Judith Durham and the Holden Torana GTR
The Seekers singer Judith Durham once lent her voice to a Holden commercial, and was paid in horsepower.
The lead singer of the iconic 1960s Australian folk music group The Seekers, Judith Durham, and high-performance Holdens feel as though they should be at opposite ends of any conversation, but in 1969 the stars, and Lion aligned.
In a commercial to promote the new LC Holden Torana models, Judith Durham sang a unique song, Breakaway, to showcase the new four- and six-cylinder compact cars.
This included the sports-oriented two-door LC Torana GTR, fitted with a 2.6-litre 93kW/202Nm six-cylinder engine, with twin Stromberg carburettors, four-speed manual transmission and ‘wide’ 5.5-inch rubber.
The GTR was priced from $2766 (equivalent to $36,100 today) and in 1969 was available in a choice of eight colours (Kashmir White, Monza Blue, Spanish Red, Sebring Orange, Daytona Bronze, Verdoro Green, Monaco Maroon and Platinum).
Durham’s vocals offered buyers to ‘choose a four, choose a six, right now, breakaway in a Torana’, with the singer also giving a spoken endorsement for the car and an encouragement to visit a Holden dealer ‘tomorrow’.
Rumour has it that Durham wasn’t paid in cash for her work, and was instead gifted a 1969 Holden Torana GTR as payment.
That car, reportedly in Monaco Maroon, was sold to racer Bryan Thomson who repainted it yellow and converted it to a sports sedan race car. Thomson went on to take a number of trophies in the GTR including a win against Peter Brock at Sandown in July 1973.
Thomson dropped the Holden six in place of a Chevrolet V8 to make the car more competitive. In 1973 he sold the car to Tasmanian racer Gene Cook and focussed on a V8-powered Volkswagen Type 3 Fastback!
Durham’s GTR was then painted black, nicknamed ‘The Lightweight Falcon’ and campaigned by Cook in the early 1970s. We’re not sure if the car still exists to this day.
The LC Torana was very successful for Holden, with 74,627 built between 1969 and 1972. A total of 6610 LC GTRs were made, with a barn-find original crossing the auction block late last year for $42,300.
As to what value Judith Durham’s car would have attracted if it remained a road car and not a racer will never be known.
Judith Durham passed away 5 August 2022 aged 79.
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