Paul makes no apology for his classic of choice being the oft-maligned UC-series Torana, nor should he. After all, it truly is the ultimate Torana.
This may boil some blood because for many the UC Torana is a mere footnote; like the HB-series that launched the legend and the TA-series that stop-gapped the TX-Gemini when the LH grew up, the UC has been largely ignored by enthusiasts. So how is the UC the perfect personification of the ‘to fly’ Torana?
Well, not only is it the ultimate Torana in the literal sense, it’s also such in the figurative because discounting the race homologation models like the XU-1, L34 and A9X, the Torana wasn’t a race car. At its core, it was a mid-sized family car – yesterday’s Camry – and to that, the UC fitted the bill very well; better than it ever had before.
Released March 15, 1978, improvements abounded; the front seats were deeply scalloped to improve rear knee room, the spare wheel was mounted vertically freeing boot space and the suspension updated, mirroring the race-borne A9X option from the preceding LX-Series.
Gone was the foot-operated park brake (except on bench-seat models) as was the dash-mounted headlight switchgear, moving to a combination stalk shared with the larger Kingswood and Commodore ranges.
The bad news for horsepower enthusiasts was that optional V8s, both 4.2-litre and 5.0-litre, were consigned to history; there wasn’t even a sticker pack with sporting pretensions.
The styling also came under scrutiny because, while handsome at the front, the ‘Legoland’ tail-lights were criticised for not including wrap-around blinkers, unlike the previous series.
But none of this worries Paul, who cut his teeth on an LH Torana many years ago, only to sell it by accident.
“I was working at Claridge Holden at the time, as was my father, who spent more than three decades there,” Paul says.
“I’d parked my car near the lot, and someone thought it was for sale. I guess it was because I sold it, then walked over to Dad’s area and said he’d be giving me a lift home.”
Paul’s next Torana was a deceased estate UC Torana SL Deluxe in Dynasty Gold.
“The UC has got the stronger ‘small Salisbury’ rear end with the 202ci six and four-speed. It’s just a good goer out of the box,” Paul explains, before continuing with a sigh, “Some people don’t even realise there is a UC Torana; it’s news to them they weren’t all Starfire four-cylinder Sunbirds.”
Holden’s fuel-crisis fuelled quest for efficiency saw the Sunbird get the lion’s share of the marketing, with the unloved LX-carryover 1897cc ‘Opel 1900’ OHC four-cylinder tarnishing the UC’s reputation from introduction, and the Holden-built 1982cc ‘Starfire’ OHV four-cylinder doing the same from September 1978.
Buyers couldn’t even option an SL/E version of the Torana, unlike the Sunbird which could be had with all the available fruit of the day. The Torana SL Deluxe was the top of the range, and Paul enjoyed the driveability of the 202ci sedan, doing the usual youthful things and courting his now-wife, Wendy.
“By the mid ’90s, my UC Torana was long gone. We were living in Perth, and I’d acquired a four-door HJ Monaro GTS 5.0-litre with houndstooth trim, Aussie four-speed and a factory vinyl roof; it was all there, but very rough and undrivable. I started restoring it, but quickly learned that unregistered, undrivable cars are hard to ship around the place.”
The nature of Paul’s work, now with the Salvation Army, meant uprooting and moving cities with relative frequency, so the HJ Monaro had to go.
“I bought it for $1000 bucks and sold it for $1800, just before prices went crazy, of course,” he says, with some regret.
Around Christmas 2008, Paul and Wendy had returned to their hometown of Adelaide, and a bout of chronic glandular fever had Paul bedridden for several months.
“I started getting a bit philosophical – there had to be more to life than work – so I picked up a newspaper and scanned the classifieds.”
Nothing like a health scare coupled with a mid-life crisis to catalyse an epiphany, and there it was, another deceased estate UC Torana SL.
“I was laid up, so I asked Wendy to have a look and told her that if it was half decent to just buy it.” Paul laughs at the memory, “She rang to say the seller wouldn’t budge on price; it was $2200!”
Continuing, Paul adds, “It was stock standard, but wore its share of ‘grandpa bruises’.”
Entirely forgivable given the car had clocked 398,000km before Paul bought it. “The mileage is fully documented, it received a recon 202 around 120,000km ago and shows 410,000km on it now.”
Paul continues, “I owned it for a few years before the bodywork kicked off; I had it resprayed in 2014, but there were some delays in it getting finished, and a six-month job blew out to 18 months.”
Adding to the complexity was that Paul and Wendy had been meanwhile redeployed to Melbourne.
“As soon as it was ready, I flew back to Adelaide and drove it home. It went ‘over the pits’ with flying colours, although I was pulled up on ‘slight grazing of an indicator lens’,” Paul laughs.
Paul and Wendy’s travels have seen them join Torana clubs across the nation, including the Victorian Torana Club, Combined Torana Club of WA, Torana Owners Club of Victoria and Canberra Torana Club Inc, bookended by two stints with the Holden Torana Club of SA.
Every different state has different club rego rules and different transport department expectations, but it was the WA Department of Transport that gave Paul the biggest scare.
Paul says, “They wanted to stamp the UC with a new chassis number, despite one already being perfectly evident on the car. I told them ‘No way’. They also wanted me to weigh the car with a police officer present. I told them ‘I have the brochure! It weighs 1175kg’.”
Paul convinced them to use the existing chassis number, but still had to take it over the weighbridge and have a full inspection, where he met an older copper who took an interest in the UC.
“He pulled me aside, said how nice it was, then ‘strongly recommended’ that I replace my rear belts as they were sun bleached and their ‘integrity would be compromised’,” Paul says.
“And he said that it’d be a really good idea to get them replaced. Then he ticked my paperwork, and I was on my way.”
How good is that? Testament that not everyone has a problem with Holden’s final independent mid-sizer, the UC-series Torana.