ITS colours instantly evoke memories of the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Torana A9X Hatchbacks in the late 1970s, but this A9X isn’t one of the former HDT race cars.
However the car – currently up for auction via Lloyds Auction as part of the UNREIL Collection of road and race cars – is indeed a former Group C touring car that rumbled its way around Mount Panorama at Bathurst.
A genuine LX Torana GMP&A body shell, it was one of Warren Cullen’s two hatchback touring cars he raced in the late 1970s.
SHOP NOW: Explore our range of motorsport books here
TOP 5 TORANA A9X MOMENTS: Do you agree with our list? Check it out here!
TCM RACER’S GRICE TORANA TRIBUTE: The hatchback inspired by the two-time Bathurst winner
Originally painted in Ford ‘Yellow Glow’, it’s understood the car was taken to Mount Panorama by Cullen’s team in 1978 and 1979.
The car was sold as a road-going vehicle after the end of its circuit racing career in touring car competition and went through a handful of private owners.
It was a regular sight in Victorian Hillclimb Championship events in the 1990s and into the 2000s with then-owner Steve Grinstead at the wheel.
With 133,384 kilometres showing on the odometer, the current photos of the A9X show it to be in the state that would appeal to a restoration expert who could bring it back to its period Group C specification and Bathurst livery.
Bidding for the Torana was at $51,000 at time of publication of this story, with the physical auction for this, and a range of other cars from the collection, kicking off at midday on Sunday January 29.
