The LC came with the choice of the two lower powered versions of the HB's 1200cc four; or with six cylinder engines of 2500cc, 2600cc (2850cc from July 1971) and 3050cc capacity.
The biggest of the six-cylinder motors was reserved for the top of the LC tree. The great GTR XU-1 was the brainchild of the HDT supremo, race driver Harry Firth, and features triple 1 1/2" Stomberg carb with sports air filters and a tuned inlet manifold. They feed into a worked cylinder head with a larger inlet and exhaust valves with V8 valvesprings. A high-lift carnshaft provides plenty of grunt and the old gas is sucked in by a two-inch exhaust system. A larger high-pressure radiator stops the engine blowing its top.
Helping keep 160 horsepower under control in this lightweight car are a limited-slip differential, wider front brake rotors, Monaro rear drum brakes, firmer suspension, an under car front spoiler and a big rear spoiler swooping over the tail of the bootlid. No less than 77 litres of fuel are carried to fuel the beast - the huge tank was mainly there to reduce the number of pitstops at Bathurst.
On the downside, the ride is pretty rough and the car understeers too much. Comfort and handling can both be improved by fiddling with both spring and shock absorber rates. The front seats aren't particularly comfortable.
Transmission choice in the LC four-cylinder is four speed floor manual or three speed trimatic auto with floor change. The sixes offer a three speed column manual, a four speed floor manual (opel until July 1971, Aussie M21 from then on) and a trimatic with either cloumn or floor change.
XU-1's are expensive. If you don't want to extend yourself why not go for the car which the XU-1 is based - the Torana GTR as they are about half the price. They were powered by a 2600cc engine until July 1971 and by a 2850 unit from then till the end of the LC.
Torana 82211 two-door four cylinder
Torana S 82411 two-door four cylinder
Torana Deluxe 82411 two-door four cylinder
Torana S 82469 four-door four cylinder
Torana Deluxe 82469 four-door four cylinder
Torana SL 82611 two-door four cylinder
Torana Deluxe 82811 two-door four cylinder
Torana Deluxe 82869 four-door four cylinder
Torana S 82311 two-door six cylinder
Torana S 82369 four-door six cylinder
Torana SL 82569 four-door six cylinder
Torana GTR 82911 two-door six cylinder
Torana XU-1 82911 two-door six cylinder
Holden VIN plate: attached to righthand side radiator panel assembly.
ADR compliance plate: attached to right-hand side of ledge under bonnet.
1600 and Deluxe released June 1971.
The models of Torana LC
Torana S .......................Sport
Torana SL......................Sports Luxury
Torana GTR...................Grand Touring Racing
Torana GTR XU-1.........Grand Touring Racing (Special version)
The engines for the LC Torana
138ci
Capacity / Displacement:138ci (2250cc)
6 cylinder inline OHV, castiron block/head
Bendix Stromberg single barrel downdraught carburettor.
Bore & Stroke: 3.125" (79.4mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power output: 95bhp (70.9kW) @ 4600rpm.
Torque: 120 lb/ft (162Nm) @ 1600rpm.
Compression ratio: 9.2:1
Max speed 95 mph
161ci
Capacity / Displacement: 161ci (2640cc).
6 cylinder inline OHV, castiron block/head
Bendix Stromberg single barrel downdraught carburettor
Bore & Stroke: 3.375" (85.7mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power output: 114bhp (85kW) @ 4400rpm.
Torque: 157 lb/ft (211.9Nm) @ 2000rpm.
Compression ratio: 9.2:1
Standing quarter mile 19 seconds
Max. speed 95 Mph
161s GTR $2778
Capacity / Displacement: 161ci (2640cc).
6 cylinder inline OHV, castiron block/head
Bendix Stromberg WW2 dual barrel downdraught carburettor with automatic choke.
Bore & Stroke: 3.375" (85.7mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power output: 125bhp (93.2kW) @ 4800rpm.
Torque: 150 lb/ft (202.5Nm) @ 2800rpm.
Compression ratio: 9.2:1
Standing quarter mile 17.2 seconds
Max. speed 105 Mph
9.5 imperial gallon fuel tank
Gearbox ratios
1st - 3.43 32mph (51km/h) max.
2nd - 2.16 56mph (56km/h) max.
3rd - 1.37 90mph (145km/h) max.
4th - 1.00 105mph (169km/h) max.
Final drive ratio
3.08:1 (LSD)
Quarter mile time 17.4sec
Camshaft Specifications GTR 161s
Inlet (No ramp)
Open 23�
Close 45�
Duration 240�
Lift .338" (8.58mm)
Exhaust
Open 50�
Close 10�
Duration 240�
Lift .338" (8.58mm)
Overlap 25�
186 XU-1 only
Capacity / Displacement: 186ci (3048cc)
6 cylinder inline OHV, castiron block/head
larger inlet & exhaust valves, V8 valve springs.
3 X Stromberg 1.5" 150cds single barrel sidedraft carburettors.
Bore & Stroke: 3.625" (92.1mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power output: 160bhp (119.36kW) @ 5200rpm.
Torque: 190 lb/ft (256.5Nm) @ 3600rpm.
Compression ratio: 10.05:1
Top speed 125mph (201km/h)
Quarter mile time of 16.0
0-100km/h time of 8.9sec.
Power to weight ratio of 147bhp/ton.
1st - 36mph (58km/h)
2nd - 58mph (93km/h)
3rd - 93mph (150km/h)
4th - 126mph (202km/h)
Camshaft Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Aug 1970
Inlet (No ramp)
Open 29�
Close 57�
Duration 266�
Lift .345" (8.76mm)
Exhaust
Open 64�
Close 24�
Duration 266�
Lift .345" (8.76mm)
Overlap 53�
186 XU-1 Bathurst
Capacity / Displacement: 186ci (3048cc).
6 cylinder inline OHV, castiron block/head
larger inlet & exhaust valves, V8 valve springs.
3 X Stromberg 1.5" 150cds single barrel sidedraft carburettors.
Bore & Stroke: 3.625" (92.1mm) X 3.00" (76.2mm).
Power output: 180bhp (134.2kW) @ 6000rpm.
Torque: 195 lb/ft (263.2Nm) @ 4200rpm.
Compression ratio: 10.05:1
Camshaft Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Bathurst Sept 1970
Inlet (No ramp)
Open 23�
Close 65�
Duration 268�
Lift .345" (8.76mm)
Exhaust
Open 58�
Close 30�
Duration 268�
Lift .345" (8.76mm)
Overlap 53�
Camshaft Specifications GTR XU-1 186 Bathurst Feb 1971
Inlet (No ramp)
Open 38�
Close 86�
Duration 304�
Lift .429" (10.89mm)
Exhaust
Open 77�
lose 46�
Duration 304�
Lift .429" (10.89mm)
Overlap 84�
Transmissions
The LC brought with it a new automatic that was unique in the way it could be 'held' in gear and so it could be useful on hills both up and down, this was called the Trimatic. The LC also came with both three speed column shift and four speed manual floor shifts although the four speed was an Opel unit and was not suitable for the extra power output.
-Four-cylinder; four-speed manual or three-speed automatic, all are floor change.
-Six-cylinder; three-speed manual column shift; three-speed manual floor shift (export only)
-XU1; four-speed manual floor shift; three-speed automatic floor or column shift.
Suspension
The LC Torana had a quality of ride and handling like no other Australian assembled car before it. This included independent front suspension with lower and upper ball joints as well as coil springs outside oil filled shock absorbers plus rack and pinion steering made it precise and controllable in almost any situation. The rear suspension for the the first time on a six cylinder comprised of a four link live axle setup, this setup used coil springs outside oil filled shock absorbers. The six cylinder models were heavier in the front cross member and differential than the four cylinder models.
Differential
The six cylinder models had a banjo differential with optional LSD (Limited Slip Differential) as an option for all ratios.
Ratios : 2.78, 3.08, 3.36, 3.55.
Brakes
The standard Torana six came with 9" twin servo four wheel drum brakes but with the option of 10" front disks with a power assisted booster on the S and SL. The GTR was fitted with front disks and booster as standard.
Wheels/Tyres
Standard fitment were 4.50JJ X 13" steel rims and cross-ply tires with centre hub caps.
The GTR's were fitted with 5.50JJ X 13" steel rims as standard and B70H13 red band high performance tires. The GTR rims could be optioned on any six cylinder Torana.
Interior
The seats were a little bouncy over and not up with the rest of handling package, they were still used to cars without direct steering and good handling. Two door models had a lever that had to be pushed which allowing the seat backs to fold forward. Vinyl was the normal for cars of the day however the GTR came with cloth inserts. The SL and GTR had slightly better in the design of there seats. The SL also had the option of a cloth on the front of the seats. A bench seat was available only on the four door Torana with column shift. Carpet was an option on the S, and standard on the SL. The S came with rubber floor mats. The GTR had the best looking interior even with it's six GTR badges.
Instrumentation
The instrument cluster came in any colour as long as it was black and had two large recessed circular gauges with the one on the left containing an analogue fuel level gauge, and warning lights for generator, oil pressure and water temperature. The gauge on the right hand side included a speedo which read to 100mph (160km/h), odometer, and high beam warning light.
GTR models came with the two large circular recesses (Tachometer and Speedo) and also with four small surrounding recesses ammeter, fuel gauge, oil pressure, water temperature.
Torana LC GTR
The heart of the XU-1 was the engine which included changes to the camshaft, a modified head with larger exhaust valves and valve springs, two barrel WW2 downdraft Stromberg carburettor . It had a cast iron twin branch exhaust manifold which fed into a single outlet exhaust system. A chrome rocker cover, chrome air filter which had cut-outs for higher air flow.
Torana LC GTR XU-1
What wins on Sunday sells on Monday
Harry Firth (ex Ford team manager) was employed by GM-H to build a Bathurst winning package but it must not be expensive to manufacture, with the Monaro it would need major work to get it handle and brake although it had the raw power of the 350 chev power alone was not enough to take the checkered flag.
So with a bit of a play around with after market and factory six cylinder bits and pieces Harry and his team of engineers started to develop the XU-1 even though GM world wide had a "no motor racing" policy. They covered this technicality by leaving any racing to the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) as they had been doing with the very successful Monaro's. Just the thought of a 186ci six cylinder car trying to match the 351ci V8's would have probably been laughed at by the white collars of the day but if they could just extract a bit more power it may be possible!
So with a very limited budget it was started because of course GM-H wasn't interested in motor racing. The first car was built early 1970 and raced in the sports sedan class by Anthony (Tony) Roberts under the guise of the HDT with a 186ci engine it had a small chamber blueprinted 161ci head to increase compression, and had triple Stromberg carburettors. GMH liked what they saw and with the price being $3148 the Torana GTR XU1 went on sale in 19th August 1970. With a weight of 1100 kgs, stiffened suspension, hot motor, rack and pinion steering it was not everyones favourite car to go cruising but if you decided to push this car to the upper limits then you would have a smile as wide as your face, as this car loved nothing better than to be thrashed down a winding country road. Don Holland proved they were on the right track to get a win at Bathurst with a first up third and a win in class c.
