Holden HDT Calais Reviews

He was doing what he loved to do but even so, it beggars belief that one week can claim two great Australian icons - both too young. My thoughts and sincere condolences go to his loved ones. Allan Moffat.

His achievements earned him the nickname "King of the Mountain". He was also dubbed "Peter Perfect" after holding more pole positions and winning more races than anyone since the start of the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1960. Brock’s pedigree in racing also ran in the family, his great-great-uncle Henry James the founder of the RACV and organiser of Australia’s first ever motorsport event. Brock debuted in a homemade sports sedan in 1967. The converted Austin A30 - built in a henhouse - put him on the map with more than 100 wins, including the Australian Sports Sedan Championship. The racing driver, who later became synonymous with Holden’s racing prowess, won his big break in 1969, when the new Holden Dealer Team’s manager Harry Firth offered him a seat in a Holden Monaro GTS 350. He was third in that race and three years later driving a Torana XU1, won his first Bathurst title. In 1980, Brock established the Special Vehicles unit, which went on to build 4000 highly sought-after "Brock Special" vehicles. Brock retired from full-time V8 Supercar racing in 1997, firmly establishing himself as one of Australia's sporting greats. The UK Motor Sport magazine rated Peter Brock as among the top 20 most exciting drivers of all time. Brock spent his "retirement" with charity fund-raising and targa-style tarmac racing. He also supported road safety initiatives and created the Peter Brock Foundation, which has a focus on helping disadvantaged youth. For a time, Brock was also on the Australian Grand Prix board, which he joined in 1998, and was sought for his skills as a motivational speaker.

Nickname: Peter Perfect Date of Birth: 26 February, 1945 Resided: Victoria, Australia Sons: James and Robert Daughter: Alexandra Occupation: Professional racing driver Team: Team Brock Vehicle: Holden Commodore (mostly) CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Bathurst Enduro: 9 wins, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987 Australian Touring Car Champion: 3 times, 1974, 1978, 1980 Runner-up: 5 times, 1973, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1990. Sandown Enduro: 9 wins, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984 Repco Round Australia Trial: Winner 1979 The five biggest wins at Bathurst 1979 - Brock/Richards Torana beat Janson/Perkins by 6 laps + 1m 36.5s 1975 - Brock/Sampson Torana beat Morris/Gardner by 2 laps + 1m 11s 1984 - Brock/Perkins Commodore beat Harvey/Parsons by 2 laps + 0.6s 1978 - Brock/Richards Torana beat Grice/Leffler by 1 lap + 2m3.4s

"I WAS born and bred in a little Victorian country town called Hurstbridge, and my family didn't have a whole lot of money. "My dad was a very gifted mechanic and he taught me all about machinery; the fundamental basics of a car, mechanical sympathy. "He also took me to car races, but we never had any money, so I built myself a car. "It was me and my mates out in the chookhouse at mum and dad's house. We got this rocket together, it was a real rocket, and we made it there in the old chookhouse and every now and again dad would come out and give us the nod. "I was fortunate to have a father who supported me no matter what I did, who allowed me to be myself, and a mother who instilled in me a sense of achieving a goal. "Mum was a very competitive person, she was an excellent sportswoman, a Victorian tennis champion. "Mum, I guess, was one of those people who was brought up in a household where if you didn't succeed in doing something, you weren't exactly flavour of the month with your parents and I guess that rubbed off on me. "It gave me that need to strive to achieve those levels in order to gain recognition from my parents. "That's not necessarily a healthy thing in many respects, but to give my parents their due, it made me, me. "When I was growing up I think I was a wildly enthusiactic child. "I was into running the fastest, jumping the highest and if someone gave me a double dare, I'd take it. "Fortunately my parents allowed me to be me and although thery surely despaired sometimes at the risks I took, I would have to say I owe then a great deal of debt because they allowed me to explore life without any sense of guilt or recrimination. "So when it came to to getting behind the wheel of a racing car, I took to it like a duck to water. "That car we built in the chookshed was a little Austin A30, with a Holden engine, and while it certainly wasn't a slick piece of machinery, it got me racing, it got me on the track and it got me noticed by the people who counted". One of those people was Holden Team manager, Harry Firth, who spotted the Brock talent early and asked the young gun to drive for Holden in the 1969 Bathurst 500. "I was in my early 20's and when he said "I'd like you to race at Bathurst", I knew it was my big break. "I got out there and took that opportunity by the throat. "I listened, I watched, I absorbed and I did what I was told. "That was when a great change came over me and knew I could no longer be this brash young kid who knew it all. "I had a sense of the occasion and I respected the race. I decided to go from an intuitive sense of just getting out there and doing. "I saw it a bit like an artist, I saw the race track like a canvas and I was painting it. So yes, I think I saw it a bit differently from the other kids." Brock quickly rose through the ranks, and with each win his fame grew, both on the circuit and off. The 1970s and 80s were heady times for the young driver and he admits there were times when he didn't handle the pressure well. He credits his wife Beverly and his three children James, Robert and Alexandra for bringing a healthy perspective into his life. "As you go through life, you have these moments of floundering. You go though one relationship after another (Brock has been married once before to former Miss Australia, Michelle Downes) and there's all this drama in your life. "It's very difficult to have a relationship with someone like me who has an all-consuming passion. "If you love someone who is right into something, it's most difficult for a partner to understand that, no matter how much they love you. "It occupies every facet of your being, so I was very fortunate finding Bev, because she understood. "Bev came along and I don't know, I had some sort of innate sense that said; "This woman is a very good woman and will give you some direction in your life'. "I thought: 'She's going to give me a sense of steadiness and understanding. She will give you a sense of harmony and balance rather than just running from pillar to post and hoping it works'. "So Bev's made an enormous difference in my life. "When we first met she was going through a marriage break-up with a guy interstate and a guy who worked for me knew her former husband "We knew each other socially for a year or two before we got together and gradually found ourselves together. "We were as surprised as anybody to find we were together. "She wasn't the woman I held as the ideal woman in my eyes and I probably wasn't the ideal man in hers. "She came from an academic background and here was this race driver and here's Bev who is a very attractive, but unglamorous sort of woman I had known. "She's instilled in me a sense of compassion and concern for others, which I didn't have as a young man. I'd crush over anyone to get what I wanted." But if Bev keeps him sane, his kids keep him young. "Oh my kids are full-on." * Peter Brock Excerpt from The Sunday Telegraph written by Frances Whiting

Brock was competing in the Targa West Rally at Gidgegannup about 30km from Perth. The Targa West Rally has racers racing against time over closed public roads and on special stages at race circuits. Brock's car was understood to be so far off the road at the time of crashing that witnesses say six competitors cars had driven past the crashed vehicle without noticing it. Brock's co-driver Mick Hone is said to be in critical condition after their Daytona Coupe hit a tree. Brock is experienced at driving the full roll-caged Daytona Coupe, described as an "odd looking" car that is all front and no back. Witnesses at the scene said a crash investigation unit was called before an ambulance had been despatched. Brock was 61 years old. No other cars are believed to have been involved. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) said in a statement the accident occurred at about 1.50pm (AEST). Sixty-one-year-old Brock's co-driver, believed to Mick Hone, has been taken to hospital in a stable condition. CAMS said it will conduct a full investigation into the incident. In the meantime, CAMS and event officials are working with the relevant civil authorities. "On behalf of the motor sport community, CAMS offers its sincere sympathy to Peter's family and many friends," the statement said. Targa West is a tarmac special stage rally. Brock was a dominant figure in Australian motor sport, winning the Bathurst 1000, Australia's most prominent domestic motorsport event, a total of nine times through the 1970s and 80s. He won six Bathurst 1000 wins in seven years, including his victory in the 1979 event, which he won by a record six laps. He retired from full-time driving in 1997. Since 1997, he had made two return visits to Bathurst in 2002 and 2004 and returned to top-level touring car racing as a team owner of "Team Brock'' in 2002 in the V8 Supercar category. A year later he sold his share in the team to Kees Weel. In recent years, he occasionally competed in various motorsport events such as the Targa Tasmania.

When Peter Brock started his special vehicles operation in 1980 he could not have envisaged its impact on the local car business 25 years later.  Brock admits he used the Shelby Mustang operation in the US and AMG in Germany as models for his HDT Special Vehicles, which in turn provided the model for Holden Special Vehicles and Ford Performance Vehicles that have followed and flourished.The first special was the VC HDT Commodore, released in 1980 to much fanfare. As the first of the genre it's now a classic appreciating in value.Model watchAs with the operations he emulated, Brock's brief was simple. He'd take a stock VC Commodore and modify it to enhance its performance and road-holding without compromising ADR compliance.He chose the top of the range VC Commodore SL/E which already came with plenty of fruit, the perfect base for Brock to build a European-style high-performance sports sedan that was comfortable, but handled well and looked sexy.It came already fitted with Holden's 308 cubic inch (5.05 litres) V8, but Brock and his team blueprinted it and fitted big valves which bettered standard V8 performance.  They also fitted a heavy-duty air-cleaner taken from a Chevy and added a fresh air intake to improve its breathing. It was fitted with the Holden factory dual exhaust system.With Brock's mods on board the Holden V8 put out 160kW at 4500 revs and 450Nm at 2800 revs which had it racing to 100km/h in 8.4 seconds and through the standing 400m sprint in 16.1 secs.  Brock offered the choice of Holden's four-speed manual gearbox or the three-speed auto, and a limited-slip diff was standard.Underneath Brock really worked his magic, fitting uprated and lowered springs and Bilstein gas shock absorbers for a lower stance and much-improved handling.  German Irmscher 15-inch alloy wheels and Uniroyal 60-series tyres completed the grip-and-go picture.A sporting car needs a sporty image and Brock gave it a major cosmetic makeover in the form of a fibreglass body kit with wheel arch flares, front bib spoiler and a rear wing.  Colours were white, back and red, and the package was finished off with some wild red, black and white race stripes down the side.Inside Brock enhanced the SL/E interior with a signed Momo steering wheel, a special gearshift knob, and a driver's foot rest.  Doesn't sound so special today, but in 1980 there was nothing like it.He built 500 VC HDT Commodores. He probably didn't feel it would last but his HDT specials were a sensation, continuing until 1987.  Today HSV builds special Holdens, FPV does Fords. It's unlikely either would exist if Brock hadn't needed funding for his race team.In the shopWhen considering a VC HDT Commodore it's important to remember that the foundations are strictly Holden so the main mechanical components are relatively easy to find to replace, and easy to repair or service.  Check that the special Brock components are there, the signed steering wheel, Irmscher alloys, high-flow air-cleaner.When Brock built those VCs, body kits were rough and ready. Unlike today's body kits, made of durable material to take a knock and fit well, the old kits were fibreglass, didn't stand up well when hit, and didn't fit well.  Check body kit components, such as the wheel arch flares, for cracking around attachment points and distortion between the mounting points.Crunch timeDon't expect airbags in a VC Commodore, they weren't fitted. ABS wasn't an option, but it did have four-wheel discs and rack-and-pinion steering, and the road-holding of the Brock-tuned suspension.VC HDT BROCK COMMODORE 1980Rumbling V8 exhaust notePresence of special Brock partsHigh fuel consumptionSolid performanceComfortable rideReassuring handlingPotential to increase in valueRating15/20 Good looking classic Australian sports sedan with Brock branding that has the potential to increase in value.