Australian Muscle Car takes on American Muscle Cars. 1971 Ford GT Falcon vs 60's Camaro and Mustang.

Aussie race driver Darren Smith behind the wheel of his 351 Cleveland powered historic road racer takes on some American Muscle cars at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia. The 1971 XY GTHO Falcon was one of Ford's and Australia's most iconic Muscle Cars of the period. Today's Group Nc Historic category emulates Australia's Improved Touring Car category of the 60s and 70s, and also includes American derived cars similar to those raced in the USA Trans-Am series during the same period.

[@ozbusa]

Well, that just made my day finding this. I could watch this all day. Sorry all the new supertech stuff, but this is racing. This is what it's all about. Working the clutch and the H pattern box. Absolutely love it.

[@jazpanoz4996]

Otta Fish @ not to mention wrestling the steering lol epic workout 💪

[@walthammond6816]

This guy can drive!

[@greygolem]

And watching the shaker kick during gear change. Ah!

[@crazyhorse2995]

Damn straight.🤘

[@BadApe351]

If only he'd got a better start. But the way he hunted them down goes to show what an awesome package the mighty GTHO was - even up against the best the USA had to offer at the time..

[@choppaster]

looking at that it is as much driver skill as power

[@chrismoody1342]

I’m here in Kansas, middle of USA and know ever inch of Phillips Island track. Just love the flow of this track. Especially the charge downhill between turns 2 and 4. Ahh....what I would do to drive around it in real life with howling V8.

[@dennisdobin8640]

No better sound ,than a screaming ford v8, and that from and old Holden fan.

[@savvasperisanidis]

And from a Fordian nothing like the belch of a v8 holden. Lest we forget

[@alanhill4338]

Wow, after a not so good start he "slowly" worked his way through the pack. I was hardly able to sit still watching him work his magic. 👍

[@jefflundquist5771]

That Aussie 1971 Ford GT Falcon really shined in the long straights. Not too shabby in the corners either!

[@greygolem]

If you watch carefully, he makes some serious ground on brakes and corner entry.

[@3800TURBO]

Balls of steel. These classics cost as much as a house and they beat on them.

[@dennisjackson3531]

I have always thought that i would like to drive a race car but after seeing this , I can honestly say my balls are not that steely

[@tcfordhotmailcom]

Philip Island. What a great track! GTHO Falcon. What a great soundtrack! Bloke grew a big set of nuts and drove the arse off the big Falc after dudding the start. Cool vid.

[@RiverSanguine]

I miss my GT and I am really trying to be environmentally friendly and everything but my lotto plans still start with a car wish list. 1) XW 2)XC etc etc 351 toploader and plant 30,000 tress just to ease the guilt .....

[@peterharris38]

This was real racing, muscle car no extras and gritty determination. And the grunt on acceleration oh yeah 😊

[@ckelley63]

You Aussies are some serious driver's!

[@01Z06guy]

Much more fun to watch than anything modern.

[@dennisdobin8640]

Go and check out the old mini's racing in the classic races in England,now that racing.

[@darylclifford]

My Sister had a blue GTHO! I used to watch that air intake “Shake” when the engine was loading or unloading power during gear changes !! It was a sight to see then as much as now ❤️👀🦘👍🇦🇺

[@pub6023]

Great video, he was busier than a one armed taxi driver with crabs!

[@ellieprice3396]

Or, a one legged man in a a...s kicking contest. From America, great video.

[@danniielle]

That comment absolutely cracked me up! Gold!! 😁

[@alanchurch2203]

the shaker doing its dance... MMMmmmmm

[@davidmacfadyen165]

I just have to say it's AMAZING all the people who wouldn't let this guy through, i surely could not be the only who would notice this, says alot about the horses in a 351. Still was nice to watch though

[@paulsontag9233]

The red car early and later that blue car was being a dick.

[@davehad-enough2369]

Hey good to see that "shaker" doing it's thing in the bonnet. That driver was fearless under brakes ... that was his style. A XUI in the mix would have been interesting on the corners and under brakes.

[@mikldude9376]

I was about to get some shut eye with a few tubes to unwind beforehand and stumbled on this clip , nice effort by the driver , and the mighty XY just music to the ears ,and puts a big smile on the dial ...... thanks for posting .

[@anthonybrennan1075]

Thanks Glenn! This really shows how much hard work these old steeds are. Oversteer....understeer.....oversteer.....understeer. Awesome to watch. I'm wondering what Darren was upset about at the end though?

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Yes, they're a handful! I think he was super angry that he missed the start and let them get away.

[@stevegrydzyn6038]

@Anthony Brennan. He did have a bad start, otherwise he would have been much closer.

[@briandurham7356]

Like watching that hood scoop Rock in the hood

[@MrFordpower]

What an awsome sound.🥰🥰

[@simonhendry1]

Spud gets a little animated at the end. That xy of his does sound bloody good.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

simonhendry1 I think he was pretty annoyed with himself for letting them get away on the start.

[@savvasperisanidis]

The driver of this car has balls of steel and the skill of the Gods

[@MrMotorNerd]

He is taking some lovely lines through most of the corners .A little shortshifting too after MG .

[@kimbo3068]

That 351 Clevo sure has Balls!

[@Antechynus]

Great track, great car, great driver. Awesome.👍

[@huskypilot6305]

Watching that shaker live up to it’s name brought back memories from my childhood. My dad drove like a cop even when he wasn’t on duty

[@Dags470]

When the machinery is fairly evenly matched, the size of the drivers balls means everything. 🤣

[@axeman.982]

XY GT HO ,World's fastest 4 door saloon car 1971..👌🍻👍

[@savvasperisanidis]

There's a few GTs in this race. Im amazed how gutsy the race car drivers are to drive these full on knowing they worth as much as a house today wow

[@martinellul1604]

I have done a few sprints at Pi in my XW, so much fun and workout on the arms for sure, love this video, these cars sure do slide around alot on those hoosiers 😍

[@derekpierkowski7641]

Nice of you to let everyone go first!!!!🖖🤣 I'm throughly IMPRESSED!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@hobamasucs]

"351 CLEVELAND " is an American V8 engine ! Not so much a True Muscle Car Engine but still it is an "American" Performance V8 from FORD ! "FORD" an AMERICAN car company , that makes the 351 CLEVELAND engine ,you Aussies are so proud of, for some reason !

[@JJbrown3692]

Time and money is all it needs..be awesome to see when finished..pure legend,,super Roo shaker.. XY phrase 3..

[@bubblesbubbles8978]

Friggn awesome Darren and Glenn

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Glad you liked it!

[@Ekka007]

Awesome drive, brut stuff..... spectacular to watch and the sound was distinct

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@peterhoulis1184]

Made in Australia

[@sheridenboord7853]

That was a nice drive. Kept it within his means. Yielded to other cars rather than crunch. Didn't look like he was out of his depth anywhere. Looked like he could do it all day long.

[@aceventura5398]

The GTHO was considered a big car back in its day. Today it's like a medium popcorn.

[@abbeyhall4624]

Nice driving Darren.

[@donkinzett3961]

Awesome once the old girl got warmed up

[@darinhodge8015]

Only an awsome driver could handle the gt falcon around a race track top drive man

[@damionneranginui6546]

I love watching 2 HOs picking a fight.

[@robertmoir7272]

Awesome, a couple of laps tyre temp heat sync brakes, then the racer got in the groove well done. Ps do another TV motor show .

[@paulsontag9233]

He was killing them in the braking zones.

[@dredrotten]

He sure was confident in those brakes, in fact, it was as if he became part of the car!

[@jim-qy1mn]

Hitting those apexes boy, only thing I seen needs tweaking is the suspension as there is body roll, and the tyres need bigger rubber maybe brakes as well then you have a super car... that engine sounds strong. driver was nailing towards the end starting to get right in the groove well done 👌

[@rono3045]

Cleve baby Cleve..roll on

[@BenMitro]

What a great POV - next to the driver - brilliant. (Also, yes the patriotism gene struck hard).

[@theearthrexden]

The best car Australia’s ever made

[@Rassskle]

Like most of us, he couldn’t drive the beast...... made a fast car look so slow for the first 2 laps. The GTHO’s were big, bulky, heavy 4 door family cars with massive race engineered HP. He was steering via the steering wheel..... so slow. To be quick in a HO you had to steer via the GO pedal ( accelerator ) and use the wheel to keep the car balanced. Alan Moffat and John Goss were the only 2 who had the talent to master this technique and be really quick.

[@MickH60]

Rubbish, you know NOTHING about the driver, he's better than you'll ever be Mr internet hero....FFS...

[@gardegnome69]

Too many slow cars keeping the big girl behind... 😩

[@captaindaddy8645]

Woah......that was intense

[@lynettekent9712]

Awsum start! 😁

[@jamest4424]

Well done 👏

[@warrenjones3408]

Sweetest noise ever made V8 iron block

[@paulvincentyensonmusic]

Cool video dude!

[@DirtTherapyDownUnder]

Talk about taming the beast.................

[@robertsaidel6707]

outstanding 👌👌👌👍👍👍

[@bobuncle8704]

That should have been a first pace run. There were 3 or 4 cars that continually cut him off corner after corner. If it weren’t for that he’d have won the race.

[@0utcastAussie]

That's called Racing. If you don't want to get involved in that then make a better start !

[@michaelcudby787]

It wasnt so much the corners, that were the issue, it was the straights that those fu...wits kept blocking him. Corners are a different kettle of fish.

[@montinaladine3264]

Wow, very thrilling 10 minutes in the passenger seat - ! Never realised how fast these cars actually go until you "feel" it like this. It looks like this car was slower than most of the others in acceleration (off the line, as I saw it) but had a higher top speed than most, would that be correct? He seemed to need to overtake a lot of them. Also it seemed to me that the steering linkage was not that direct- looked like a lot of play in it, lots of wheel movements needed all the time, is that normal? If the steering is too precise and direct, does that mean too much potential danger for losing control?

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Great question! He got a bad start and lost some ground, so he had to chase them down. It's a fine line, sometimes you get either too much wheel spin or you can even bog down. In a perfect world you get excellent acceleration and traction every time on the start, but there's no such thing as a perfect world. :-). The steering in these old cars is a lot different to modern race cars, the ratio's are slower, there is also a lot more compliance in the mechanical element and also the old school race tyres.

[@Golden-dog88]

woulda been better if it was Australia’s Little muscle car the Torana that little beast packed the heart of a monster

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

Then you’ll love this. 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/maevaHp3hZmfrcksi=rDyUK3_4uAzYeOnp

[@Danger_mouse]

It's an evil handling mess on the turns eh 🙂 Plenty of poke on the straights 👍

[@JohnLee-mq4hk]

Its hard work for a driver to race and control that car.

[@robertmcfarlane3598]

Nothing can beat the super roo Australian muscle is the best

[@jackbiviano5048]

XY diff ratio is too tall designed for Bathurst the other USA cars are more like 3.5 to 1 . So they take off faster . That package made for conrod straight .

[@timothydoult6025]

sweet as bro

[@philkelly8031]

Great drive just a bad start thenbeing blocked you had the speed that's for shore.

[@davidb0126a]

Hey, I'm an American, but an Aussie fan too. Australian muscle? The Falcon is probably built there in Australia but you're running a LOT of American parts. That shaker hood scoop originally appeared on 69/70 Mustangs, the 351W he's probably running was developed here (yeah, I know, it's built in Canada, but it is just over the boarder you know 😀). I'm not real familiar with the Australian Falcon but I'm sure there are many, many other American or American developed parts. I'd be willing to bet that everything but the sheet metal is based on the 69/70 or 71-73 Mustang and/or Torino. So, I guess it's really American muscle against American muscle with Aussie drivers. Great video though. Loved the first person aspect of it. 👍👍

[@dennisdobin8640]

The Falcon was basically and American 4 door sedan and your right most of the part are of American origin and where inter changeable with your basic American ford muscle car.That particular car the xy gt ho was famously associated with a driver named Allan Moffat,an other product from across your border Canada. That particular car was rated the fastest 4 door production car in the world when it was produced. David check out the next few model of the Falcon race car they where coups,great looking car.

[@davidb0126a]

@@dennisdobin8640 Yeah, I have looked at the later models. I agree, they do look good. We're watching the Aussie TV series Mcleod's Daughters. There's a Falcon GT in one of the episodes and I immediately recognized the shaker hood scoop. That's what led me to researching the Falcon. Kinda makes me think what Ford might have done here in an alternate universe. 😃 Totally off the subject, but check out the old videos of a '39 Chevy coupe I used to have about 10 years ago. kzbin.info/door/UZZ81nVjaZKN3mvnefwO1Q

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

100% Correct and we're the first to admit and be proud of the US connection. All our DNA and in most cases design elements came from Detroit. :-)

[@davidb0126a]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines You know, with how crazy it is here in the US, Detroit is about as far away from us (I'm from Alabama) as it is from you. Maybe I should move to Australia. You think I'm kidding, but I don't know...

[@randomdude4669]

It's because it's ford they re use everything the only differences came later but even still they were diffrent, the xb or xa was never a carbon copy it had very diffrent styling and massive rear wheel wells for bathurst and better handling for our roads compared to mustangs of that year, definetly wouldn't call it american

[@rodneycroft5889]

Not enough long straights for the GTHO F 3 to out top speed them. If there was, it would be over after two or three laps. Speaking from a man who owned a GTS350, 4 barrel carb with Munster gear box an LSD. I had a mate that had one of these, and on the straights, I never stood a chance.

[@seanyuke3249]

How good is that? Feeding her the fat, braking way later than he has any right to. Great to watch. (and hear)

[@peterlee6745]

A Bit Slow at The Start Cost Him

[@dennisdobin8640]

Tyres may have been colder the the Mustangs?

[@nicholasaird8420]

Alway has been and always we be the sexiest ford ever made 😍

[@nickbotica5098]

mmmmmmmmm. mm perfection.

[@mattblack9344]

Whats the hp and pound torque of these classic beasts.?Cheers, looks like fun. Go Aussie.

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

I know this particular car makes around 550hp from its 351C. Not sure on torque though. Thanks for watching. 😊👍

[@noname75737]

@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines what was done to it to get those numbers?

[@iamthebroker]

Does anyone know if the yellow Camaro is Adam Bressington?

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

No, Adam is a friend of mine though. This car is a Group Nc example, raced here by Angelo Taranto.

[@iamthebroker]

Glenn Everitt - Master of Machines I also know Adam well👍🏻

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

iamthebroker , Adam’s an awesome guy and a great driver. I’m actually contracted to the naming rights sponsor of the TCM series as their event representative. It’s an awesome series.

[@davidmilledge221]

Gee a few more laps he would have gotten them he's good at driving that old girl he proved something tho it blitzed all the other muscle cars he over took and gaining on the others up front , indurance racing them things were built for and they did prove it at Bathurst , go the Aussie muscle cars 👍

[@paulllacey1344]

Don't break, don't break🤞

[@leso204]

Arm fulls of oversteer/understeer thats a workout racing those GTHO's ..............

[@ericmeechglobalnetwork2273]

rad.

[@velocityjet1884]

If he had a good start off, he may have had a good chance of taking out the yanks

[@aspieotaku3580]

Not bad. Im American BTW.

[@mael-strom9707]

Thanks for all the fish... err V8's. 🤣😆😋

[@aspieotaku3580]

@@mael-strom9707 Fish are good too hehe.

[@arm_luvr1002]

Great start lol

[@aussie807]

waiting to see the Torana lap all of them😂

[@MickH60]

Didn't happen....

[@scottschmidt75]

What's the orange #66 car? Kinda looks like a Dodge?

[@GlennEverittMasterofMachines]

That 66 car is exactly the same type that you're riding onboard with. It's our Australian 1971 Ford XY GT-HO Falcon, in fact its a replica of the 300 that were homologated for racing here back in the day.

[@uncletoy774]

wow ok i can't tell but are you guys not wearing the Han's devise

[@Stolencamaro]

How Many hp?

[@jasonmcnamara2079]

XY looked better in the corners than the American muscle, its where he seemed to catch them up.

[@user-nb7qn4jr9c]

Hey kansas man you want to take a few laps around bathurst

[@doonsiedoo9doonsiedoo984]

Isn't the 351 Cleveland an American motor?

[@Wolfe351]

US design but was built at Ford's Aussie engine plant

[@bugsy1254]

Yeah, not a great start and then a couple of drivers forgetting deciding that it wasn't a race but a game of blocking the guy behind. No so professional.

[@johncunningham4820]

Muffed the Start badly . Oops .

[@werahikoclay5586]

Awesome beat those yank tanks

[@Tree30tree]

Missed the start!! Get the big girl into second!!

[@johnbiggins4864]

Never really legendary at anything except being an overweight BARGE.........slow as a snail......i love the looks....like most Ford's...it promises so much

[@discount8508]

move over Stig

[@ungurdani8346]

Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe . ..

[@aaronjohnson2344]

This is what bathurst should be like, no dickhead commentating

[@eddiepiecart6030]

Was the guy in the GT fighting for last place? Only about 10 cars overtook him m in the first minute.

[@rhettcorbett3346]

Aussie muscle all the way mate. Real men use the old school H patern. Ho Ho Ho & away we go. Ford Power. Aerodynamics of a brick. But friggen fast. Bring on Muscle Car Masters. This is what racing is about. Fishtailing, oversteer, understeer, bodyroll. Not these boring cars that look like they are on rails. .🥱🥱🥱.

[@petersajkic6749]

Ho's were top loader not h pattern

[@rhettcorbett3346]

@@petersajkic6749 Same thing.

[@petersajkic6749]

​@@rhettcorbett3346I agree much more involved in driving old skool manuals than modern cars.and I understand your idea...but top loaders definitely different than h pattern manuals.driven both top loaders definitely takes some getting used too

[@user-nb7qn4jr9c]

Put allan moffit in the car and see what happens

[@aspieotaku3580]

Camaro ss 396 be hard to beat.