Articles by David Burrell

A milestone anniversary in the Australian motor industry was marked this year. March was the 40th anniversary of the XA Falcon; which Ford advertised as being "Born on the Wind".But it was the quietest birthday party ever. It seemed there were no celebrations and to paraphrase Basil Fawlty at Ford HQ it was almost a case of "don't mention the Falcon".The XA Falcon was a mammoth corporate success story. Up until 1972, all Falcons were localised American designs. The XA changed all that.It was the first Falcon to be totally styled and engineered in Australia, and Falcons ever since have been all Aussie efforts-Australian skills, thought leadership and engineering savvy for 40+ years.It is a heritage and a record that any company would to be proud to celebrate. Put simply, the XA Falcon is Ford's equivalent of the FX Holden. There was no mistaking the XA on the road. It looked so different to the HQ Holden and the VH Valiant.The Holden appeared smaller, and lighter, than it really was. The Valiant mimicked Chrysler USA's bulked-up "fuselage" design language. The Falcon, on the other hand, had a lean , aggressive and hunkered down stance which made it look bigger than it was.That was the XA's real appeal-a big car for big country. Inside, the XA was all about the driver. The cockpit style dashboard made sure that whoever sat behind the steering wheel felt that they were firmly in command.The Falcon range was sold in sedan and wagon formats. The wagon was a monster of a car. Built on the longer Fairlane wheelbase of 2947mm (116 inches) it featured a two way tail gate and enough capacity to lug half a hardware store back home. And, of course, there was the legendary 5.7 litre V8 GT.In September 1972, Ford released the two door hardtop version of the Falcon and GT and it was game-on in the sales race with Holden. The XA and subsequent XB and XC models helped propel Ford to become the number one car company in Australia. But all good things do not last. The Falcon, like the Commodore, is slowly fading from the sales charts. For a car that was "Born on the Wind" it now seems the Falcon will soon be gone with the wind.

... two door coupe long before the Monaro hit the showrooms in July 1968. Well, it is true. These photos which have been sourced from General Motors (GM) Archives in Detroit are dated August 1963 and clearly show a proposal for a two door HR Holden Coupe.  The HR would not be released for another three years, so why would GMH be considering a coupe at a time when the EH was only weeks away from release? No doubt it was in anticipation of Ford's new two door Falcon hardtop, which was just about to hit the market in 1964, being a sales success.  The Falcon coupe was already in American showrooms and boasted an optional V8, and we suspect Holden was planning its own coupe "just in case" the local Ford sales indicated a demand for a two door. The renderings, which are full size, depict a very elegant car. The roof line is more formal than fast back. It is definitely a HR, as the rear end images clearly show. Take a close look at the photos. The "Premier" badging across the boot panel and "SS" insignias on the "C" panel and right hand side of the boot lid suggests GMH were thinking of the coupe as a sports/luxury offering. The front mudguards have Monaro type slots between the wheel arch and the door. Intriguingly, the rendering has twin exhaust pipes, suggesting a V8 was in the mix of motors, but the twin pipes could also be stylistic license being employed to convey a muscle car image.  We can only speculate what might have been if Holden had gone ahead with a V8 HR coupe two years before the Monaro appeared. Imagine what Bathurst in 1966 and 1967 would have been like if the GT Falcons had had to battle V8 HR coupes! Such is the stuff that dreams are made of. retroautos.com.au

It is 50 years since Chrysler sold its first Valiant in Australia.Based on the American Plymouth it went into the market place with bold styling and big power from its six cylinder engine. The styling of the Valiant was the work Chrysler's head of design, Virgil Exner. He was determined to create something which stood out in the "small" (for the USA) car class. And he succeeded. Contemporary motoring magazine reports usually described it as "European".Exner even applied for, and was granted, a US patent for the styling of the Valiant. It is design number 190,533 and dated 5th July 1961, if you are interested.For Australian car buyers the styling was only one distinctive aspect of the car. It offered automatic transmission, with gears selected via a space age looking push buttons located on the right hand side of the instrument cluster.Those with extra cash could order a heart, with its press button controls on the left side. And to make it complete, the radio was a push button "Moparmatic Deluxe", slotted into the centre of the dashboard. Mercury astronauts had less buttons to push than the driver of a 1962 Valiant.The front suspension was by torsion bars, and it gave the Valiant a big American car ride, so the advertisements claimed. But it was the 3.7 litre motor, pumping out 108kw, compared to Holden anaemic 60kw, which really captured everyone's attention.Back in the day, the Valiant was one fast car. It had a top speed of nearly 160km/h and did the 400metres in a little over 19 seconds. Just as importantly, the extra power and torque of the engine meant you could now easily tow a boat or caravan with locally built car, rather than having to buy a very much more expensive Chevrolet, Chrysler Royal or Ford Fairlane.By the end of the first year, Chrysler has sold over 11,000 Valiants, winning sales mostly from Holden The early Valiants are sought-after classics today, though in the early 1970s they could be had for a little as $250. I know, because I almost bought one as my first car.I purchased a 1961 Vauxhall Cresta instead, for $200. These days a good quality Valiant can be had for $12000 to $15,000, while ones need a little TLC go for between $5000 and $7000.As a first time classic car, these Valiants are ideal, because the motor and gearbox are just about unbreakable and body, trim and interior parts are easy to come by in Australia and the USA.David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au

And here's the photo of it. So what is this car? It's a Holden all right because the badges say so and the hub caps have the red lion logo, but really the Australian insignias were really used to disguise this car's true identity and destiny-the Chevrolet Corvair.  In 1957, Ed Cole, the Head of Chevrolet, wanted to keep his new rear engine car as secret as possible from the media and the competition. To throw everyone off the scent, even within General Motors (GM), he decided to disguise the project as a development program for Holden in Australia. Cole went to great lengths to establish the "Holden" deception. He even went to the trouble of using Holden stationery, letterheads and forms with Holden logos on them for all of the paperwork. Components developed for the project carried Holden parts numbers. Even the styling of the Corvair was done in the international styling studio at GM headquarters, not in the Chevrolet studio. The first running prototype was tested in at GM's Arizona track in the northern spring of 1958 .Still badged as a Holden it used the FE and FC chrome work and side `sweep spears'. A Holden steering wheel and hub caps completed the disguise.  The Vauxhall name also was used to camouflage the Corvair, with a lengthened Vauxhall Victor, with the Corvair engine stuffed in the boot, being used as a second test mule. Chevrolet unveiled the new car mid 1959, and it immediately polarised opinion.  We all know the story of the Corvair and its rear suspension, the inadequacies of which led Ralph Nader to write his only memorable book, "Unsafe at Any Speed". But what is less known is that despite all of the media attention Chevrolet still managed to sell 1.8 million Corvairs during its nine year production. Not a bad effort for a car that is supposed to be a failure.  The Corvair styling also influenced others across the world. Designed by Ned Nickles and Carl Renner it was the high and definitive beltline which was the inspiration for many cars in the 1960s, including the Fiat 1300/1500, NSU, Mazda 800, BMW 1600/2002, the French built Panhard and the Hillman Imp.  Today, Corvairs are gaining more attention as classic car collectors search for something beyond a Mustang or a 1955-57 Chevrolet. The hot items are the 1962 two door Monza Spyer coupes and convertibles with the turbochargers. They churn out a spritely 110kw from only 2.4 litre six cylinder engines. Prices in the USA now top $20,000. In Australia, the Corvairs have a small but dedicated following. It is estimated there are less than 20 in the country. retroautos.com.au

The roller door of Denis Thompson's cavernous warehouse rises slowly. He hits the light switch and there, bathed in a harsh white flourescent light, sits a 1957 Cadillac four-door hardtop.  And it's pink - the colour Elvis Presley chose for his first Cadillac. And its BIG! Everything about Denis's car is big. It has a dominating presence which cannot be avoided. From the twin 'dagmar' spinners jutting out from the front bumper bar to the chrome rear end that hides the fuel cap , it's all BIG. The bigness theme is continued inside. I'm convinced the interior has more area than my first house . Under the bonnet is a 365 cubic inch OHV V8 that produces a massive 400 pounds of torque and 300 BHP. That's big , even in 2011.  About the only thing not oversized are the brakes, Drums all round on this baby .I ask Dennis if he's planning to convert them to discs. "No" he replies in a manner that absolutely convinces me he is A-OK with them just as they are.  Dennis kindly offers to take us out for a drive. From the driving position the view through the wrap around windscreen and across the bonnet goes on and on and on. The back seat seems light years away, and four goodly sized folk could sit across the bench seats.  The dashboard is a glitzy and impressive array of buttons, knobs and dials. I'm sure that the original Mercury astronauts had less complicated dashboards in their space capsules than what GM put in front of Cadillac owners in 1957. Once we moving the size of the car is actually becomes an asset. Those driving smaller vehicles give us room to move. Trucks stay in their lanes. People look, point and wave.  The soft suspension and soft seats easily soak up the irregularities in the pavement allowing us to progress to our destination in comfort and serenity.  "Every time I take it out people stop and ask me about it", says Denis. "On freeways the other drivers cruise up alongside and passengers take photos of it!"  The car was imported brand new by a Canberra doctor in mid 1957. The right hand drive conversion was done by Bill Buckle in Sydney, The doctor drove the car for a few years then had it stored. The car then went through a number of owners, all with intentions of restoring it. It finally ended up outside the Elvis Museum in Parkes, and that's where Dennis found it. "It was sitting outside the museum in all the weather and was gradually rusting away. So we decided to buy it and restore it", he says. The restoration spanned two years, and involved a complete body off strip down and rebuild. Denis drives the Caddy about once a week and he hires it out for formals, weddings, sightseeing trips and such like. "It is a driver", he emphasises. www.retroautos.com.au

In short, back in early 1960s Ford President Lee Iacocca saw a gap in the American car market for a stylish, inexpensive sporty four seat coupe that would appeal to the biggest population bubble in history-the baby boomers.He had no reason to believe they wanted to drive anything like the cars their parents bought. And he was so right. No car has had as much post war impact as the Mustang.Released for sale on 16th April 1964 it stopped traffic outside of dealerships and sold a mammoth one million in two years.Despite the fact Mustangs have almost a god like presence today, back in the day they were made just like any other car on fast moving production lines along side of Falcons and Fairlanes by workers who probably wanted to be somewhere else.Mustangs were meant to be disposable. After all, they were a fashion item. But what a fashion item!! I have not met anyone who does not think the original Mustang looks sensational. It did back then and it still does now.And yet, getting to the final shape was a struggle for Ford's entire design team. By late July 1962 they had not been able to develop a shape that Iacocca liked and a car which Henry Ford II, fresh from the Edsel debacle, would approve.With a the crucial capital investment decision deadline looming , Iacocca ordered a "bake off" between a dozen different proposals which had been developed. He set August 16th , 1962 as styling decision day.Ironically, the winning design, was a very late entry and shaped in just eleven days by Ford's Joe Oros and his team. Legend has it that when Oros was rolling the clay model out into the viewing courtyard at Ford's Detroit headquarters his team was still sticking bits of trim to the back end. It went into production with very few changes.But what of those other designs? What did they look like? Well, we've searched Ford's vaults and found a few of those early design proposals. We'll leave it up to you to decide, but we think they made the right choice back in August 1962.www.Retroautos.com.au

Aimed right at the Ford Thunderbird, the Tornado was a bold proposition from General Motors (GM), one which typified its 'can do' attitude and its deep pockets in the 1960s. Oldsmobile had the reputation of being GM's engineering and technical innovator, and its engineers had been developing a V8 front wheel drive (FWD) package since the late 1950s. So into the Toronado it went-a 7 litre V8 driving the front wheels through a Hydramatic transmission (split in half) all linked by 6cm wide a steel chain. It was the first FWD car in the USA since the 1930s 810/812 Cord. The whole lot was subjected to over 2 million kilometres of testing because the folk at Oldsmobile wanted nothing to go wrong with their new technology.  Mind you, the brakes got the short end of the deal. Drums all round meant stopping quickly from the 195kph top speed was more of an aspiration. An American friend of mine once owned a 'Toro'. "It took a long while to stop", he told me recently, "but I wish I still had it, because it looked so great!"  The Toronado's dramatic lines had their genesis in an early 1960s design study by David North, one of GM's leading stylists. North drew a smallish, flame-red coupe with lusciously smooth C pillars which flowed into the rear quarter panels. Out front he gave it blade shaped mudguards. Oldsmobile executives took it as drawn and up sized it by 30%. The outcome would influence a generation of cars, including our own 1968 Holden Monaro, whose rear quarter panels are almost an exact copy of the Toronado's. The protruding front guards ended up on many future Oldsmobiles and parallel those of Australia's own HD Holden. The full width grille paid homage to the Cord 810/812 as did the pop-up headlights. But it is the car's aggressive wheel arches which have become an enduring styling language for strength and power and have been copied by almost all manufacturers. Take a look at the current VE Commodore, the M and CLS class Mercedes and countless other models and makes. When designers require a powerful, hunkered-down look to their cars they invariably and shamelessly borrow from North's original broad-shouldered motif.  Toronados remains a surprisingly affordable classic. The engineering excellence means that well maintained ones are quite trouble free. I saw quality example advertised for $USD17, 000 recently. The gold painted versions command the highest prices. You might wish and hope that GM will again produce hero cars like the Toronado, but my guess is you will never see its like again. Times have changed. GM is no longer the design force it once was and making trucks badged as Cadillacs is all too easy. retroautos.com.au

Back in 2006 Danny saw a 1966 Hillman Minx parked on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on its windscreen. "That's for me" he thought, and two days later it was in his garage. "I've always liked Hillmans, so I bought it", he admitsAnd thus he started his collection of classic British cars, which now comprise ten Mark I and Mark II Cortinas, Ford Prefects and the Hillman. He keeps this ever expanding collection in various nondescript garages and storage areas close to his Newcastle home. "I like them all. I like the style and their engineering. They are simple to restore and to work on. And they do not cost mega dollars", he says, "The Hillmans are particularly strong cars and great for someone getting into classic cars for the first time", he explains. "When they built them they were over engineered. So you find the seams are all overlapping and there is more welding than is really needed. The steel is thick and the front sub-frame rails go all the way under the front seat area." Danny's Hillman Minx is a 1966 Series VI and is the final version of a style which was penned by famed US designer Raymond Lowey in the mid fifties. It has a 1725 cc motor, a five speed gear box and power disc brakes. Danny is the third owner. "I've hardly spent anything on it" he says. "I drive it almost every day. It is a classic British car from the mid-sixties, and you will not see its like again", he says. Danny has a definite view about classic car restorations.He has a limited budget so he does what he can and then goes out and has fun driving the cars. For example, he's rebuilding a 1968 GT Cortina for less than $3,000, and that includes the price of the car.As an active member of the Hunter British Ford Club he is determined to demonstrate that the cost of owning and driving a classic car experience not be prohibitive."I hope others will see that with a little ingenuity, some help from people in their car club and a measure of perseverance, it can be done", he says with robust emphasis. And with a sweep of the hand Danny points to the Cortina in his garage. It starts and runs beautifully. It's registered for the road. OK, so it has mismatch doors, but that's easily fixed by a quick re-spray.What it represents is a low cost way to enjoy classic motoring. Go for it, Danny! We're with you all the way. www.retroautos.com.au

After a 30 year career in the Australian Air Force and the United Nations peace keeping forces , with tours of duty in Vietnam, Malaya and Egypt , he was on vacation in the USA in 1998 looking to buy and import a couple of Ford Mustangs. After doing a deal on some Mustangs and loading them into a container, John decided to make a last minute visit to a swap meet in Los Angels before getting on the plane to fly home. He picks up the story. "I was walking around the swap meet and saw a Mustang pedal car at one of the stalls, and was fascinated by it. So I bought the Mustang and ten other pedal cars with the idea of selling them in Australia at swap meets here. I just loaded them into the spare spaces in the container." The big Mustangs were driven and eventually sold but it was the smaller pony cars which found more willing buyers. And so began a business and a hobby of buying, restoring, selling and showing pedal cars. Along the way John joined the Pedal Car Club of Australia, and began making contacts and forming friendships across Australia and the world. Right now he is president of the club. "My collection has just grown and grown" says John. "My main source of cars is from swap meets and garage sales. Plus, people give me cars all the time. Some are restorable others not, but they can be used for parts." John collects all brands of cars. "Some club members specialise in specific brands or countries", he explains. "For example, after the second world war, Holden in Melbourne made a range of simple, plain looking cars to give their workers something to do. These are now highly prized and some members collect only Holden pedal cars. Others focus on Australian names like Cyclops, Peerless, All Steel, Wizard and Butler Toys cars, while others go for UK brands such as Triang." John has more than 40 cars his private collection and others in various stages of restoration. He sells cars at swap meets, displays and through word of mouth. Restoration is as serious an enterprise as it is with road going cars. Sourcing original parts is just as difficult for rare models, though the time to complete a restoration is, naturally, quicker. "I've made so many friends through the pedal car club. It's a great club and where ever I go around the world I know I will run into someone who has a similar interest." He says. "During my next trip to the USA I plan to visit all the major swap meets and special pedal car events. It's a big business now", he concludes. www.retroautos.com.au

There's no arguing that the FJ Holden is one of Australia's national treasures. Released in October 1953 it was a very mild face lift of the original FX Holden (48-215 to give it its proper designation).  Despite having only minor styling changes, the public did not really care. They just wanted a new car and the FJ was just different enough from the FX to keep sales buoyant.  What is less commonly known is that General Motors Holden (GMH) was planning a more radically revamped car as early as January 1950, barely 18 months after the FX hit the showrooms, just in case sales of the FX started to slip. The Holden prototype pictured here is that car. Developed by General Motors' (GM) in Detroit , the prototype FJ retained the basic FX shape, but that was about all.  This image clearly shows that designers planned significant changes, making the car look wider, longer and lower in the true tradition of American styling trends. To achieve the desired shape stylists gave the car a substantial wrap around rear window and squared-off the shape of the boot. This gave the impression of increased width and lower height.  The rear mudguards, previously rounded and falling away from the body to the rear bumper bar, were lengthened and straightened. The front guards were reshaped into a more linear style. Overall this gave the impression of a longer car without actually adding to length. At least 60 versions of the grille were drawn. Our research at GM Archives in Detroit has discovered at least eight different versions were mocked up from wood and covered in tin foil to simulate chrome.  The image here shows just one version .On the wall in the background are more of the grilles drawn for consideration. And the car has fake Michigan state number plates.  It is always interesting to speculate what would have happened if Holden had decided to go forward with a major reshaping of the FJ. The changes would have brought the FJ more into line with early 1950s Chevrolet styling themes. But would they have generated more sales?  Our guess is "probably not". The accountants would have added up the numbers and concluded that less change meant less cost with no loss of sales in a car starved market. And all of that meant more profit.  David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au All images: Copyright 2012 GM Corp. Used with permission, GM Media Archive.