Inside this month’s Unique Cars gearbox
1. Dick’s Torana
Bathurst 1973 will go down as the year the race grew from 500 miles to 1000 kilometres, Moffat’s spin and win and Brocky losing a sure win when his Torana XU-1 ran out of fuel when leading. It was also a scorching hot day with almost half the 60-car field failing to finish. But crossing the line in fifth place was a Torana XU-1 driven by a Dick Johnson from Queensland who found fame with Fords in later years, and Bob Forbes. Classiccarlectables has a diecast model of which 750 will be made. A chance to grab a rare piece, pay around $300 from classiccarlectables.com.au
2. On the tools
Let’s be honest, a few hours working on your toy in the shed can become pretty tiring. But the clever folk at Hare and Forbes have a perfect solution, a mobile tool storage cabinet seat. The large rectangular cushion is 406mm high and 55mm thick and sits on top of the cabinet, doubling as a lid and there are three 325 x 195 x 60mm drawers that glide on ball bearing slides plus two 25mm deep foldaway magnetic side work trays. It can hold 136 kilograms and the cost is $110 including GST from machineryhouse.com.au
3. Winner winner
Allan Moffat already had one Bathurst win under his belt by the time of the 1971 classic, where Ford pulled out its most powerful and all-conquering Phase III GT-HO Falcon. So fast was this HO it lapped the Mt Panorama track 13 seconds under the lap record set a year earlier. It was game, set and match there and then. Even Moffat’s teammates couldn’t get near his lap time. The red tee is a Gilden brand with Moffat’s iconic 65E Bathurst winner depicted on the front and back. It comes in a range of sizes. From $35 and you can order online at tcmmerchandise.com.au
4. KMac – Devious Dattos
K-Mac has been around for a very long time and their expertise has seen them ensure race cars can fly around corners without frightening the bloke hanging off the wheel. Here is a set of four rear trail arm to crossmember bushes to suit a range of Dattos from 1968-1988 including 510, 610, 1600, 180B and the 240K. They also fit R30 and C210 Skylines. These bushes provide new levels of camber and toe adjustment and the kit comes complete with fitting instructions, and bush extraction and insertion tubes. Cost is $320 from k-mac-camber-kits.com
5. Bling is King
If you are in the middle of or about to start working on restoring a Falcon XT or have one in the shed that needs a bit of sprucing up, contacting the team at Musclecarparts should be at the top of your to-do list. They have a blue and chrome badge for the centre of the XT grille to complete the front-on look. It’s a brand new reproduction part made to the same measurements as the original, with the same method of attachment. You can order online and it’ll turn up in no time. Get it for $185 from allmusclecarparts.com.au
6. Red carpet treatment
We all know when it is time for new carpet underfoot in your toy the only place to head to is Tru-Fit carpets and vinyls. Their precut carpet to suit almost every brand and model is second to none. However, if you want to have a go at doing it yourself Tru-Fit also sells material off the roll. They call it ‘meterage off the rolls’ and you can get one metre wide loop pile plush and super plush pile carpet, as well as 1.8 metre, or six-foot in the old language, loop pile by the metre. Prices start at $35 per metre.
trufitauto.com.au
From Unique Cars #481, July 2023