This is a Holden Torana LX SS from 1976 that now benefits from a slew of upgrades including being retrofitted with the desirable A9X option, as well as a new engine and transmission.
The car is now producing 470 rwhp and 434 lb ft of torque. It has raced in two Targa tours at Mount Buller, it won the Retro Rally event at Wilby Park two years in a row, and it won its class at the Ultimate Street Car Challenge at Calder Park.
Fast Facts – The Holden Torana LX SS
- This 1976 Holden Torana LX SS features a 6.3 liter LS1 V8 engine and a retrofitted A9X package, delivering 470 rwhp. With its powerful upgrades, it has a successful race history, including wins at Wilby Park’s Retro Rally and a class victory at Calder Park’s Ultimate Street Car Challenge.
- The Holden Torana, initially introduced by Holden in 1967, evolved into a high-performance icon in Australian motorsport with models like the GTR XU-1 and the LX, which won major events like the 1978 and 1979 Bathurst 1000. The LX Torana’s racing success solidified its legendary status.
- This modified Torana includes a Tremec T56 Magnum 6-speed manual transmission, Koni shocks, and TCM-spec 304x32mm Vari Racing brakes, all mounted on custom 15-inch forged wheels. It also boasts a 9-inch rear end with a 4.11 ratio and a Truetrac differential for enhanced performance.
- Currently for sale on Collecting Cars out of Melbourne, Australia, this Torana was featured in Street Machine magazine and represents a unique, race-ready example of Holden’s classic with modern power and handling enhancements, reflecting its owner’s commitment to performance and history.
The Holden Torana
In the 1960s the diminutive British Mini Cooper had taken to race tracks and rally stages around the world to show the world that a small, lightweight car could outperform much larger, more powerful machinery.
The Holden Torana could be ordered in a number of different versions, from a simple inline-four community car to a fire-breathing V8 touring car championship winner. Image courtesy of General Motors Holden.
In the late 1960s when Holden, an Australian automaker and subsidiary of General Motors, needed a new more affordable family car they made the unusual decision to go against the grain and create something smaller and lighter.
They took the preexisting Vauxhall Viva HB and essentially created a face-lifted version of the car that they would release in 1967 as the Holden Torana HB. This would be succeeded by the LC Torana in 1979, and this is where things began to get interesting.
It would be the LC-series Torana that really put the model on the map, specifically it would be the performance versions that began with the Torana GTR, then hit their stride with the lightning-fast LC GTR XU-1.
Due to the GTR XU-1’s low curb weight of 1,030 kgs (2,270 lbs) and its decent power output (for the time) of 160 bhp and 190 lb ft of torque, the car proved to be a genuine contender on track against the much larger, more powerful, and 400 kg (882 lb) heavier Ford XY Falcon GT-HO.
Various Torana models followed the LC, including the LJ which took the baton and ran with it, going so far as to win the 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 with Peter Brock at the wheel finishing well ahead of its more powerful rivals – the Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III and Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49.
Above Video: This is the last lap of the 1979 Hardie Ferodo (Bathurst) 1000 where legendary Australian racing driver Peter Brock would win by over 6 laps – a record that still stands today. He set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap just to show he could.
The Holden Torana LX Arrives
The LX Torana would debut in 1976 with updated styling and the optional A9X performance package that was designed to homologate a series of features for touring car racing, including a reverse-facing hood scoop, rear disc brakes, heavy-duty axles, and a heavy-duty 10 bolt differential.
The LX version of the Torana would go on to win the 1978 and 1979 Australian Touring Car Championships as well as the 1978 and 1979 Bathurst 1000s, forever cementing its place in Australian motor racing history.
The LX would leave production in 1978 and the Torana family would no longer be produced after 1980. News broke in mid-2014 that the LX Torana was going to make an unlikely comeback, though not as an official Holden model, as Holden had ceased to exist in 2020.
Andrew South, the founder of Drive South based in Queensland, Australia, has developed a new version of the LX with an aluminum unibody chassis, a lightweight fiberglass body, and an entirely modern drivetrain headed up by a 6.3 liter LS3 V8 sourced from Chevrolet. The company expects to produce 100 units a year.
This car is now powered by a 6.3 liter LS1 V8 fitted with individual throttle bodies and a stack of aftermarket parts making it vastly quicker than the original.
The Modified Holden Torana LX SS Shown Here
The car you see here is a Holden Torana LX SS with a series of significant upgrades that ensure it’s now much faster than it ever would have been from the factory.
The car has been given a retrofitted A9X option package, including that prominent hood scoop, but it’s what is under the hood that provides the largest performance boost.
The car is now powered by a 6.3 liter LS1 V8 fitted with individual throttle bodies, Manley Performance conrods, Hi Comp CP pistons with valve reliefs, titanium valve springs, a Nathan Higgins camshaft 246/264, an RHD Engineering inlet manifold, and an aftermarket exhaust with Tri-Y headers.
Power is sent back through a 6-speed Tremec T56 Magnum close-ratio manual transmission, a 9-inch rear end with a 4.11 ratio and a Detroit Truetrac centre differential fitted with a stealth gear set built by Aikman Engineering.
The interior of the car has a few upgrades including a roll cage, upgraded seats, and a 6-speed manual shifter in place of the 4-speed original.
It rides on Koni shock absorbers and upgraded springs and stopping power is provided by TCM-specification 304x32mm Vari Racing brakes – the largest that could fit inside the custom 15-inch forged SS wheels.
The car is now being offered for sale out of Melbourne, Australia on Collecting Cars and you can visit the listing here. It was featured in the June 2023 issue of Street Machine magazine and it was last serviced in November 2024 at Melbourne Performance Centre.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
