Back in the day

[Rob Stalder]

Back in the day (when we hadn't actually heard of "Occupational health & Safety standards" and when we only had one track. Well.

I saw this car up for sale recently & realised I had done a full on lap of Mt Panarama at Bathurst in it. Don't let its comely car next door looks fool you,

it was a fire breathing monster. Below is from my "Who I am today"

One excellent occasion was at Bathurst car races where channel 7 was entering an SL/R5000A9X Torana, we went up to do a bit of a promo story.
There was a seat for LG, I had to sit on the floor under the roll cage. I had a hard wired tram just inside the driver’s helmet & a dynamic mic for FX - mixed to mono of course, on my Stellavox. Off we went for a very fast practice lap, I only looked at the speedo once, going up the mountain we were doing 90 mph.
Then we followed it around in the 7 helicopter with the doors off, LG sitting sideways on the rear seat, hand holding the ACL. I loosened my belt & leaned over him with my 816 just inside the slipstream. You could so hear that V8 storming across the mountain, along with the occasional fx of the rotors snipping leaves & twigs as we slid in & out amongst the trees.

This is its for sale info;

The Holden Torana A9X that Bob Morris drove to the 1979 Australian Touring Car Championship is set to be auctioned in Sydney.

 

Offered by Mossgreen auctions, the ex-Morris A9X has the potential to be the first Australian muscle car to sell for more than $1 million at auction, with a guiding range between $850,000 - $1,050,000.

 

Morris's 1979 ATCC win was particularly special as it came at the expense of Peter Brock and the mighty Holden Dealer Team, who were at the height of their powers at the time. Morris scored four round wins to Brock's three, giving him the title by seven points.

 

The car also placed second in the 1978 ATCC behind Brock and lined up on the front row of the 1979 Bathurst 1000 before DNFing on lap 95. Morris took victory at Calder Park in 1978 as well as landing podiums at Symmons Plains, Oran Park, Sandown and Lakeside.

 

He added to this tally in his 1979 title season with victory at Oran Park, Sandown, Lakeside and Adelaide International Raceway and a further podium at Calder Park.

 

Purchased by its current owner, Peter Briggs, in 1979, the car was retired from competition in September 1980 and was placed in the York Motor Museum, where it has remained bar a stint at the Fremantle Motor Museum.

 

The car remains in its 1979 livery and is completely original, presented in the condition it was last raced. This is no pristine show car, it bears the scars of a life lived on the racetrack.

 

Mossgreen's auction of rare collector cars takes place of May 28 at Carriageworks in Sydney.

 

Ah those good old days... Sometimes I miss them.

[Peter Mega]

Hi Rob

Hope you're well mate  

you always have the most incredible stories to tell! That would have been the ride of a lifetime! The car is an absolute beast with an insane power to weight ratio. Funny you stumbled across it. 

Cheers mate

Peter Mega