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When we talk of the Ford/Holden tule, it uually thebigger car that come to mind. But thi claic battlealo raged in a different weight cla

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Top marks The Anglia is notwithout flaws but is a fantastic first-time

In Austaia the Escotis one of the ost

unde-appeciated

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superior car in terms of road-

handling and interior comfort.

Happily for Ford, there were

those that did take the plunge and

found the Escort a sweet-mannered

car. Fitted with the 2.0-litre four-

cylinder Pinto engine in the

Mk2 model the car went from

stop to 100km/h in 11.2 seconds,

by no means a world record but

good enough to keep up with the

traffic of the day.

The Escort was a rival to theGemini in terms of size, price and

niche, but in the world of racing it

achieved much more.

A very capable circuit or rally

car, the Escort proved its worth in

Europe a swathe of victories in

rally events saw it develop the kind

The featherweight division

has spawned many legends

in Australia, including the

Ford Escort, the popular Holden

Gemini, and Jeff Fenech. That

all three are imports (to varying

degrees) doesnt matter, as they all

have built cult followings out of

being tough winners.

In Australia the Ford Escort is

one of the most under-appreciated

small cars of all time. Despite the

adulation the Escort receivedthroughout much of Europe, the

Australian market struggled with

the concept of a small Ford.

Sales of the Mk1 Escort were

reasonably good, with over 135,000

units sold during the Escorts 11

years in Australia, but they pale

in comparison to the number of

Geminis Holden sold during a

similar, albeit later, time period.

The Mk2 Escort which was a

direct competitor to the Gemini

from 1975 to 1980 struggled to

counter the popularity of the Holden

even though it was arguably the

Theford escort

Tough sell

Europeans went wildfor the Escort but theenthusiam never quitecaught on here.


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of following rock stars enjoy.

On the road this translated into

sales, with over two million Mk1

Escorts sold in Europe by the

release of the Mk2.

This success spawned several

sporting variants of both the Mk1

and Mk2 models. The Mk1 Twin

Cam and Mk2 RS2000 are the

most recognisable, as they were

sold new in Australia but we

missed out on the full breadth of

sporting models the Europeans

had available to them.Both the Kent and Pinto four-

cylinder engine proved to be very

durable and tuneable, as evidenced

by the plethora of books on tuning

the engine and its use in varied kit

and race cars.

The Escort was an important

part of the Ford line-up, supporting

sales of the Falcon and the

imported Cortina. Despite the

decent sales achieved in Australia

and its local rally success, the

Escort is only really loved by

enthusiasts and is not a revered

member of the Ford family.

gem of a car The Gemini tookthe fight directly to Fords Escort andsurpassed it for sales during the late 70s.

After the success Holden enjoyed

with the Torana, the dawn of the

1980s altered many car companies

perspectives on what a small car needed

to be. Holden, too, knew it needed

something small, fresh and cheap.The Gemini was to be the new hope

for Holdens featherweight title defence

against the incumbent Ford Escort.

Being a child of the GM T platform

family which sought to create a world

car to fit all markets the Gemini had

cousins spread all over the world from

Japan to Germany. Built in Holdens

Acacia Ridge plant in Brisbane from 1975-

1985, the Gemini wasnt an exact copy of

its Asian or European twins, as it used a

lot of local content in the production of the

car, but still there were some similarities.

The 1.6-litre engine, which featured a

cross-flow eight-valve alloy head and two-barrel Stromberg carburettor, was used

throughout the range with the option of

a 1.8-litre diesel from 1981; it was an

interesting choice as there had not really

been a small diesel on sale in

Australia before.

The punters loved

it and Holden

ended up

selling over

226,000

Geminis in

the 10-year

period the T

series was produced. The motoring press

also had good things to say about the

Gemini and it took the Wheels Car of the

Year award in 1975.

Finally here was a Holden that was small

and economical and could act as a familyor second car.

Like the Mk2 Escort, the Gemini was

a very basic economy model that became

better featured as the years went by, and

its fan base grew.

In line with the Commodore, 1978 saw

the advent of an SL/E luxury model, which

was later changed to a less well appointed,

but slightly cheaper SL/X version.

The Gemini, like the Torana before it,

went on to create a cult following all its

own, but unlike the Torana it didnt lapse

into Vegas Elvis weight gain in the latter

part of its career.

The Holden gemini

ford escort mk2

EnginE: 1.6-litre (1598cc)four-cylinder

PowEr: 46kW (62bhp) @5000rpm

TorquE: 110Nm (81lb/ft)@ 2500rpm

0-100km/h: 13.1 seconds(1.6), 11.2 seconds (2.0)

ProducTion: 1975-1981

rrP on rElEasE:$3430-$4420

sPecsThe

Holden gemini

EnginE: 1.6-litre (1584cc)four-cylinder

PowEr: 50kW (67bhp) @5400rpm

TorquE: 114Nm (84lb/ft)@ 3600rpm

0-100km/h: N/A


rrP on rElEasE:N/A

sPecsThe


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If you sneak into a Holden fans bedroom

and peek in the wardrobe, you are likely to

find a shrine with pictures of Peter Brock,

various Commodores and at least two or

three Toranas to which the devoted directs

his prayers every night.

The blue oval brigade has something

similar, but you will be hard pressed to

find a solitary Ford Capri in their sacred

pictorial scripture.

Why this disparity exists is not certain.

Looking at the Mark 1 Capri and at the

Torana from the LC model forward you

could be fooled into thinking they were

family. Long bonnets both housing four

and six-cylinder engine options, elegant

Coke-bottle lines that aped their bigger

muscle car brothers and quite a bit of

racing ability.

The fact the Capri was British and the

Torana Australian was probably a factor,

along with the greater appeal of a four-

door option in the Torana range.

So the middleweight fighters in our

double bill were very closely matched in

specification, but poles apart in popularity.

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The ford caPri mk1

Hit and miss

second fIddle Like theEscort, the Capri found a willingaudience in Europe but buyershere remained unconvinced.

The Capri was available inAustralia from 1969 to 1972

in 1.6-litre and 3.0-litre (1970

onward) V6 forms. Sales were good,

with a reported 15,000 units sold

during this time. This was a far cry

from the roughly 74,000 LC Toranas

sold in the same period though to

be fair the Torana had a broader

public appeal with more options

and a greater range of variants.

The Capri was intended to be a

European Mustang and to lure

sports car buyers to the brand. This

strategy worked well elsewhere,

with around 1.2 million Mk1 Caprissold confirming the Capri had

appeal. Whether punters here in

Australia couldnt see the appeal

or werent interested in looking for

it is another question.

Many Australians did, however,

take advantage of the Capris

styling, performance and handling,

all of which were of a high quality,

but these enthusiasts were the

minority and subsequent Mk2 and

3 models, which served to solidify

the Capri legend in Europe, were

entirely ignored here.

ford caPri 3.0 V6

EnginE: 3.0-litre(2994cc) six-cylinder

PowEr: 107kW (144bhp)@ 4750rpm

TorquE: 261Nm(192 lb/ft) @ 3000rpm

0-100/: N/A


rrP on rElEasE:$3230

sPecsThe

sTar performer TheTorana earned its hard-as-nails reputation with multiplevictories at Bathurst.


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Post FigHtReFlectionOver the years,

both Holden andFord have put

contenders of all

weight classes in

the ring hoping for

a title win. Some

have been red-hot,

others pudgy has-

beens well past

their prime, but a

new generation of

Fords and Holdens

has always come

along to revive the

rivalry. Long may

it continue.

In the boxing world its unheard

of for a lower weight-class

contender to knock out a

heavyweight in the ring, but when

the fight is in the street, there are

no rules. The Holden Torana has

always looked to a prize far above

its station in life as an economical

mid-size runabout.

In 1967, when the Torana was

first launched with the HB model

(based on the UK-sourced Vauxhall

Viva), no one really thought it

would one day be a contender for

the heavyweight crown or becomean icon as big as the Commodore.

The first clue of this sporting

aspiration came with the release

of a Jack Brabham edition in

1969, which added a twin-barrel

Stromberg carburettor and a low-

restriction exhaust system to boost

engine output to 79bhp (59kW).

The word Torana comes from an

Aboriginal dialect meaning to fly,

which was probably a source of

much congratulatory back slapping

in the marketing department. Few

people suspected that in the hands

of Peter Brock in the 1972 Bathurst,

it would do just that. At a rain-

soaked Mount Panorama circuit,

Brock took the win by the huge

margin of five laps, not only proving

his skill as a dr iver, but the mettle

of the Torana.

For a middleweight to stick it up

the GTHO Falcons and Monaros atBathurst proved the XU-1 GTR the

toughest of our support fighters and

the kind of car that could bite an

ear off.

This early success steered the

Torana down a road of weight and

performance gain with subsequent

SL/R 5000 sedan and A9X

hatchback versions taking multiple

Touring Car Championships and

Bathurst wins on the way to

becoming a true heavyweight by

the time it retired from touring car

racing in 1979.

www.cca.co.au 3

The

Holdentorana

Holden torana lc

gtr XU-1

EnginE: 3.0-litre(3048cc) six-cylinder

PowEr: 119kW (160bhp)

@ at 5200rpm

TorquE: 256Nm(190lb/ft) @ 3600rpm

0-100/: 9.2 seconds


rrP on rElEasE:$3148

sPecsThe

No one eay thought

it woud becoean icon as big as the

Coodoe

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