page_title: Supercar scare
section_title: The cars
hierarchical_section_title: Supercar scare / The cars
caption_attribution_description: Prototype Bathurst race car. Hand built, seam-welded and blueprinted, producing almost 400HP. This car in particular has under 5000 miles on the clock and one of only 3 manufactured by Ford.
context_page_description: The Supercar scare was a national controversy that arose in Australia in 1972 in regard to the sale to the public of high performance "homologation special" versions of Australian-built passenger cars.
context_section_description: The proposed models were a 320 bhp (239 kW), 5.0 L V8-engined version of the Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1, the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase IV powered by a 400 bhp (298 kW) 5.8 L V8 engine, and an upgraded version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger fitted with a 300 bhp (224 kW) 4.3 L Hemi-6 engine.
  While testing the prototype Torana V8 in a Sports Sedan race at Bathurst during the Easter weekend in 1972, Holden Dealer Team (HDT) boss Harry Firth calculated that the car, driven by regular HDT driver Colin Bond, reached 272 km/h (169 mph) on the 2km long Conrod Straight. He also noted that the V8 was a regular road car engine (with minimal modifications) and not a blueprinted race engine. Firth ran the car in Sports Sedans (fitted with front and rear spoilers) in a successful attempt to disguise that the V8 Torana was intended to be raced in the Bathurst 500 later in the year. Firth also had team mechanic/driver Larry Perkins drive the Torana from Melbourne to Bathurst with instructions to "Go as fast as you can", with Firth in his hotted up Holden Monaro secretly following Perkins the entire way, and noting that the Torana was getting away from Firth while he was doing 125 mph (201 km/h). The entire journey to Bathurst was completed in a mere 4 hours and 33 minutes, a record that stands to this day. The team also ran their regular six-cylinder car in the Series Production races that weekend, giving Firth a valuable guide in how much faster the V8 engined car was compared to the six (the V8 lapped over 5 seconds faster), and how it would compare to the V8 powered Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase 3's. The V8 Torana was not only faster than the Phase 3's, but around 5 seconds per lap faster than the team's 6cyl XU-1 Torana driven by Peter Brock.
  Chrysler Australia tested V8-powered Valiants that "went like Hell" according to Ian (Pete) Geoghegan. Similarly powered vehicles in the United States were winning many races in the Trans-Am series. Two VH Valiant Chargers with 340ci engines, 4-speed manual transmissions, and heavy duty Chrysler-built rear axles were sighted briefly in a Melbourne dealership only days prior to the publishing of Evan Green's article; this pair had "disappeared" by the very next morning (Monday 26th).
caption: The Ford Falcon GTHO Phase IV was a casualty of the "Supercar scare"
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