Bathurst hero Torana XU-1 at Lloyds

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 23.02.2017

Giant-killer signed by race legends

Of all the Aussie chrome bumper cars that we want to own one day, the Torana GTR XU-1 has to be very high on the list.

In an effort to make an impact on Ford’s dominant V8s, Holden went counter-intuitive and plumped for a small car with a mid-sized heart in the shape of a six-cylinder engine – rather than further down the V8 road.

Though the first-gen LC with its 186ci (3.0lt) engine met with a huge amount of early success, the event that really burned the car into the national psyche was Peter Brock winning Bathurst in the second-gen LJ XU-1 with its 202ci (3.3lt) engine.

For Brock, it was an event that helped to establish a long and often colourful career.

This example of an LJ is a matching-numbers car and seems to be as close as you could hope to being in original trim.

A bonus is that it’s signed by Harry Firth – the brains behind the many Torana victories over the years – plus legendary steerer Leo Georghegan.

It’s in the gold livery – very seventies – and is one of just a handful left.

At the time of writing, the online bidding at Lloyds Auctions had reached $67,000, though we expect it has a way to go. The live and final auction happens this Saturday.

There are 61 cars on offer, to suit most budgets and tastes.

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