Aussie icons: Holden LC Torana | Drive Flashback
Jamming a homegrown six-cylinder engine under the bonnet of an otherwise humble mid-sizer turned out to be a stroke of genius by Holden.
Original article by Peter McKay published on Drive on 6 March 1999.
From humble beginnings in the Vauxhall workshop to its domination on the racetrack, the Torana, the first small Holden, was indeed a Cinderella story.
The original Torana, the HB, was basically a modified version of the Vauxhall Viva, (“Vauxhall” taken from the Latin vox – meaning “public” and haul – “to tow or carry”, which summed the model up pretty well). GM-H needed a winner and the LC was the answer.
Released in October 1969, the LC was an instant hit, thanks to an exceptional advertising campaign and its winning of Wheels magazine’s Car of the Year award.
When it was unleashed at Bathurst soon after, it thumped the Ford GTs, which for GM-H was the motoring equivalent of beating the Poms in cricket. The result – every hoon in Australia had to own a Torana.
Although the four-cylinder version still used the Vauxhall engine, it was the locally made six that hooked Australian drivers.
So popular was the LC that between 1969 and 1972, nearly 75,000 were sold. The pin-up model however, was the GTR-XU1. The Torana, with its famous 186 engine, reached 194kmh and covered a standing 400 metres in under 16 seconds. Ah, for the days before police radar.
Thus, the LC Torana entered Australian legendary status, much due to its advertising campaign as the model itself.
So, what happened next?
Time has not diminished the appeal of the Holden Torana which today enjoys near mythical status in the annals of Australian car culture.
The heroes of that myth, the XU-1 and later, the SLR 5000, continue to stir the loins of any hot-blooded petrol head, revered for their giant-killing abilities on the track, mainly in the hands of Peter Brock, as well as their aggressive countenance. A muscle car in sheep’s clothing.
In LC trim, slamming a six-cylinder engine under the bonnet of a medium-sized car turned out to be a stroke of genius by Holden, a genius reflected in the model’s sales figures.
Today, buyers can expect to pay around $30,000-$40,000 for a clean six-cylinder Torana S model while heroic XU-1 is now well into six figures.
What are your memories of the Holden LC Torana? Have you ever owned one? Do you currently own one? Let us know in the comments below.
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