Best Classic Australian Muscle Car?

[Falcon500]

The GTS has much better breaks...im assuming your only in the base model they have decent breaks but nothing youll brag about in a big heavy car like that.....
The fords for a long time have been considerd more avid handelers and have better breaks and ecconmy....but often loose out in 1/4 mile times which is what a good majority of holden fans base performance on....

[fpv_gtho]

the falcons untill BA apparently have been criticised for their brakes, and given that IRS has only just been made standard equipment, you would wonder whether taking a pre BA falcon on the track in the base model was such a good idea....

well Matra the cars weigh about 1650kg, so that is a fair bit of weight, but it really reflects the size of the car. i dont know what the f/r balance of the cars are, but an XR6T has a balance of about 59/41 so the Monaro might be a tad more front heavy with the V8 and 6 speed. the car to take on the track would be the HSV GTS as falc mentioned, not only because of the 300kw motor, but the race spec 365mm/6 piston front brakes and 330mm/4 piston rear brakes i think it has standard

[Falcon500]

But they where still considerd better then their rival commadores...biggest gripe break noise...usually crepped up when the base model gets a flogging for a long time...i have a mate who was driveing his old mans au for some time and he was babbling on about F**king ford breaks squeaking...i just mumbled and went....holden wankers give ford a a flogging and blame the car....he wasnt happy...
so theywernt 2 spot calipers? oh well...on that note i saw the only 300 kw GTS they had in the shop dirve away the other day...it had a nice sound and looked ok but that yellow colour doesnt do nice things to the cars appeal...i dont know why its so popular especailly on monaros...makes then look like deveild eggs to me

[fpv_gtho]

well i think theres alot of people out there who are either holden or ford fans, and when they drive the rival product and start experiencing tyre wear and brake fade start blaming the car.....i dunno whether its they really are ignorant, or they enjoyed the drive so much they cant let on that theyre a holden fan enjoying driving a ford etc so they start picking faults to cover everything up...

[Falcon500]

Well he was the first to say it fair went...he was good at giveing credit there...but everything was some what lacking in his judgement of the car...
And one thing i noticed with nearly every car when the break is most have squeaky breaks (metal on metalin most cases) the problem...careless/bad drivers who couldent care less and complain something fierce when they see the cost of replacement parts because they didnt keep ontop of things like that...the other day i had a targo van breaks off to the right of me...i thought my ear drum was about the bleed...

[fpv_gtho]

thats terrible when that happens, it makes me think that a bit of dirt or somethings stuck between the caliper and the rotor and its being scraped around like nails on a chalkboard...or at least thats what it sounds like most of the time.

[Falcon500]

The way some people treat their cars is terrible like the skyline with the loose fan belt....and the other day i was diveing along from work and i was stopped att he lights and an Lplater in a 200b datsunpulled up next to me and it hadatop end rattle (sounded like there where several nuts int he auir cleaner...i know this wasnt the case) and it makesme wonder how stupid these people are to continue driveing a car like this?

[fpv_gtho]

i think some people just recognise a brand name or country of origin and expect the car to run forever or at least not need any mechanical attention

[Falcon500]

Well even rollers need attention and their marketing slogan is theyll never break down!...or worlds most reliable car or something...i rember once talking too some nzer who thinks their goverment is doing them good importing used jap grey imports is goodbecause they get the worldsmost reliable cars...highly debateable...and not tomention sus used car often are someone elses problems....their qualityof grey imports are better then our (they get the full treatment) nut thatsaid they are still used...and also not to mention the largecost of jobs haveing no local manufactuors any more...

[fpv_gtho]

well yeah, i was gunna say before you could get some thickheaded people out there, stick them in a BMW and they'd attempt to get 100K km's out of an oil change........

well jap cars in the past year or so have drastically improved on their quality and really taken the challenge up to the europeans best, but before then it would be really a take-each-case-as-they-come sort of thing to really say japanese cars were bulletproof

[Falcon500]

Well as ever realible as mostjapcars are they are not perfect...this is related in their cost of parts....and some of the cheaper cars have small niggly bits that can just have a date marked on the calender for when their about to break....
We had a customerlike that at rolfe classic who bought a new car drove it without servicing it and traded it in next year on a new vehical....

[fpv_gtho]

well you can never have perfection........i dont think ford would be able to supply me with a 1000hp falcon for free (now that would be perfect, for me at least ) but thats not really the point of it all. manufacturers would barely survive if they gave their all to provide the buying public with a flawless car one that never needs servicing, or at least not very often and is cheap to repair. they have to make compromises, but some choose better compromises than others

[AERO_HDT]

I was just going through some old posts in the forums and thought I might float this one back to the top, seeing as the last one was done over four years ago, hehe.

There is no doubt that the GTHO is Australia's premier muscle car, the figures they're fetching on the open market is testament to that, but to be serious... and I don't want anyone to kill me for saying this, hehe, but I never really liked them.

I dunno, I suppose I have a bad case of 'tall poppy' syndrome, but their popularity, mild styling and the fact that there are about 20 clones for every original that you come across lessens their aura for me.

I much prefer a 70's muscle car to have 2 doors, but considering what else has been released over the years, there are certainly some great cars out there.

I dunno about you guys, but I have a soft spot for the Charger - arguably the best looking Oz muscle car of it's era. I'm also awestruck at the sight of XA and XB GT Coupes, these things cause me to break out into Mad max sweats, hehe.

I came across a 2-door XR the other week, has anyone seen this car? XRCOUP are the plates and it apparently was built for US consumption with a 289 stuffed under the hood. Coolest Falcon I've seen in a few years.

[fpv_gtho]

Originally Posted by AERO_HDT

I was just going through some old posts in the forums and thought I might float this one back to the top, seeing as the last one was done over four years ago, hehe.

There is no doubt that the GTHO is Australia's premier muscle car, the figures they're fetching on the open market is testament to that, but to be serious... and I don't want anyone to kill me for saying this, hehe, but I never really liked them.

I dunno, I suppose I have a bad case of 'tall poppy' syndrome, but their popularity, mild styling and the fact that there are about 20 clones for every original that you come across lessens their aura for me.

I think most of the better Aussie muscle cars are like that. Pretty much half the Torana's going around with any effort put into them have the tacked on A9X guards for example.

I dunno about you guys, but I have a soft spot for the Charger - arguably the best looking Oz muscle car of it's era. I'm also awestruck at the sight of XA and XB GT Coupes, these things cause me to break out into Mad max sweats, hehe.

Likewise here with the Valiant Chargers, notso with the Falcon Hardtop's. Much prefer the proportions of the normal 4 door. I'd take a matt black VH-VJ Charger or gloss black XB Falcon sedan any day of the week. Must have 10 inch wide rears though.

[Blue Supra]

I voted for the P76...