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HDT A9X ....Where Is It Now


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#51 _rob350hatch_

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Posted 27 April 2010 - 08:24 AM

Ok, this comes up a bit, so lets have a quick look at the HDT shells, going back to the L34's.
HDT started with 2 L34's, one for Brock, one for Bond, I'll call them L34 1 (Brock) and L34 2 (Bond).
L34 1 was raced by Brock till he left at the end of 75 then used as a spare
L34 2 was raced by bond and damaged very badly at Amaroo in 76.

Harry bought a new shell cut it in half and welded the rear of it to L34 2.The front half of the new shell went to another driver, going off memory it was Skelton. The damaged parts of those two cars were roughly welded together and the plan was to send them to Alan Grice who caused the accident at Amaroo, but they ended up at the tip.

What happened to L34 1 in 77 I won't comment on for good reasons, but when Harvey came and Bond left, harvey initially raced L34 2. At the Symmons Plains round Harvey complained the car would only turn in one direction. This is where Harvey and Firth disagree (and part of the reason you don't believe everything someone from the team tells you after 30 odd years), again, i won't comment for good reason on why, but a new shell was purchased, this became L34 3, however log books may say something else.

At the end of 77 when the A9X was released, L34 2 and L34 3 were upgraded to A9X specs. These then became A9X 1 (L34 2) and A9X 2 (L34 3).
Meanwhile Harry had been using his own hatchback to develop the A9X, rego HF001.

In early Harry had an SS hatchback specially delivered to him that was converted to become an A9X hatchback race car, this was the car Harvey drove at the end of 77 and during some of 78, Brock drove this car during 78 also, I'll call this car A9X 3.

In 78 John Sheppard took over, an article was done on the workshop for a magazine, photos showed A9X 3 in the foreground in pieces, A9X 1 parked next to it, (you can just see the rear spoiler), A9X 2 on the hoist, and 2 plain white hatches.

The first plain white hatch is the new car being prepared for Brock, this would be the car he was supposed to start the 78 season with, I will call it A9X 4. The second hatch at the rear of the workshop is the car Brock would drive in 79, I'll call it A9X 5.

A9X 3 was being stripped down, however the team grumbled so Sheppo told them to put it back together.

A9X 4 was prepared as Brocks car after he had started the season with A9X 2.

A9X 4 was later destroyed at the Amaroo round. Harvey had been complaining about his car A9X 3, so he took A9X 4 out in practice, his foot got jammed and he slammed into the wall at over 100km/h destroying the car. Harvey sat out that round and Brock drove A9X 3. At the next few rounds Harvey drove A9X 2 while Brock continued to use A9X 3. If you look at the Wanaroo round pictures you will see Harvey is driving a sedan, this is the reason why. The Wannaroo round was the famous HDT 123. Wayne Negus had his own HDT hatch he prepared himself, however the car came through HDT so I will call it HDT 6.

Another shell was used to repair A9X 4 and so became A9X 7, the shell from A9X 4 went to the wreckers, along with A9X 1 and 2.

In 79 Harvey was given A9X 7, A9X 3 became the test vehicle and A9X 5 was prepared as a race car for Brock.

A9X 5 had been at the back of the workshop and many of it's parts had been removed over the preivious year or so, it was returned to the factory and Mike Prowse pushed the car around on a trolley getting whatever bit's he could get his hands on at the time to complete the car. The Marlboro paintwork was then completed IN THE FACTORY without signage and the car returned to HDT. Brock loved the UC SLE trim because it matched the trim in his UC he had been given to drive on the road.

Brock used A9X 5 through the entire 79 season, however for some reason he told everyone, (and I think it was on one of the videos) that this car was brand new prior to Bathurst or Sandown. the fact was the cars were stripped down prior to Sandown and rebuilt.

A9X 5 came first at Sandown, with A9X 7 coming second.

At Bathurst, A9X 5 went on to have that famous win, while A9X 7 crashed on Griffend bend, flipping the fence.

Holden hired Jim Shepherd to rebuilt A9X 7 for a museum back in the Richards Brock signage from the 78 win, and supplied all the parts to finish the job. Holden pulled out of the deal leaving Jim with the car. He asked Harvey to drive the car in a sports sedan race, however after a datson rubbed a tyre down the side, harvey pulled into the pits and the car sat idle for a few years before it was sold.

A9X 5 went on to become a prized possession of Brock until 1993.

So whats around today?

L34 1 reappeared and is used in Group C today, interestingly it's never been converted to A9X and is owned by Mick and Anna.

L34 2/ A9X 1 lives in the Peter Champion Museum, incorectly painted as Brocks car (A9X 2), the fact was it never raced under John Sheppards management.

l34 3/ A9X 2 lives in Victoria and is raced in Group C owned by Tony and Chiomi.

A9X 3 is raced by Paul Stubber as the 77 Harvey car

A9X 4 is surrounded by controvesy, some people believe it is a myth, one person claims to own the car, the tag and the story behind it causes the main problems, but I won't get into that.

A9X 5 is in the Bowden ownership

A9X 6 is the Negus car owned by Paul Stubber

A9X 7 is the car owned by the Bowdens represented as the Brock Richards 78 bathurst winning car.

HF 001 ended up in Broken Hill and is now in Victoria and has been under restoration for a number of years. Harry has verified this car and all the paperwork exists to prove the car is HF001. The car in QLD was a HF customer car and the tags don't match for HF001

Now, to add to this, there were other spares that HDT had possession of. One, I will call HDT 8 was apparently being prepared to race when Garry Rogers destroyed his car at Amaroo in 79. A shell was sourced from HDT and a restoration a few years ago apparently revealed the HDT paintwork underneath. Interestingly this car doesn't have the A9X trim either.

At least one more shell existed in the HDT storage, but this shell was never raced or prepared at all and was cut up.

Hopefully that will answer a few questions.

you have confirmed my own research my two replicas are a9x 2 and a9x 3

#52 _lx5008_

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Posted 28 April 2010 - 07:53 PM

so guys who owns this one after the bowdens?

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#53 _niterida_

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Posted 28 April 2010 - 08:27 PM

Off-topic but I had the chance to buy a GMP&A hatch back in 1997 for $15k but bought a HSV instead - D'OH

#54 _rob350hatch_

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 04:36 PM

Off-topic but I had the chance to buy a GMP&A hatch back in 1997 for $15k but bought a HSV instead - D'OH

yes

#55 enderwigginau

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Posted 02 May 2010 - 07:45 PM

 Posting for ^
See Red's post for details on what is in these pics :D
Attached File  V8Action.jpg   43.36K   118 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style.jpg   36.43K   130 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg2.jpg   41.3K   118 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg3.jpg   42.56K   115 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg4.jpg   136.67K   112 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg5.jpg   136.74K   86 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg6.jpg   154.82K   82 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg7.jpg   149.05K   75 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg8.jpg   41.95K   72 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg10.jpg   36.95K   69 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg11.jpg   44.95K   61 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg12.jpg   34.83K   64 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg13.jpg   42.21K   66 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg14.jpg   41.45K   73 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg15.jpg   40.23K   66 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg16.jpg   35.25K   91 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg16b.jpg   35.67K   83 downloads 

#56 _rob350hatch_

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Posted 03 May 2010 - 02:50 AM

�Posting for ^
See Red's post for details on what is in these pics :D
Attached File  V8Action.jpg   43.36K   118 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style.jpg   36.43K   130 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg2.jpg   41.3K   118 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg3.jpg   42.56K   115 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg4.jpg   136.67K   112 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg5.jpg   136.74K   86 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg6.jpg   154.82K   82 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg7.jpg   149.05K   75 downloadsAttached File  HDT 1978 Style pg8.jpg   41.95K   72 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg10.jpg   36.95K   69 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg11.jpg   44.95K   61 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg12.jpg   34.83K   64 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg13.jpg   42.21K   66 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg14.jpg   41.45K   73 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg15.jpg   40.23K   66 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg16.jpg   35.25K   91 downloadsAttached File  V8Action pg16b.jpg   35.67K   83 downloads�

thankyou enderwigginau for putting these up .oh and thanks to rob350hatch for scanning and forwarding these pages,lol. if anyone has trouble reading the text please send me a pm and i can email you the pages in full size
cheers rob350hatch

#57 _yellowa9xs_

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Posted 03 May 2010 - 06:21 PM

so guys who owns this one after the bowdens?

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I got offered this car - about a week after I bought the HRT427 so I had NO money to spend on cars. How much would I have loved to own the only A9X road & race hatches ever made.

I would give anything to get hold of this car. I saw it at the A9X Nationals about 5 or 6 years ago and it is beautiful. It looks like a brand new car and the colour is magic.

#58 WhiteA9XS

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Posted 03 May 2010 - 07:33 PM

yeah , i remember when it was for sale at 200k then yellow !!! i thought about it for a while too , then again brock sold the 79 car for some 40 odd k too

you coming up to morgan park in july ? need some track buddies !!!

#59 _gmp&a_

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Posted 05 May 2010 - 03:15 PM

Our little Yellow car is now in Vic with the new owner & I don't think she has seen the sunlight for quite some time. Thank you for the kind words Mick, I was quite smitten with her too & it would have been great if you had purchased her, as you are a perfect owner for something like that. Cest la vie! It was the first resto' our current team did and to say I was very proud of how it turned out, is an understatement. That car had NEVER had a hit and getting her back to bare metal really changed my attitude, from admiration to obsession, toward these Group C GMP&A hatch's and their subtle points of difference. Amazing cars, definitley one of the best Australia has ever produced.

Good on you for putting the history's of the HDT L34 & A9X's up Red and for clearing the air about Brock getting a new car in late 79 (Always shat me when experts asked me where it went...) but I don't agree with some minor points. I'll call you?

Cheers, Chris.

#60 _yellowa9xs_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 07:15 PM

Hi White, I won't be going to Morgan Park as I will be in the USA picking up my new baby! And no, my new baby isn't a car, it's a baby, as in child!

Just for those who know me but don't know the story, my wife was sick with breast cancer and the chemotherapy means she can't have children so we found a women in the USA to carry a baby for us. Finally, after 13 years of trying, we are having a child.

And GMP&A, I remember being up at the Torana A9X Nationals at Paul Morris' driver training complex on the Gold Coast and I spent an hour just perving at the absinth yellow hatch - it was just plain beautiful.

#61 _A9XONE_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 08:34 PM

Good on yeah! Mick Hope wife is OK!Posted Image
A9XONE

#62 A9X

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 09:04 PM

That's great news mate, well done,
Congratulations.

#63 _yellowa9xs_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 09:10 PM

Good on yeah! Mick Hope wife is OK!Posted Image
A9XONE




She's being a pain in the arse, so she back to full health!!!!

Edited by yellowa9xs, 08 May 2010 - 09:10 PM.


#64 _lx5008_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 09:11 PM

Hi White, I won't be going to Morgan Park as I will be in the USA picking up my new baby! And no, my new baby isn't a car, it's a baby, as in child!

Just for those who know me but don't know the story, my wife was sick with breast cancer and the chemotherapy means she can't have children so we found a women in the USA to carry a baby for us. Finally, after 13 years of trying, we are having a child.

And GMP&A, I remember being up at the Torana A9X Nationals at Paul Morris' driver training complex on the Gold Coast and I spent an hour just perving at the absinth yellow hatch - it was just plain beautiful.


very good to see mick. my wifes 24 weeks with out 3rd after 9 years of trying.

#65 xu2308

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Posted 12 June 2010 - 12:21 AM

Was going through some of my Old Custom Rodder Magazine's,and in the Aug-Sept 1980 issue No.60
There a Ex HDT A9X Hatch in there,its owned by Geoff Paton of Super-Plus,Dandenong Victoria.
Geoff bought this A9X as a Shell,the Shell was Built for Circuit Racing but never used (Ex HDT Grice Etc.)
Colour is White,it has 10" and 8" HDT wide wheels on it,same as Brocky had on the 1979 HDT A9X.
The Vic Rego Number is AIG140, is this Hatch still around, Super-Plus has a Hot 350 Chevy V8 in it,with a Turbo 400 Tranny,Diff Ratio is 3.9,Disc Brake rear end,it runs 12.78 at 116 MPH over the Qrt Mile



#66 xu2308

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Posted 12 June 2010 - 12:40 AM

Attached File  Super Plus A9X.jpg   1.24MB   112 downloads


Attached File  Super Plus Hatch.jpg   1.48MB   140 downloads


Attached File  A9X Ex HDT Grice.jpg   615.39K   117 downloads


Attached File  HDT A9X etc.jpg   1.13MB   70 downloads



Here the Pics of this Super Plus A9X from Victoria in 1980

#67 REDA9X

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Posted 12 June 2010 - 07:52 PM

I'd love to know where this one is now.
From what I'm reading, it's a spare shell, not EX HDT or ex Grice necesserily. The wheels are Bathurst Globes, they actually look like the 10" front and rear with different offsets exactly as HDT ran, but they never used them in 79. Yes, the Brock car has them on it now, but it never used them in 79, HDT used Jongbloeds in 79.

#68 _outer control_

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 10:34 AM

I'd love to know where this one is now.
From what I'm reading, it's a spare shell, not EX HDT or ex Grice necesserily. The wheels are Bathurst Globes, they actually look like the 10" front and rear with different offsets exactly as HDT ran, but they never used them in 79. Yes, the Brock car has them on it now, but it never used them in 79, HDT used Jongbloeds in 79.



Talking about hatches was harrys black 76 prototype ever used in any races [the one in north vic town] there have been stories

#69 V-SLR5000-P

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 01:12 PM

On another related tangent, in the early 1980's a couple of mates were working at Graham Withers Speed Shop (at the time l had my A9X hatch) Another young guy working at Withers acquired an ex Warren Cullen A9X hatch as a roller which he built up with a blown Chevy 350 and toploader. At the time we all thought that jamming a 671 blown Chevy into it was a hell of a good idea! This car still had a full Group C cage and the floor bashed up for exhaust clearance. l can't recall if it was tagged GMPA and at the time it didn't matter, but it was definitely an ex Warren Cullen car.

#70 REDA9X

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 02:16 PM

Harry says the prototype was never raced, and that would make sense. Harry stopped running HDT at the end of 77 and at that stage only the Harvey hatch was racing with the converted L34's. Harry would have taken the car when he left HDT or sold it off, either way I'm sure there would be a dispute over who actually owned the car, Holden or Harry.
I remember the ex Cullen car, the young guy died before the car was finished. Cullen only raced 2 A9X hatches and one A9X sedan briefly. One hatch was the one mentioned, the other is owned by a forum member, neither cars are in Cullen colours. The sedan is being restored as we speak.

#71 V-SLR5000-P

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 02:26 PM

Harry says the prototype was never raced, and that would make sense. Harry stopped running HDT at the end of 77 and at that stage only the Harvey hatch was racing with the converted L34's. Harry would have taken the car when he left HDT or sold it off, either way I'm sure there would be a dispute over who actually owned the car, Holden or Harry.
I remember the ex Cullen car, the young guy died before the car was finished. Cullen only raced 2 A9X hatches and one A9X sedan briefly. One hatch was the one mentioned, the other is owned by a forum member, neither cars are in Cullen colours. The sedan is being restored as we speak.


Red, Gary did finish the car and took it to one of the first Street Machine Nats at Mildura. Tragically, he did later die from a brain hemorrage. As far as l know his brother still has the car.

#72 REDA9X

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 06:45 PM

Ah Ok, I thought he died just prior to getting it to the Nats and his brother finished the car. It's been a while since I heard the story, but I knew it was something like that. I had some pics of it somewhere.

#73 _A9XONE_

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Posted 14 June 2010 - 06:21 AM

It would be nice if you could fine those photos RED!
Cheers
A9XONEPosted Image

#74 xu2308

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Posted 16 June 2010 - 06:05 PM

Garry Della Purchased the Ex-Warren Cullen Race Car that Garry Purchased as a Shell with roll Cage fitted and with front suspension intact,it was Cullen back up car,that had seen little use.
The A9X Body was Fully Seamed welded and has been painted in Porsche Guard Red


Attached File  Garry Della A9X Hatch.jpg   323.93K   34 downloads


Garry Della worked at Graham Withers Speed Shop,and he Built this A9X Hatch at work,it had a 350 chev 4-Bolt main Engine with a GM 6-71 Supercharger,Top Loader 4 Speed,9" Diff.
Garry had the engine Dyno and it was putting out 500 hp @ 4500 rpm and 523 ft. lbs of torque

#75 xu2308

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Posted 16 June 2010 - 06:19 PM

Attached File  Garry A9X Hatch.jpg   1.13MB   68 downloads


Attached File  About Garry A9X Hatch.jpg   835.13K   67 downloads


Garry Della A9X Hatch




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