In The Beginning

In 1979 GM dropped a bombshell by killing its motorsport program worldwide, but that didn’t stop Holden, according to John Harvey

- Mark Fogarty

THOSE WERE the days. A stripped body shell with extra seam welding, drop in competition mechanicals, bolt in a roll cage, paint and go racing. In simpler times, touring car racers were production-based, if still far from showroom stock. To aid the process, manufacturers made special, limited-volume models with performance parts that could be more easily modified for racing.

It’s called homologation, which is derived from the Greek homologeo, meaning approval. Homologation specials abound in motor sport history, but it is nearly three decades since The General produced Australia’s last race-bred road car.

A lull in the homologation wars enabled Holden to develop the Group C racing version of the original VB Commodore without producing a road-going racer. One was considered – a 350 Chev-engined beast – but it never went ahead due to a big change in the way Holden went racing from 1980 (see Inside Line, page 127).

Essentially, the Torana A9X racing mechanicals could be carried over. The A9X was at its peak in 1979, sweeping the Australian Touring Car Championship and endurance races, including the top eight places in the Bathurst 1000.

More impressively, Peter Brock and Jim Richards scored the most crushing victory in Bathurst history, leading every lap and winning by six laps. Just to rub it in, Brock – right arm resting on the door – set a new record on the last lap.

So the Commodore had a hard act to follow. Holden decreed that it was to be ready for racing in 1980 and then Holden Dealer Team manager John Sheppard cobbled together a test machine to begin trials in August. Sheppard had taken over the running of the factory-backed HDT in 1978 following the retirement of legendary team boss Harry Firth. Among his first initiatives was to bring Brock back into the team.