OWNERS CLUB (SA) INC. We Drive Excitement In 1965 Chrysler brought in their 273 cu. in. V8 to power the Valiant and later the Ford Falcon had a 289, both of these V8s. were manufactured in the US. To compete Holden spent $20 million to secretly develop the 253 and 308 V8s. in Australia and began importing the 307 and 327 V8s. from Chevrolet. From these humble beginnings the Australian Muscle Car was born. Peter Brock started his racing career with an Austin A30, which he built in his parents chicken shed. This outrageous looking car was powered by a 179 Holden engine from a wrecked HD. He was very successful, winning an amazing 102 races, and came to the attention of the Holden Dealer Teams boss, Harry Firth. Peters first race at Bathurst was in a Monaro GTS 350 in 1969. Brockie finished 3rd but went on to win Australia's greatest race a record 9 times. Holden’s V8 first appeared in a futuristic looking prototype called the Hurricane and went into production with the HT model in 1969. The mid 70s. oil crisis led Holden to search for a smaller more economical replacement vehicle. Thus the VB Commodore was developed from the German Opel, to be a much more fuel efficient car than the thirsty old Kingswood. In 1979 Peter Brock proved its reliability by leading home the first of 3 Commodores to win the Round Australia Reliability Trial. John Sheppard took over the HDT race team from Harry Firth in 1978, and with the A9X Torana HDT began to dominate Touring Car Racing in Australia. Brock and co-driver Jim Richards won Sandown and Bathurst in 1978. And again in 1979 totally crushing the opposition, winning by 6 laps and setting the lap record on the last lap of Mount Panorama. GMH decided to withdraw all support from Motor Racing stating that it had achieved a position where it has tended to dominate the sport. Upon this the HDT team manager John Sheppard resigned leaving Peter Brock with no race team. Brockie had to act quickly and with the help of some 57 Holden Dealers, bought the assets and the HDT name. To thank the Dealers for their support Peter would build them a very special road car, that could only be sold through Dealerships that supported the Race Team. The initial HDT Special Vehicles operation began when Adelaide Holden Dealer Vin Keane supplied a V8 Commodore for Brock to experiment with. Their first road going product was revealed in September 1980. Based on the current 5lt.VC Commodore SLE, Brock’s special vehicle set out to offer higher performance, better handling and a stunning appearance compared to the standard car. Mechanically the HDT Commodore was superior in several important areas, the cylinder heads were gas flowed with larger valves and the inlet manifold modified to not only improve power but also increase economy by 20%. Suspensions featured heavy duty lowered springs and Bilstein shock absorbers with specially developed Uniroyal tyres on 7” wide light alloy Irmscher rims. The interior featured a drivers foot rest and a Momo steering wheel signed by Brock. 513 VC Brock’s were built in Marlboro colours of red, black or white and sold for $18950. Brock went on to produce more than 4500 HDT cars between 1980 and 1988 and became the sixth largest carmaker in Australia. The HDT Owners Club of SA was formed in 1986 with the very first meeting taking place at the Gothic Hotel in Whitmore Square on the 10th of march with 18 members in attendance. The Club grew quickly but it was a vastly different scene back then, with the cars being fairly new, we had a lot of wealthy business owners with cars on lease. New cars were very expensive and good second hand examples were already seen as collectible classics and commanding a premium price. Motorsport was also very popular with some of the drivers posting some very quick lap times around Mallalla quite often embarrassing drivers in Porsche's, BMW’s and even Ferrari’s. These early years saw both the highs and the lows in Brock’s career. He had a major falling out with Holden over the Polarizer that led to the destruction and eventual sale of HDT. In 1987 with no support from Holden and against all odds he claimed his 9th win at Bathurst in a VL Group A. The next year saw him racing a BMW before switching to a Ford Sierra. HDT was sold and that company was producing VN Aeros, HSV was formed from a partnership between Tom Walkinshaw & Holden and Peter started producing Brock Falcons. There was lots of discussion in the Club at the time, as to which direction we should be taking. Should we support Brock in a Ford, the new HDT or the official factory replacement HSV/HRT? All was forgiven when Peter Brock returned to Holden to race a VN Group A with his old mate Larry Perkins. A HSV Club had been formed and we held a few successful joint events before it eventually declined and looked like folding. In March 1995 our members voted to accepted HSV cars into our Club. Last year we lost a stalwart of the club, Daryl Phillips. Daryl was at the inaugural meeting and enthusiastically nominated as Treasurer. In 1990 Daryl was elected as President, a position he held for 25 years until he unfortunately lost his battle with cancer. His wife Colleen is now taking good care of his beloved VK Group A. The first HDT Nationals were held in 1986 with 17 of our members heading over to Melbourne. There were lots of trophies brought back to SA after the Concourse and Motorsport events. In 1987 the Nationals were again held in Melbourne with 11 members attending from SA with one of our members winning the Concourse in the VL class. The next Nationals were held in Sydney at Easter in 1988 with 6 members making the long drive over. Surfers Paradise was the venue in 1989, only 4 members from SA but Daryl Phillips came home with a trophy for best VK. The Nationals have been held mainly in Melbourne since then and in 2001 it became the HSV Nationals. SA cars still continue to dominate their respective classes when they attend. Today the Brock Commodores have become highly collectible classics and are rarely seen except on sunny days at club events. Early muscle cars such as the Monaro had lots of power, looked great and went well in a straight line. But the Brock Commodore has the full package with good handling, steering and brakes. And being built in limited numbers by Australia's greatest racing driver, makes it a truly great Australian Muscle Car. The Club holds a variety of family orientated events, from Drive Days, Night Cruises, BBQ’s etc., to involvement in Car Shows, Club Displays and other events. Each year we put on a Christmas Party with food provided by the Club and Father Christmas hands out presents for the children. Surprisingly we are the last HDT club in Australia to exist using our original name, and now cater to not only owners of original Brocks, but also HSV and offer Associate Membership to Holden muscle cars such as Monaros and SS Commodores. We have several members in Victoria and even one as far away as Cairns. Although we are a reasonable small club the friendly atmosphere sees regular attendance to events from country SA and Victoria Next year we celebrate 30 years and are organising a very special event at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre with Bev Brock as our very special guest. Darryl Leaker Editor/Historian HDT Owners Club (SA) Inc. [email protected] .