Unique Cars Australia – September 2019

A9XTORANA

1977 - 1979 HOLDENTORANAA9X

SUSPENSION&

BRAKES

Holden’sRadial

TunedSuspensionis

a simplebutexcellent

design,providedthe

componentshaven’t

beenallowedto

deteriorate.Carsthat

don’ttravelfarcan

besufferingsagging

springsandcollapsed

bushings,withbody

rollatmoderate

corneringpaceand

nose-divingunder

brakes.Partsare

mostlycompatible

withotherToranas

andnotexpensive.

Theall-discbrakes

mightalsoneed

somewarmingsobe

cautiouswhentrying

outsomeoneelse’s

A9X.

BODY& CHASSIS

Firstlyconfirmthat

youarelookingata

genuineA9Xbody.

Backwhenthesecars

werenewishandnot

especiallyvaluablere-

shellingwasrelatively

easy.Howeverthe

shapeoftherear

floorwaschanged

toaccommodatethe

largerrearaxlehousing

andmiscreantsneeded

tocutoutandinsert

thereshapedfloor

pan if theyhad

one.Theverification

processwillalso

involvecheckingfor

rustandcrashrepairs

anddon’timaginethat

justbecausea caris

expensivethatit will

sufferfromneither.

Therecanalsobe

niggleslikerearhatch

supportsthatcollapse

ora damagedsealthat

sucksfumesintothe

cabin.Replacements

forcrackedflares

areavailable,asare

newgrillesandeven

bumperrubbingstrips.

ENGINE&

TRANSMISSION

Anenginenumber

thatagreeswiththe

car’sproduction

recordsis vitalto

achievingmaximum

money.However

theobligationof

preservinganoriginal

enginewillprove

costlyif it suffers

a majorfailureand

mustberepairednot

replaced.TheA9X

camestandardwith

anelectricfanwhich

needstobeworking

oncetheengineis

warm.Thefour-speed

M21transmission

wasadequatewhen

hitchedtoa standard

enginebutracecars

gottheoptionalT-10

four-speedandfor

motorsthathavebeen

tweakedtodeliver

extrapoweroneof

thesemakessense.

SM

AR

TBUYER

'S

T

RO

UB

LESHOO

TI

N

G

NUMBERBUILT: 405

( 3 05sedan,10 0hatch)

BODY: integratedbody/chassis

four-doorsedan

& t wo-doorcoupe

ENGINE:5048ccV8withoverhead

valvesandsinglecarburettor

POWER& TORQUE :164kW@

4 80 0rpm,4 0 6Nm@310 0rpm

PERFORMANCE:0-100km/h:

7.8seconds,0-4 0 0metres

15.9seconds

TRANSMISSION:

4-speedmanual

SUSPENSION:Independent

withcoilsprings,wishbones,

telescopicshockabsorbers&

anti-rollbar(f);liveaxlewith

semi-ellipticsprings,radiusrods,

telescopicshockabsorbers&

anti-rollbar(r)

BRAKES:disc(f)disc(r)with

powerassistance

TYRES:DR70H14radial

INTERIOR&

ELECTRICS

There’snota lotinside

anA9Xtofadeor

fallapartandwhat

thereis canbefound

atreasonableprices

in theafter-market.

Tosaveweight,

Holdenevenripped

outtheconsoleand

didn’tsupplya radio

howeverownersmay

havesubsequently

installedthem.The

standardseatsare

nasty,cheapthings

withskimpypadding

andweakframes

somakesurethey

arefitforuse.Look

alsofordashcracks

whichcanberepaired

if notcanyon-like.

Reproductiondoor

trimscostaround

$600perpairandseat

retrimkitsfrom$1000.

Recentlysightedwas

a pairofSSfront

buckets,restoredand

recoveredfora very

reasonable$1250.

Howevera pairofvery

goodoriginalswould

cost$2000.

local Shell servo owner, a keen weekend racer,

concocted a brew for me that was seven litres of

Shell Super petrol to one litre of Shell 115 racing

fuel. My favourite roads became music-off and

windows-down affairs.

The A9Xs all had issues. The common fault

was the clutch bolt which just wasn’t tough

enough to take the strain of the heavy-duty

clutch.It wouldsnapona gearchangesoyou

endedupinneutralgoingnowhere.Therewas

alsoa problemwiththehingessupportingthe

hatchback.

Thecarremainedwithmeformanyyears,

mileageeversogentlycrawlingup. I eventually

soldit toa buyerinWollongong.Theproceeds

fromthesalewereusedtobuymyfirsthouse.

Myloveforthesecarsovertheyearshasnever

waned.Theywerea terrificpieceofengineering.

A nimblelittlewarriorthatwipedthesmilesoff

theFordfans’facesatBathurst.Brocklovedit,

andafterhispassing,DickJohnsondrove 05 and

commentedonhowgoodit was.A bitdifferent

fromthestreetcarsadmittedly,butitsroots

werethesame.Evendrivingoneasa roadcar

youcouldn’thelpbutsmile.

(Our thanks to Muscle Car Stables in Sydney.)

“MY LOVE FOR THESE

CARS REMAINS”

VALUE

RANGE

TORANA A9X

HATCH

FAIR

$75,000

GOOD

$140,000

EXCELLENT

$225,000-plus

(Note: concours cars

will demand more)