One of 2 x A9X’S used by Bob Morris to win the 1979 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC).

Raced Bathurst 1000: 1977 and 1978.

ATCC outright wins in 1978 and 1979.

2nd place 1978 ATCC.

3 owners from new, original cams logbook.

Raced in period by:

DEREK BELL, MBE: 5 X Le Mans 24Hr, 3 x Daytona 24Hr, 2 x World Sportscar Championship winner.
DIETER QUESTER: 4 x Spa 24 Hr, 4 x European Touring Car Championship winner.
JONNY RUTHERFORD: 3 x Indy 500, 1 x Indy car Championship winner.
JANET GUTHRIE: 1st woman to compete in Indy 500, Daytona 500 and lead a NASCAR lap. Very cool lady.
& of course;
BOB MORRIS: 1976 Bathurst 1000, 1979 ATCC winner.

The all-conquering LX A9X Torana, was recognized by the FIA and CAMS as a variant of the LH SLR5000 L34 Torana that preceded it. The L34’s resume of success certainly looks convincing on paper, but it was a series of victories achieved by their drivers, limping home a car they knew could break a diff, or a gearbox, (or both simultaneously.) at any moment.

This isn’t how anyone wants to race, especially the de facto head of Holden racing, Mr Harry Firth OAM, who fought vigorously with Holden for years, to get the V8 Torana race fit. Through sheer determination and keeping the Torana’s Homologation papers worded in a very loose, generic manner, Harry and Holden Motor Company (HOMOCO) created what I and I’m sure many others, think is Australia’s greatest production based racer. (If it wasn’t for ADR27a, the A9X would have been Australia’s greatest road car too, but the Aus Gov’ knocked that… Bless them.)

The A9X’s debut year certainly didn’t go as GMH and Harry envisioned, as they met head on with Allan Moffat, Colin Bond and Carroll Smith’s Ford Motor Company (FOMOCO) backed juggernaut AMR, that clean-swept the 1977 touring car year in a most convincing manner. Perhaps unfairly, GMH dumped Harry for the 1978 season, but that made way for an era that helped define Holden’s place in Australia’s motorsport history; the 1978 and 1979 John Sheppard HDT A9X epoch.

With Harry’s departure from the HDT, Holden’s prodigal son Peter Brock, was welcomed back to the works team. Between Sheppo’s invigorated HDT, Brock’s freakish abilities and John Harvey’s consistency, things were looking very good for the Holden Dealer Team. But their greatest foe wasn’t a FOMOCO product, but a Sydney based Holden team, that happened to have their own winning formula, albeit one that could have been easily underestimated by the bookies in period: Enter Ron Hodgson Racing (RHR).

Fronted by the charismatic and successful car dealer Ron Hodgson, RHR had a line-up that was destined for greatness; Peter Molloy is a name that appears frequently with winning teams, his engineering skills were legendary and perhaps in this era, second to none. Understudy Ron Missen was still learning his craft, but was the perfect protege for Malloy and finally you have Mr Bob Morris; Bob’s humble nature belies a fierce competitor that rose to any challenge. Bob’s 1979 victory and 1984 RX7 exploits speak volumes of his talent and the more you study what he did and who he beat, the more you admire the man’s expertise; Winning any ATCC is a feat worthy of high praise, but winning the 1979 ATCC against Brock and Sheppo’s HDT, is a victory worthy of serious contemplation. 

The A9X we are proud to have for sale, is one of two that was used to win the 1979 ATCC and for such a unique, local product, it has an amazing international flavour. The second of three A9X racers built by RHR and the first of the iconic two door “Hatch”, her debut was certainly an interesting one; Bathurst 1977 and Ron Hodgson’s wallet and influence convinced USA icons Jonny Rutherford and Janet Guthrie down to Mt Panorama. Between Jonny’s balls out driving talent and Janet’s finesse, the pairing looked pretty good. Certainly not a P1 contender, but a top 10 looked achievable. Unfortunately for RHR, no one foresaw that these two accomplished drivers had never raced at a track with blind corners before and Bathurst, a daunting track at the best of times, has them in surplus; Even the straights have blind spots! The US pairing were rightfully un-nerved by flying blind and both expressed their relief when Jonny crashed out early in the race.

The original CAMS logbook shows her next race was 1978, with 12 starts in total and a very close second place in the 78 ATCC, to Brock and the HDT. Her final race in 1978 was at the Bathurst 1000 with yet another media generating, international pairing of note, but the harsh lessons from Bathurst 1977’s choices were obviously retained; The internationals chosen were definite contenders for a podium and loved a blind corner. RHR had hired two of the greatest endurance drivers available; German maestro Dieter Quester and the great Derek Bell. People have written entire books around these guys careers, but you will have to suffice with following snapshot: Dieter is a 4 x Spa 24 Hr, 4 x European Touring Car Championship winner. And Derek is a 5 X Le Mans 24Hr, 3 x Daytona 24Hr, 2 x World Sportscar Championship winner. Both, especially Derek, are rightfully established legends in the motorsport world. He’s well worth a Google search kids…

Derek qualified the A9X 4th (See, I told you he was good!) and was subsequently involved in the era defining opening laps, of the 1978 Great Race, that featured Moffat and Bond in their stunning XC Cobra’s and Brock, Morris, Grice and Bell all going at it hammer and tong. Accompanying this visual feast, was an extremely excited Mike Raymond commentating, which was the perfect accompaniment to this frenetic, opening scene. All parties involved, put on a masterclass display of ten tenths driving. For me it is the very high watermark in the epic Falcon Coupe Vs A9X Torana battle of the late 1970’s and I wouldn’t know just how many times, it has been repeatedly played in the Bowden household. Derek stuffed it in 5 laps later, but it doesn’t really matter, as it was those first few laps that defined an era and this car was a big part of it.

For 1979 and when RHR and Bob finally clinched the ATCC, our A9X for sale was used for the Sydney rounds only. Luckily for Bob and the car, that involved winning the Oran Park round outright, gaining crucial points for what was a narrow victory over Brock and the up-until-that-point, invincible HDT. With the 1980 changes to Group C, the A9X was rendered obsolete and the whole Gp C / ATCC scene kinda sucked for a while, which in my opinion, has only further highlighted how awesome the 1977 – 1979 era really was. The 2 RHR / Morris A9X Hatch’s were sold off, with our car for sale, going to the enigmatic WA based millionaire Peter Briggs. According to her original CAMS logbook, Briggsy bought the car before 30/5/1980 and raced the car 3 times at Wanneroo in 1980. She was subsequently retired to his York based Museum, along with D- Type Jaguars, 427 S/C Cobra’s, Blower Bentley and the like. There she sat, perfectly preserved for 30+ years, until Briggsy put her up for sale with Mossgreen Auction house and was purchased by the current owner. He commissioned a sympathetic mechanical overhaul, with Tassie motorsport legend John Walker. The car’s only outing being her 40th anniversary of the 1979 ATCC win, at the 2019 Phillip Island Historic races (Demonstration laps only).

This ATCC winning GMP&A A9X hatch is a unique opportunity to buy a car that was one of the greats, during one of our greatest motorsport era’s. Bob’s 1979 win has gone down in history not only as a significant accomplishment, but it is further accentuated by how he beat Brock and HDT at the very peak of their powers. For the car to be subsequently museum preserved, post career, is extremely rare and its combination of survivor condition, crystal clear provenance and stellar driver line up and race career, makes it a blue-chip collector car, to either be further preserved, or respectfully raced at the popular Heritage Touring Car historic races, where it would be a most welcome addition.