Holden LX Torana A9X: Australia’s Best Overlooked Muscle Car

1977 Holden Torana SS with A9X package

I love Australia. It’s culture suggests some of the better things shared with America and England. And like those places it has its share of baggage that adds tension and a national flavor all it’s own. It’s automotive history also parallels developments in England and more specifically the U.S.  America is well known for its muscle car era of the ’60s, but Australia had it’s own infatuation with big V8s and rear live axle performance too.

Just like in The States, Australia produced variations of the muscle car theme, but Down Under they tended to lean towards the mid to smaller size.  We called them intermediates, but in Australia they were closer to compacts. Ask any average Joe in Denver or Durham to name an Australian car and they are likely to name Mad Max’s XB Falcon or maybe the Holden Monaro being that it was rebadged as a Pontiac GTO in The States for a few years or a Vauxhall in England. Almost absent from that short list would be the Torana – quite possible Australia’s best muscle car (sorry Monaro and Falcon fans).

The Torana which meant in Aboriginise “to fly” was Australian GM’s answer to cars like the Chevrolet Monza, Vega and Pontiac Sunbird. They shared a similar design language. That alone is enough to make one wonder if the Vega and Torana were somehow secretly linked in a deep corporate way. A Torana fan in the know might take such a comparison as an insult as the Vega, Sunbird and Monza in America were not the performance car the Torana (A9X) was (some versions of the Ford Maverick was closest in potential).  While compacts in America started out as penalty boxes, in Australia they were often the starting point for cut rate performance cars early on in their development. It might be argued that the event of the Cosworth Vega made GM’s global divisions more aware of the potential of marketing a smaller high-performance car (or at least stubborn Chevrolet division anyway).

While the Torana was based off the British Vauxhall Viva, it had more in common with Chevrolet’s Stateside Vega. The Torana remained close to American H-body cars in size and overall mission which meant that it was often overshadowed by the slightly larger more posh Monaro in Holden’s marketing. Generations of Toranas like many Australian cars are identified by a series of letter designations that cover generational changes.

Holden Torana LX (third generation)

By the Torana’s third generation, LX became it’s primary designation. Of these cars built from the mid to late ’70s, the hatchback coupes were arguably the most attractive. It’s proportions were very much like a cross between the Chevrolet Vega and Monza coupe with other shared GM design traits thrown in, mostly with Chevrolet and Vauxhall. The Torana was also available as an attractive if not homely four door sedan.

Performance variants of the Torana filled an important role in Australia, like Vegas and Mavericks did in America, it offered potentially muscle car performance in a smaller more affordable package which made the Torana a competitor to Holden’s own Monaro in many ways. An LX Torana was never really supposed to be a true performance car, but became so with a series of performance enhancements usually noted with letters like SL/R or SS attached to the name.

’77 Holden Torana SLR 5000 Sedan

Those cars with V6 power became would-be V8 killers at their best, but the Torana entered the big leagues when cylinder count went up by two and the suffix A9X was added. Technically speaking a high performance Torana might read like this: Holden Torana LX SL/R 5000 A9X. That’s a long name, but the A9X might reach highway speeds before you could say it’s full name designation. It represents Holden’s racing heritage for the street at it’s best.

The Torana was one of the few cars developed to carry everything from a inline four cylinder up to big V8 power. In its sportiest guise as a rear wheel drive car with a 5.0L V8 stuffed up front, the Torana became a favorite for touring car racing. To capitalize on the success at major racing events like Bathurst, Holden offered a A9X option for the street. The option was available on V8-powered performance sedans and SS Hatchback models.

While the A9X option did not increase power per se, it provided more aggressive aerodynamics for better cooling, rear disc brakes, heavy duty axles and a special differential. In many ways the A9X looked like the A9X race cars that swept the first 8 positions of the Bathurst race in October 1979.

Essentially, cars fitted with the A9X option were ready for racing and looked the part with a big functional rear facing hood scoop. The only real difference was that true racing cars had the L34 308 V8 while street cars made due with the smaller smog approved L31. After a few successful races in cars with the A9X option package, Holden was able to move as many as 65,977 LX Toranas in the two years the option was available.

Holden Torana SS Interior

These cars were quite different from many American muscle cars that due to their longer wheelbases, had a slightly more posh ride. The A9X with it’s 4 speed manual transmission was spartan on creature comforts with a straight forward dash and control layout that was more attractive than any Chevy or Pontiac in the States at that time (save for the Corvette and F-body cars). The A9X might have been short of luxury items, but it had the right technology where it really counted. For instance while many muscle cars of this era had re-circulating ball type steering, the A9X had rack and pinion, for quicker steering response and better steering feel.

The Torana has a strong following in Australia (especially A9X cars), so much so that as late as 2004 Holden built a concept called the Torana TT36. Back then, that car, resembling a Pontiac G8/Holden Commodore VE was said to be a preview of the next Commodore platform. While it may have generated some excitement amongst Torana fans (like Pontiac teasing a Ute) it was never to be.

I suspect that part of the Torana’s strong following comes not only from its legendary performance and heritage, but from the general lament for Australia’s fading home-grown auto industry. With cars like the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore ending production, some of what gave GM it’s sparkle in America could be traced back to the Australian auto industry. It makes me sad that that bit of automotive distinction if fading away. Thanks to cars like the Torana A9X, that legacy might be gone but will not be forgotten.

1977 Holden Torana SS with A9X package