Angry Little Holden Torana XU1 vs American Muscle at Sandown Raceway Australia!

A David and Goliath battle ensues at a past Historic Sandown event with gun racer Andrew Williams behind the wheel of his screaming 324 HP 202 inline Six-cylinder powered 1972 XU1 Holden Torana. Sandown is often said to replicate two drag strips with its lengthy front and back straights, favouring those cars with Cubic Inches on their side. Still, this little General Motors Holden Australia derived XU1 Torana gives the big banger Ford Mustangs something to think about. The XU1 was designed with racing in mind, an idea of the legendary Harry Firth (the Fox), head of the Holden Dealer Team, with gun pilots Colin Bond and Peter Brock driving them with utmost ferocity. In fact, the legendary Peter Brocks turning point in his early career and possibly his most iconic win against all odds was his victory in 1972 at Bathurst's Hardie Ferodo 500 against the might of Fords formidable GTHO, and the likes of Allan Moffat in conditions that suited these little giant-killers well. Peter Brock would go on to becomes the 'King of the Mountain', and the Brock legacy goes hand in hand with the XU1 Torana, through to the all-conquering V8 Powered A9X Torana in years to come.
Hope you enjoy this content we've pulled from the vault with these supercars of days gone by.

[@MC_AU]

I love it when he’s running up through the gears.... it’s still pulling hard at each change. I really miss my old LC GTR from the day.

[@bazzman7056]

Amen

[@adz929]

The 202 sounds fantastic 💪

[@01ajmc]

@Gus Johnson prius would be quicker

[@thudtheace]

Love the sound of those screaming inline 6-cylinders. Love that sound and love the sound of the hemi-6 as well.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Stay tuned for some Hemi Six onboard race content coming soon.

[@pete8163]

Best in car footage . That was great

[@geoffbroadbent7491]

More of this please Glen.

[@jgkk5862]

Great footage... little XU1 does well considering the long straights.. Strong little engine...

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

It'd have to be one of the fastest in the country, very highly strung engine too, on the limit. Good driver and it's fast!

[@jgkk5862]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Nice! 324hp is great for a 9 port red motor... Great power considering it'd be running a cast holden 9 port head... My last 9 port had a lot of work but would've been lucky to make 260hp.. my new 202 holden 6 made 352hp at the fly but using a JZED head- oh man I would love to race those mustangs with my Torana but it is more a show pony than full circuit deal!

[@jgkk5862]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hF64Z2SqjL6Uerc here is my 202 on the flywheel dyno

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

@@jgkk5862, mate that's a tough little engine! I met Joe from JZ at Sydney Dragway,had a look at his cars, he makes a great product. I come from a performance background, used to own a dyno shop. :-)

[@jgkk5862]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Yes the JZED heads are a great product... My engine is all in the head, really... Just a solid flat tappet cam, 252@50 cam and cheap headers... a few other mods like rod ratio change etc but pretty basic setup. Shows what a good head can do..

[@423FGFDFHFHV]

Totally left behind!

[@andrewperry605]

my favourite car. i wonder though, how did he qualify so high up the order if the others can pull away

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Sometimes you get a good run without traffic in qualifying, yet in a race scenario some of the bigger cars can hold you up corner speed-wise, but blast away out of the corners and on the straights with their bigger engines.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

A heap of cars behind him.

[@1972prem]

Good work Andy

[@MightyMick88]

Your on it Fletch.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

A well proven car and driver. Very succesfull and has been for a long while. Though the car was severely damaged at PI at the historic meeting this year [2020] and I suspect we will not see it for some time.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

LDN Wholesale , Andrew hooked into it straight away and has been been making good progress on the repairs, so hopefully it’ll get back out there sooner than later. I was standing on the fence directly opposite the accident.

[@Vokieeeee]

I was wondering about the Size of the Motor in the Torana ! Forgot about the 202 and was thinking 186 like I used to have in my Holden Premier Station Wagon which finally blew up and I fitted a 161 into it ! The Torana was having a real go at it with its Six Cylinder Motor compared to these Mustangs with their Vee 8’s ! I never owned a Torana , never had the Money to buy one ,lol ! Later on they had the Vee 8 Toranas that gave the Falcons and Mustangs a run for their Money ! Was great to watch whenever I could , all these other Australian Car Races but mainly just watched the Bathurst Race ! Used to watch Bathurst 500 with the Cooper Minis , long time ago ! Cannot remember what other Cars raced there but I think that Ford Cortinas raced then too ! Now of course , the Super V8’s for a lot of Years ! Are they now coming to an end too ? I did NOT like the American Mustangs racing instead of the Falcons against the Holdens in last Years Races ! No V8 Races anymore soon ? Cannot be bothered to then watch the New Generation Crap ? May as well just watch Formula E races with no Friggin Noise !

[@menoname3594]

Klaus, you might consider watching some historic f5000 races with Kiwis and Aussies and also the new S5000 category. Great cars, drivers and racing!

[@dennisdobin8640]

The only thing stopping the Torana from beating the mustangs,was Peter Brock,he wasn't in the Torana

[@polyanthemos]

I thought the Torana would have them in the corners. Not to be. 320 HP is nothing to sniff at coming from a 202 with a disgusting head design. Yet the V8’s would be putting out plenty more HP and torque. It did sound a little long legged but it depends on its rev limit.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Spot on. The red six design dates all the way back to 1948!

[@johnbrooks9523]

The Holden 6 head isn't so much the problem. As U can see, the heads can make 330BHP. The weak link in the "chain" is the block. You've got earth shattering explosions going on in 6 holes contained by a head bolted on above & a crankshaft bolted on below. This basicly blows the block apart along its length. The top half tries to split off from the bottom half. There's a row of walsh plug holes along the length of the block & a hard working race prepped Red Motor will eventually split/crack from front to back along the line of walsh plugs. We call this "Joining the Dots". The first sign of this occurring is coolant leaking from under the manifolding behind the extractors. The blocks never actually split in half. What happens is, the cracks elongate. coolant escapes, (these engines generate massive heat) & then the engine overheats part way through a race. This forces a rebuild into another block, which is expensive because many hours are invested in prepping a block to accept a serious roller cam, oversize valves which reach down into the cylinders and numerous other time consuming proceedures with oil galleries, physically larger roller cam followers, etc. Back in the early '70s when the "BIG" opposition only had barges like Falcons & Valiants with huge heavy caveman engines like Clevos & 265 "Hemis", which weren't hemis at all, we only needed 240BHP in a nicely set up Group C LJ to win big races. By the time LJs were permitted to run in Historic Group N (1992), a few billion had been invested in the US, England, NZ & Aust in making affordable after market Ford Windsor blocks, heads, cranks & crate motors, etc. Basicly, LJs with ancient 1970s blocks, heads & cranks are now up against megabuck, Nascar engined, kit car Mustangs & Camaros, etc. The fact that an LJ with its little old Holden 6 can occasionally catch & beat these highly developed US MuscleCars, especially on tight circuits in wet conditions is a gigantic credit to the the highly skilled, ingenious Aussie diehards that build & drive these ferocious little cars. The Holden 6 head is certainly a primitive chunk. But countless thousands of races in all forms of Aussie motorsport since the early 1950s have been won by Holden 6 powered cars of all shapes & sizes after very clever Aussies have applied their magic to 6 cylinder Holden heads. In 1970 two Queenslanders Ron Richards & Dennis Syrmis stuffed a 186 Holden into a Corolla. The 186 made a reliable 400HP. The Corolla ran 10 second quarter miles reliably & seamlessly. A lot of V8 powered dragcars were blown off the strip. We are all so very lucky that we can watch these amazing homegrown little budget rocketships go to war against big buck imported "sportscars" & scare the hell out of 'em. Call your friends, find your nearest race track, spend a weekend watching the Group N spectacular & have the time of your life... Real cars, real people, real racing & all that excitement comes dirt cheap for the spectators. Better still, get involved. Find your nearest Group N competitor & give them all the encouragement you can spare. Your typical Group N Torana, EH, FE, FC, FJ, ETC is usually family owned & built & housed in a suburban backyard garage. Their budgets are often tight. These people are filled with amazing stories of David & Goliath battles, close shaves, spectacular skirmishes & other ripping yarns. long live Group N!

[@polyanthemos]

John Brooks, i dont disagree basically with your post but the red head was of poor design regardless. Guide bosses in the middle of the port!!!

[@johnbrooks9523]

@@polyanthemos Oops. Those aren't "guide bosses", They're head bolt pillars. Big power gains are achieved by removing them completely & using Allen Head bolts recessed into the floor of the ports. U can quickly spot a serious engine when U see brass plugs have replaced the head bolts over the inlet ports. The Red Holden 6 is fairly economical, really strong & totally reliable as a standard engine. They have plenty of meat in their heads 2 permit reshaping for massive power gains. This is why a properly sorted 202 can make 330HP ON 98octane fuel naturally aspirated. The heads aren't a problem. The heads can make enough power & torque to overload the block. This is why I say: The block is the weakest link in the chain. Of course, any drone can get a 21st century overhead cam head to make twice as much power on 4 or more litres of engine. This is why drones love later model Falcons. Only a true genious can find ALL the HP the Holden 6 can deliver. Compared to the Falcon & Valiant engines of the '60s & early '70s with their totally ridiculous heads, dud manifolding, junk cam drives, bulk weight & excessive size, the Holden Red motor is a joy. The Holden engines were cheap, plentiful, responded well to modification & won thousands of motorsport events. Millions were produced, thousands of them have survived, they still win races & we love them. 6 cylinder Falcons & Valiants of the era were stupid junk then, didn't measure up & now they're fairly rare because we scrapped such rubbish. For every hundred Holden 6 powered racecars still in existance U'll B lucky to find one 6cyl Valiant & no 6cyl Falcons, simply because the Holden was at least a hundred times better than the other nonsensical junk available at the time. A good 6cyl Torana could outrace the best 6cyl Falcons & Valiants then & are still doing it now, regardless of the 3 pillars of easily removed cast iron in the inlet ports. You can get a Valiant 6 to make big power. But, they're bulky, heavy & it costs a fortune to get that power & then they blow up! Early Falcon sixes are joke. These R the reasons U can go see historic racing where 20 6banger Toranas are on the track & U might see one or two or no Valiants. The Tilleys in Sydney are legendary Valiant Gurus. They've raced Slants & Hemis for around 40 years. They have sunk countless thousands of hours & hundreds of thousands of $ into 6banger Vals. I've seen them haul all the way to Lakeside QLD & those boys are damn good. But over the years, for every race they've won, Holdens have won a hundred. History records that the resillient little Holden Red Motor is the winningest 6pack in Aust, regardless of the 3 pillars in their heads. These engines are not for apes or snowflakes. Cave people prefer big dumb caveman engines with huge ports & valves, etc because they're too primitive to do what it takes to raceprep a Holden. Wealthy types spend big money on imported US cult cars, whilst some meticulous clever people are having a great time hotting up affordable, humble Holdens & those little Holdens still drive away from most of their opposition no matter how big their engines or how much money has been spent. The heads do require many hours of careful attention to get maximum power. And that power is there just waiting to be unleashed in every Holden 6 head ever made. Even a Grey Motor head can make 160HP, naturally aspirated with only 7 piddly little ports. Even Grey motors have won more races throughout history than all the early Falcon & Valiant engines built before 1975 put together. So don't be thinking the old Holden head is a bad design. Because, compared to the other junk available at the time, the Holden was by far & away, the best. And they're still screaming around racetracks beating their opposition. You'd need a $150,000.oo XY or Charger to beat a $30,000.oo LJ even to this day. The Torana engine will go like stink for an entire season whilst the other 2 will usually either blow apart or require rebuilds after only a few races. Nothing has changed.

[@ruebenskedgwell9627]

What a ripper!

[@306champion]

Glenn, I'm a Holden bloke first but I also love the Mopar. Have you any footage from a Charger or Pacer? I love the old Torana but I'm not one eyed so to speak. The Pacers and Chargers just dont seem to get any coverage these days. Just asking mate.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

I'm with you and love Mopar too. Yes, we do plan to showcase some Pacer and Charger in car.

[@306champion]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines Thanks Mate, I look forward to it.

[@306champion]

@John Smith I realize that John but I had a lot of respect for them because they had a go in a large car with only a six cyl' and a three speed box (mostly I think). This is the stuff that made Bathurst so great to watch. I cant even remember if the ever got onto the podium but they had a good crack at it and they were Aussie built.

[@306champion]

@John Smith Have a good one mate. Just wondering if you're the J.S. that lives a few miles west of me? lol

[@306champion]

@John Smith Thats cool mate, I thought you might have been another rev head mate of mine, sorry.

[@MrBriza5731]

What motors are being used in those Mustangs? As They were not really pulling away!! That Torana is a little pocket rocket using a 202...

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

351W in one making mid to high 500’s and 302W and 289W in the others probably in the high 400’s range. The Torana is very light, so pretty healthy power to weight helps it.

[@MrBriza5731]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines OK thanks for the info..

[@gregross5993]

Pitty it was not raining Andy is great steerer in the wet. It's a pity that torana almost came to an end at the next meeting at Phillip Island. Hope you will have it all repared for next time Andy. Cheers@@MrBriza5731

[@jgkk5862]

Out of curiosity, how much hp are those mustangs making? What are the engine specs of the fords? Standard stoke 351s or can they stoke them? Cheers

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Standard stroke only with up to 0.060 oversized bore allowed for the Historic Group N rules. They’re all running Windsors depending on the year model ranging from 289 to 351 in the 69 making over 550hp in endurance trim during this period. There are limitations on certain engine components like cyl heads, and blocks. Internals are pretty much free.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

The 69 is a 351W. The rest are 289s

[@bobdobric6787]

I love how the Mustangs gallop away in top end

[@johnsweeney6072]

My first car an LC S built in vibrator drum brakes all round but she went hard still have a couple tucked away in the shed. One day

[@gregwilliams7434]

Another 40hp and he'd have em

[@glennmcc64]

Those stangs were locking a lot of brakes

[@applemuffin7253]

Good effort poor little torana just not enough grunt my god I hate fords !!

[@weldmachine]

The poor Six Cylinder just doesn't have the legs down the straights. Especially more difficult up against Ford Mustangs. Maybe try next time with a SLR 5000. That would be interesting against the Mustangs.

[@jpsabbey]

No contest 😏

[@sirrick59]

Not a very effective video to show how great the mighty 202 was - - every scene shows the yank-tanks pulling away as if the holden was tied back.

[@davidburne9477]

Agreed. I’d have thought the XU-1 would grab more distance in the tighter bits at each end of those v8-friendly straights, but it looks like the 8’s have pretty good brake packages too, certainly for the shorter races.

[@truthseeker8483]

Seems as though top gear is a little high...gets bogged down when changing into it.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

This track with its long straights requires a tall final drive, so it can accentuate the difference in ratio's, particularly with the regulations and limitations of having to use the 4 speed.

[@shoominati23]

Does this guy have ADHD or something? He changes the name of his show like every other year!

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

No I don't have ADHD. Name the last time I changed the name of my own show? I started my own show Man and Machine in 2013, and had to change the name 7 years later due to a conflicting trademark issue in the US.

[@01ajmc]

Don't know why people are raving about, this is not an original spec car. It would have more power and refinement than the 70's . Standard power was only about 120kw -130kw at flywheel. Race spec wasn't much more. Very over rated .

[@Greg-jn8cc]

Standard road car power yes but the HDT cars were up around the hp this is putting out. They were far from standard. In group Nc you are pretty much tied to the specs that they were run in the day. Some things are free and you can get a bit innovative but most things were tried back then. Pretty good to be pulling that power out of a 202 red motor imho, particularly when I think that they cannot run the later 12 port heads on them under the rules.

[@Greg-jn8cc]

@John Smith An XU1 that I know personally, that is running in historics, has a reliable 303bhp at the wheels. It is running the Siamese port head not the later 12 port. I have seen the dyno numbers on this car and that was on a hub dyno which is more accurate than the rolling road type. In the classes that give a lot more freedom in the rules that allow fancy heads and the like, close to 400 hp is not unknown.

[@Greg-jn8cc]

@John Smith Currently this engine has done almost a full season of races without a strip down. It has one more round to go and the car is lying second in the local championship with only a 7 litre Camaro in front of it. I would have to say that it is very reliable. Certainly no hand grenade. Revs to 7500. Engine builder would like to go to 8000 and is examining ways of getting there at the moment.

[@MC_AU]

Any six GTR or XU1 from the day was hardly ever stock. Always carbs & cams to help the upgrade.

[@Greg-jn8cc]

@John Smith BP 98 and Mobil 1 oil. The Bathurst cars were hardly stock XU1's. The one that Brock won in ran triple webers and other mods over a stock XU1. They reputedly had around 290hp at the wheels. The rules allowed for this. The Ford GTHO's were the same. They had so called Bathurst bits over and above the road car version. A good friend of mine worked as a young engineer for HDT at the time and knew what these little cars had done to them. Race teams play things close to their chests so the public don't always know the ins and outs behind the scenes.

[@saneman8147]

Try doing this with a REAL car. Totally meaningless virtual garbage!

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

What’s your idea of a real car?