THE Holden Torana A9X that Peter Janson and Larry Perkins took to second place in the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst has been sold.
According to Australian Muscle Cars, who handled the sale, the V8 muscle car has been sold to a Torana collector for a price of $900,000.
Janson and Perkins finished second to the rampaging HDT A9X of Peter Brock and Jim Richards at Bathurst in ’79. Toranas filled the first eight positions in that race.
The podium finish was the second of three Bathurst podiums taken by Janson and Perkins. The duo finished third in 1977, second in 1979 and second in 1980.
Perkins went on to form Perkins Engineering in the years that followed, producing 50 racing Commodores and nearly 200 engines.
They’re all covered in our new book ‘Perkins Engineering, The Cars 1986-2008’, which is limited to just 2500 copies and available to pre-order here now.
The ex-Janson A9X isn’t the only Torana to attract plenty of attention lately, given the ex-Brock HDT four-door A9X Torana has also recently been placed up for sale, as reported by V8 Sleuth here.
A photo of the car at the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst appears in our book Racing the Lion: An Illustrated History of Holden in Australian Motorsport.
The hardcover collector’s book is currently on sale in the V8 Sleuth Bookshop – click HERE to secure your copy!
The Janson car that has just been sold began its life as one of two factory race car body shells built for Bob Forbes’ Le Mans 24 Hour project that was abandoned in early 1978.
Purchased by Janson, the A9X became his Bathurst challenger the following year. It finished third on debut in the Sandown 400 behind the Holden Dealer Team duo of Peter Brock and John Harvey and then finished runner-up in the 1000-kilometre race at Mount Panorama to Brock and Jim Richards, who crushed the field to win by six laps.
The Janson car was downspecced for the 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship and briefly appeared in Janson’s hands under the new Group C rules.
The car was later raced in hillclimbs and laid up for many years before being restored by Torana enthusiast Paul Kramer in Western Australia in the early 2000s to its 1979 Janson/Perkins livery and spec.
Peter Janson at the wheel of his Torana at the 1979 Hang Ten 400 at Sandown. Photo: an1images.com / Ian Smith. 
Peter Janson at Sandown in 1980 in the Torana, note the detuned spec with rear boot lid spoiler and bonnet scoop deleted. Photo: an1images.com / Ian Smith
