Australian Muscle Car

Australian Muscle Car is a fresh, proudly Australian publication dedicated to preserving the legend of the unique ‘Australian made’ Ford vs Holden muscle car heritage. From 1960s classic Bathurst muscle to the super sophisticated Falcon and Commodore performance cars of the new millennium and everything in between.

Steve Normoyle

Australian Muscle Car

Bargains galore in Moffat fire sale

VALE – JOHN BRYSON

Auction update

An ill wind blows…

AMC BEST LETTER

Second coming • More than half a century after the one and only Formula 5000 appearance, big V8 openwheelers returned to Mount Panorama last December. The new S5000s were spectacular and they were fast – despite the efforts of motorsport authorities to nobble the performance of these Ford Mustang-powered cars.

The old and the new • From a driver’s perspective, what’s the difference between a 1970s Formula 5000 and the current-day S5000s? For the answer to that question, there’s only one man to ask.

What have been... • In 1976, two Lola Formula 5000s were let loose on Mount Panorama in front of a select group of business leaders, politicians and journalists, and a triple Formula 1 World Champion. And the reason why? Bathurst was aspiring to hold a World Championship Formula 1 Grand Prix at the famed circuit.

EL GT Building a legend • It’s 25 years – almost to the very day – since the first Falcon EL GTs rolled off the assembly line. To celebrate the EL GT’s quarter-century birthday, AMC presents these never-before-published photographs revealing the process Tickford underwent in building these cars.

Still red versus blue post-2022 • In an unexpected move, General Motors has joined Ford in overtly backing the next era of Australian touring car racing. Mark Mathot reports on the surprise announcement of Chevrolet Racing at the Bathurst 1000, and reactions to the unveiling of the Gen3 race cars.

The violet crowd puller • It’s finished in a very distinctive violet colour, has a white half-vinyl ‘Continental’ roof, and is the only one of its kind ever built. It’s Shannon Marshall’s ‘Kwikasair’ XB Fairmont GS 351, and as a one-off factory-built car it’s one of the very rarest of all Ford Falcon variants.

Endurance man • Faced with the type of adversity Mal Rose has had to enduro throughout much his career, most other drivers would have simply given up. But Rose never stopped believing, and though ultimate success in touring car racing eluded him, he has endured in the sport for more than 30 years, in a career that’s yielded its share of successes in a variety of categories, championships and races – including no less than the famed Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Q and A

HDT’s Hallowed Ground • When Holden fan Gary Clarke learned that the original Harry Firth Holden Dealer Team premises were about to be demolished, he vowed that the building would not meet its demise without a fitting tribute.

The General’s forgotten men • Holden’s involvement in motorsport did not start with Harry Firth’s Holden Dealer Team in 1969 – or with the previous year’s David McKay-run Holden Dealer Racing Team at Bathurst. It didn’t even start at Bathurst – rather, it began out in the forests, years earlier, with factory ‘Holden dealer’ backing of some of the top rally drivers of the day. In Victoria these were names like Bob Watson and Tony Roberts; in NSW it was the Garard brothers. Even though the Garards enjoyed much success over a long period, and it was Greg Garard who delivered Holden its first rally championship success, today very little is known about these Holden rally pioneers – who vanished from the rally scene in 1969 almost without a trace.

The forgotten hot Holden

Slot car addiction • This year at Bathurst, I was up the top of the Mountain at the end of a practice day when...