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In April 1974, the 4-dr LJ was face lifted into the TA Torana; it was sold only as a budget-priced four-cylinder car and disappeared with the arrival of the Holden Gemini. The last TA rolled down the assembly line without many tears being shed, in March 1975. A few weeks before the TA's low-key introduction, a virtually all-new much bigger Torana, designated LH had been released.
The LJ Torana of February 1972 was a facelift of the LC. It was more refined in suspension and noise suppression and really captured buyers' tastes.
LJ GTR XU-1
An upgraded version of the LC GTR was introduced in February 1972. The LJ versions of the GTR and GTR XU-1's had their engine capacity raised to 202 cubic inches (3300cc). In September 1972, it received a number of refinements including fine-spline rear axles and Globe Sprintmaster wheels.
It was a first. That was the claim. Holden had announced a new model in which the buyer had a choice of four-cylinder, six-cylinder and V8 engines in one body style. GM Corporation had offered a similar deal with the Chevy II in the late 1960's but the choice had never been offered in Australia.The body was all new and all Australian, even if very much in GM's world mould. The package was assembled to 'cater for new demand patterns in the Australian vehicle market' and the new Torana was about the same size as earlier Holden's like the EH. It was much larger and roomier than the LJ predecessor, just 254mm (10 inches) shorter than the HQ and about 178mm (7 inches) narrower. Amazingly, for all its size, the LH actually has less rear legroom than the EH.
February 1976 brought the announcement of the revamped LX Torana's and, on 4th March, the range went on display at the Melbourne Motor Show and on sale throughout Australia. The big news in the LX range was that the hatchback, first rumoured when the LH was released, was finally available. It was Australia's first, although in the 1930's GMH had produced the 'Sloper coupe' - a body design credited with being the forerunner of the modern hatchback.The hatchback was 'in' around the world, and Holden's, with its kick-up spoiler at the rear, showed the strong design influence of the Chevrolet Monza. The official line was that "The two new hatchback models introduce a completely new body shape to the Torana range in a concept which has found worldwide acceptance as an attractive and versatile alternative to the traditional sedan.The hatchback was available in SL and SS versions, the later being the 'sports' model. SS supposedly stood for 'Super Sports' but imagine the surprise when the 'SS' name was carried over to the Opel-bodied VB Commodore and German visitors saw 'their' car draped with SS insignia! The hatch had appealing looks, but little of the practicality, which can be offered in a well-designed hatchback. It was agreed to be a great looking car, certainly the designers had worked hard on the looks and hadn't compromised such things as the rear passenger headroom. The lift-up hatch door, mounted on concealed hinges, was power assisted by gas-filled support struts. The wide opening hatch made the flat luggage area exceptionally easy to load, even if a little shallow. The spare wheel and additional concealed luggage space were housed under the rear floor. Access to the rear seat was best described as adequate. The rear seat itself was split to provide maximum versatility - this was one of the first cars with such a feature. The hatchback had a distinctive floor console which incorporated lower level ventilation outlets, floor shift lever housing, standard push-button radio and accessory switch controls for heated rear window, driving lights and power antenna options.
The real gains achieved by the General with the UC range of Torana's have been pushed into the background by Commodore. Even when the last Torana was launched in March 1978 reports were full of references to the forth coming VB and the message was, " This new Torana is great, but just wait for the brilliant Commodore"! The UC had only eight months or so in the show rooms before it was joined by the newcomer. Industry observers scratched their heads and wondered. GMH had three six- cylinder/V8 ranges with not much difference between their prices, which would be the first to go? Apparently no decision had been reached even by the end of 1978. Although the GMH executives were confident Commodore would eventually supersede Kingswood/Premier, they still weren't certain the market would stick with the new car as it had with the old, The solution was to sell them along side for a while, giving buyers the choice and maximizing the corporation's sales. The Torana's role was even less certain. Where the Kingswood was wider than Commodore and took up more space on the road, (important considerations for many), the Torana had no obvious advantages. And the price differential between a base Torana with three on the tree and a base Commodore with four on the floor was only a few hundred bucks. So the smart money said that Torana would hit the history books first, followed somewhere down the calendar by Kingswood/Premier. Commodore certainly out sold Kingswood, but it destroyed Torana.
On August 25, 1970, General Motor's Holden issued a press release on the fabulous GTR/X. It makes interesting reading years later ! consider this bit, for instance: " GMH today broke with tradition by giving the public an opportunity to see in advance a car which could be the basis of a limited production vehicle in the future." By " the future " the General actually meant l973. But when that year duly rolled into view , the GTR/X didn't. And why didn't it? Because the bean counters cautious, conservative, more concerned with pennies than panache, worried about cash rather than class put a stop to it. February 1973 was to have been the time. Then, the GTR/X would have been a stunner, more Italian looking than an E-Type (and much more modern),better balanced and more stream lined than a 240Z! Even in 1993 it hardly looks out dated.
The GTR-X is the living proof that there was heaps of serious talent in GMH That so-sleek body is made of fibreglass. One GTR/X survives. It's a light silver blue car, clad with VB Commodore cast aIloy wheels-not part of the original plot of course. That fibreglass body saved a lot of weight. So when the production GTR/X was equipped with a 202 six-pack plus triple carbs and other goodies it would have accelerated like there was no tomorrow. And stopped, too, thanks to four-wheel discs, Incidentally, had production gone ahead as planned, the GTR/X would have become the first Australian car to use four-wheel disc brakes. As history had it, that honour went to the heavy weight Ford LTD.
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