod and Adrian Mortimer that did well in the
Championship.
The
Beast: Rallycross was very popular in 1971 and the HDT had a Torana
that was nicknamed 'The Beast'. Mostly driven by Peter Brock this car drew
a following like no other and was eventually powered by a supercharged
186 ci motor with twin 2" SU's. The engine was moved back into the firewall
for better balance and at it's peak was putting out 320 bhp (238 kW) at
the flywheel and 260 bhp (194 kW), 310 ft/lb at the rear wheels. This car
took Brock to a win in the Championship as nothing could get close to it.
1972
Bathurst
The
next time on the podium was 1972 and it was Peter Brocks turn, he won convincingly
in what was a tremendous battle against Alan Moffat who had won the previous
two Bathursts. Brocky did the 500 mile race solo which started in
the wet and with team mate Colin Bond crashing very early in the race the
next hour was spent dicing with Moffat, up the hill the Torana would catch
the Falcon and then down Conrod the Falcon would pull away, lap after lap
until Moffat aquaplaned almost the same place Bond crashed and although
Moffat got going again Brock was never going to be beaten. The Legend of
the Bathurst Winning Torana had begun with the biggest legend in Australian
motor sport although he was a junior at this stage with a third in a Monaro
in 1969 previous. The 1973 Bathurst was the Torana's but for an error
of judgment trying to stretch the fuel, while out in front Doug Chivas
was asked to do another lap and while coming over the top of the hill the
car started to cough until it ran out of fuel along Conrod Straight.
He coasted all the way and when in the pit entry tried a clutch start but
all this did was to take any momentum the Torana had away and without the
rest of team being allowed to help him until the car actually entered there
designated pit area they stood, watched and yelled encouragement while
Chivas (not a large person by any means), pushed the wide tyred Torana
up the hill in the pits. Brocky put up an almighty fight but it wasn't
enough and the rest is history.
Images
permitted by Autopics.com.au
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Torana
LC GTR 161 S
Engine:
161ci inline six, OHV, 2 valves per cyl, 9 port head(3 inlet 6 exhaust)
Bendix
Stromberg WW2 dual barrel downdraught carburettor with automatic choke.
Bore
& Stroke: 3.375" (85.7mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power
output: 125bhp (93.2kW) @ 4800rpm.
Torque:
150 lb/ft (202.5Nm) @ 2800rpm.
Compression
ratio: 9.2:1
Camshaft
Specifications GTR 161S.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
23°
Close
45°
Duration
240°
Lift
.338" (8.58mm)
Exhaust
Open
50°
Close
10°
Duration
240°
Lift
.338" (8.58mm)
Overlap
25°
LC
Torana GTR XU1
(1970
- 1972)
Price
when introduced: $3150
Total
number built: 1,633
Engine:
186 six cylinder, OHV, 2 Valves per cylinder, 9 port head, triple
150CD carburettors
Transmission:
Four speed manual
Dimensions:
Length - 4387mm, Width - 1600mm, Wheelbase - 2540mm
Fuel
Tank: 77 litres
Weight:
1103kg
Performance:
119kW @ 5200rpm, 257Nm @ 3600rpm
Standing
400m 15.5 seconds (Bathurst Special)
Camshaft
Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Aug 1970.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
29°
Close
57°
Duration
266°
Lift
.345" (8.76mm)
Exhaust
Open
64°
Close
24°
Duration
266°
Lift
.345" (8.76mm)
Overlap
53°
Camshaft
Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Bathurst Sept 1970.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
23°
Close
65°
Duration
268°
Lift
.345" (8.76mm)
Exhaust
Open
58°
Close
30°
Duration
268°
Lift
.345" (8.76mm)
Overlap
53°
Camshaft
Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Bathurst Feb 1971.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
38°
Close
86°
Duration
304°
Lift
.429" (10.89mm)
Exhaust
Open
77°
Close
46°
Duration
304°
Lift
.429" (10.89mm)
Overlap
84°
LJ
Torana GTR XU1
(1972
- 1974) Road version
Price
at introduction: $3214
Total
number built: 1,667
Engines:
202 (3300 litre) six-cylinder,inline
Bore
& Stroke: 3.625" (92.1mm) X 3.25" (82.5mm).
Compression
ratio: 10.3:1
OHV,
2 Valves per cylinder, 9 port head,
Triple
175CD Stromberg side-draft carburettors
Camshaft
special (see below)
Power
output: 190bhp (141.7kW) @ 5600rpm.
Torque:
200lb/ft (270Nm) @ 4000rpm.
Transmission:
Four-speed manual
Dimensions:
Length - 4387mm, Width - 1600mm, Wheelbase - 2540mm
Fuel
Tank: 77 litres
Camshaft
Specifications GTR XU-1 202 Feb 1972.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
44°
Close
80°
Duration
304°
Lift
.429" (10.89mm)
Exhaust
Open
83°
Close
40°
Duration
304°
Lift
.429" (10.89mm)
Overlap
84°
LJ
Torana GTR XU1
(1972
- 1974) Bathurst version
Price
at introduction: $3455 '72 ($3550 '73)
Engines:
202 (3300 litre) six-cylinder,inline
Bore
& Stroke: 3.625" (92.1mm) X 3.25" (82.5mm).
Compression
ratio: 10.3:1
OHV,
2 Valves per cylinder, 9 port head,
Triple
175CD Stromberg side-draft carburettors
Camshaft
special (HX see below)
Power
output: 190bhp (141.7kW) @ 5600rpm.
**(HDT
Bathurst cars were approx. 190hp rear wheels, approx. 230+ bhp)
Torque:
200lb/ft (270Nm) @ 4000rpm.
Transmission:
Four-speed manual
Performance:
138 mph @ 6500 rpm
Quarter
mile: 13.5 seconds
Dimensions:
Length - 4387mm, Width - 1600mm, Wheelbase - 2540mm
Fuel
Tank: 77 litres
Gearbox:
M21 four speed manual, all synchromesh. XU-1 & Bathurst
LJ XU-1.
Ratio's:
1st 2.54
2nd 1.83
3rd 1.25
4th 1.00
Rev 2.54.
M21
four speed manual, all synchromesh. XU-1 Bathurst 73 (optional).
Ratio's:
1st 2.54
2nd 1.83
3rd 1.38
4th 1.00
Rev 2.54.
M21
four speed manual, all synchromesh. XU-1 Bathurst 73 (optional).
Ratio's:
1st 2.32
2nd 1.65
3rd 1.25
4th 1.00
Rev 2.54.
Camshaft
Specifications GTR XU-1 202 Bathurst 72 & 73.
1973
Factory Bathurst XU-1's had same profile as the previous year, however
the race teams were free to use any profile they desired.
Inlet
(No ramp)
Open
55°
Close
91°
Duration
326°
Lift
.456" (11.59mm)
Exhaust
Open
94°
Close
51°
Duration
326°
Lift
.456" (11.59mm)
Overlap106°
Identification:
Engine
- LC GTR: '2600S' followed by engine serial number.
Engine
- LC XU-1: '186X' or '3100X' followed by engine serial number.
Engine
- LC XU-1 (Bathurst): 'CK' followed by engine serial number, then the
letter 'X'
Vin
identification:
consists of 13 digits.
The
first five consist of the model number.
The
next digit is the series code identifier.
The
next two digits are build location identifier.
The
remaining five digits indicate the vehicle serial number.
VIN
Model - 82311: Two door six cylinder 'S' sedan.
VIN
Model - 82369: Four door six cylinder 'S' sedan.
VIN
Model - 82569: Four door six cylinder 'SL' sedan.
VIN
Model - 82911: Two door six cylinder 'GTR' sedan.
Series
code: 'C' stands for LC
Build
location- Brisbane: H1 - H5.
Build
location - Sydney: H5 - H9.
Build
location - Melbourne: J1 - J9.
Build
location - Adelaide: L1 - L5.
Build
location - Perth:
L6 - L9.
*All
figures stated are for road-going production models only. Homologation
racing versions were generally different.
Although
the author has researched extensively some figures may be incorrect.
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