Motor racing has never since had such a public controversy, but more than 50 years ago it hit the headlines in remarkable circumstances.
What has since been termed the ‘Supercar Scare’ has been brewing for more than five years since the release of Ford’s XR GT and related to the performance of the latest offerings by Australia’s big three manufacturers in pursuit of Bathurst laurels.
An article by Evan Green to appear on the front page of titled ‘160 MPH Super Cars soon’ was the final straw in a bubbling concern from parliamentary and public figures.
Back in 1967, Ford launched the XR GT and won Bathurst, which was growing in prestige among manufacturers competing under the Group E Series Production regulations permitting limited modifications.
The XR GT caused a stir within the journalism circles, with Clyde Hodgins wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald a 115mph Falcon was on the way in March 1967 before a month later The Age in Victoria reported the new Falcon was to hit 120mph.
These two stories kickstarted a public campaign to local manufacturers General Motors-Holden, Chrysler and Ford to kerb the high road toll by not releasing these Supercars.
Holden in 1968 joined the XR GT by releasing the Monaro GTS 327 and won Bathurst via a privateer entry rather than the David McKay ‘factory supported’ effort.
General Motors had a ban on circuit racing globally, but Holden elected to go against this by providing support to a rally and dealer-backed team to ward off the suspicions of the parent company.
By 1970, the hype surrounding Bathurst led to the ABC’s Four Corners current affairs program highlighting the massive effort put in by the three manufacturers to win the race. Even this program bought to the attention of how these newly developed models were suited to one application – racing at Bathurst.
This included a rare, yet brief view of Harry Firth’s Auburn workshop where the Holden Dealer Team was preparing three Holden Torana GTR XU-1s for the race following a downsize from the Monaro.
Next was Chrysler, which rose the stakes when it dropped the Pacer and introduced the Hemi-6 Charger R/T in 1971.
Both Chrysler and Holden had minimal luck in 1970 and 1971 as Ford’s horsepower advantage shone through at the Mountain leading to the events of 1972.
Ford had put into development the Falcon GT-HO Phase IV based on the new XA shape, Firth completed testing of the V8 Torana in Sports Sedan racing, while the Hemi was out at Chrysler and a V8 in.
But all these exciting developments ended prior to Bathurst, with Green’s article quoting New South Wales Transport Minister Milton Morris describing these new developments as “bullets on wheels” and “if manufacturers are making these supercars available to the general public because this is a condition of eligibility for the Bathurst 500, then I think it is imperative that race organisers closely examine their rules.”
Green tried to douse these remarks by stating the new models were to be the best handling and safest available in Australia, but the programs ended very soon after the release of the article forcing much change in local motorsport.
In June 1972, it was confirmed by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport the Group E Series Production Touring Car category was to be retired and Group C was to be introduced allowing small modifications to be made.
A day after the CAMS statement, Holden announced the end of development for the V8 Torana. Ford confirmed the day after Holden its Phase IV was canned and Chrysler announced its complete pull out from motorsport.
As a result, all three manufacturers were represented by the older models and Peter Brock won his first of eight crowns at the Mountain following a wet race.
There was strong resentment for Green within motorsport circles particularly from Firth and Ford star Allan Moffat about the repercussions of the article.
Group C racing went onto enjoy a more than decade-long stint as racing became more and more bespoke compared to its production origins.
Of course, anyone can purchase a model variant now from the showroom and exceed the performance parameters set by each of the big three’s development models.