A GROUP C Holden Torana XU-1 raced by the great Bob Morris for patron Ron Hodgson in the 1970s is one of the latest Aussie muscle car classics to come onto the market.
Currently being auctioned by Graysonline, the unrestored six-cylinder Torana LJ GTR XU-1 was raced by Morris and finished runner-up to Peter Brock in the 1974 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Morris first raced the car in the 1973 South Pacific Touring Car Series round at Warwick Farm and it became his regular race car for the following two seasons, including racing was a regular in the Sun-7 Series at Amaroo up against the likes of Colin Bond’s HDT XU-1.
Morris also raced the car in the Sydney rounds of the ‘73 Australian Touring Car Championship, finishing fourth at Oran Park and second in the final round at Warwick Farm three weeks later.
The Morris XU-1 competed in the Bathurst 1000 twice – in 1973 and 1974 with John Leffler co-driving both times – though engine dramas took them out on both occasions.
The arrival of the V8-powered SLR/5000 and its L34 variant failed to sway Morris for ’74, who instead elected to stick with his well-sorted XU-1 package rather than move to one of the unsorted new cars.
If you’re a Bob Morris or Torana XU-1, you can’t miss out on our new ‘Racing the Lion’ illustrated history of Holden in motorsport, 400-page hardcover book that will feature an entire chapter devoted to Torana XU-1 photos and celebrates Morris’ 1976 Bathurst win and his 1979 Australian Touring Car Championship win.
Don’t miss out and pre-order it now here!
The Sydney privateer ran the XU-1 through the 1974 ATCC, grabbing five podium finishes on his way to second in the points. He also ran it in the Sun-7 Series and had another year-long tussle with Bond and he and Leffler finished second to Allan Moffat’s Falcon in the ’74 Sandown 250 in the car.
Morris moved on to a V8-powered L34 Torana in 1975 and his XU-1 was sold to privateer Ray Lintott. The car eventually spent many years in the Bowden Family collection in Queensland and Morris was reunited with it on-track at the 1999 Sensational Adelaide 500.
At last glance the auction for the unrestored car was up to just over $169,000 with the reserve price yet to be reached. The auction is due to close tomorrow evening (Tuesday June 30).
MONARO SALE UPDATE
Also in Holden race car news, the first Holden Dealer Team Monaro GTS 350 that competed in the 1969 Sandown 3 Hour was sold over the weekend via Lloyds Auctions.
The auction house reported a sale price of $715,000 to an unnamed private collector after touting a sale price before the auction of $1 million.
