346 replies to this topic

[Rockoz]

When I was a younger version of myself I went to the government auctions with my dad.

There was a white LH V8 AutoTorana up for auction at the time.

First tell tale sign was the typical damage to the front seat from a cop getting in with all the gear on his waist.

The second tell tale sign was the red and yellow defect stickers in the centre console.

They werent there when I got out of the car though.

Really wanted the old fella to buy that car but he bought a valiant instead.

With the canaries one would assume that the car probably did Highway work.

[xu2308]

NSW Police had a 1974 Saffron LH SLR5000 on Trial in Early 1974 and the Police Observation Unit had a Black LH SLR5000 with no 5000 Decals on it. The Observation Unit had a Budget to Buy any type of Vehicle for Observation Police Work.  Saffron LH SLR5000 on loan by GMH to NSW Police.jpg   119.35K   1 downloads

[xu2308]

RM125n The Above LH SLR5000 was on trial at 21st Division, not your normal Police Unit as you know about. 21st Division did what they like. The above SLR5000, I asked on the NSW Police page on how long the 5000 was there on Trial for. No one could give a answer, there are lots of Ex Coppers on that page. Yet know one knew how long this 5000 was there for. So they don't know then you would not know. Like I said Observation Unit bought what they liked for Observation even a Black LH SLR 5000 with no Decals.

[S pack]

I don't know why they never had many big Torana's? How would they catch a crook in a 5000 in 351 XB LOL. I know that there wasn't much in it but I thought that they would want the fastest Aussie product available at the time, cheers Aaron.

Can't see why the 21 jump street division would need fast cars to do stakeouts. Certainly wouldn't want cars that stand out from the crowd?

[xu2308]

21st Division wanted a SLR5000 to look like your normal Aussie bloke to blend in, the 5000 would do that back then, they used any Vehicle Dave to suit there purpose. RM125n only knows what the Run of the Mill Cops were Driving as in normal issue cars. Holden Engineering built the Police a 427 Chevy V8 HT or HG Holden and they handed it back cause it was to scary, Norm Darwin spoke of that. For Wheels Editor Peter Robbo Robertson to say that No wonder the Police Wanted them in Feb 1973 issue of Wheels magazine and Robbo is a Highly Creditable Editor in the motoring industry, then the NSW Police was shown or Trialed a V8 LJ.

[xu2308]

Wheels Magazine is BASED in Sydney NSW, Editor at the Time and a Highly Respectable Motoring Editor that had many Connection says here in Wheels Feb 1973 issue, that the POLICE Wanted THEM, he is talking NSW Police.  image.jpg   134.48K   1 downloads  image.jpg   81.22K   0 downloads

[S pack]

21st Division wanted a SLR5000 to look like your normal Aussie bloke to blend in, the 5000 would do that back then, they used any Vehicle Dave to suit there purpose. RM125n only knows what the Run of the Mill Cops were Driving as in normal issue cars. Holden Engineering built the Police a 427 Chevy V8 HT or HG Holden and they handed it back cause it was to scary, Norm Darwin spoke of that. For Wheels Editor Peter Robbo Robertson to say that No wonder the Police Wanted them in Feb 1973 issue of Wheels magazine and Robbo is a Highly Creditable Editor in the motoring industry, then the NSW Police was shown or Trialed a V8 LJ.

That may be so but we are talking about only one LJ with a V8 engine not a quantity of cars as you stated in another thread.

 

quote [as NSW Police has some V8 LJ Pursuit Cars, so did Canberra Police have some, my Guess GMH must of built these Pursuit LJ Torana V8's ?????????.]quote.

 

I believe RM125n and Tyre Biter are correct in that there were no V8 LJ's in the NSW & Canberra Police forces (with the exception of maybe, possibly, we don't have any concrete proof, that there was one LJ which may or may not have had a V8 engine fitted, being used by 21 Jump Street).

Edited by S pack, 16 December 2016 - 08:07 AM.

[S pack]

Wheels Magazine is BASED in Sydney NSW, Editor at the Time and a Highly Respectable Motoring Editor that had many Connection says here in Wheels Feb 1973 issue, that the POLICE Wanted THEM, he is talking NSW Police. image.jpgimage.jpg

Yes  the Police may have liked to have some but they had to settle for the 150 list XU1's instead.

[xu2308]

Believe what you want Dave, 21st Division was not the Run of the Mill force, they were a very special force, RM125n is speaking of the normal cops and there cars. The other Police in NSW would not know what 21st Division Onservation unit or 21st Division was doing. They Trialed the Cars and had a budget to buy any car for Observation work. 21st Division was a Famous Unit within the NSW Force.

[RM125n]

Xu2308
When GMH Sold your car in April 1973 it was a standard 6cylinder pink GTR again with the wrong numbered 6cylinder motor right ,so who but the 308 V8 motor back into your car ?
Also when you purchase this pink GTR from the ACT it had a 6 cylinder motor in it right?

[RallyRed]

fYI....interview with an old cop.....not right on topic, but.. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So it can be done honestly and effectively but probably less so at the local area. More so with specialist and well resourced units? Yeah I'd agree with that, yeah. See your local area, you've got absolutely no resources. For example when I started the Drug Unit in 1989 we were given a car that had a... it was an old marked police car with the badges taken off but it still had the glue imprint around the white sedan. It was a police car without colour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[S pack]

Wheels Magazine is BASED in Sydney NSW, Editor at the Time and a Highly Respectable Motoring Editor that had many Connection says here in Wheels Feb 1973 issue, that the POLICE Wanted THEM, he is talking NSW Police. image.jpgimage.jpg

 

 

Yes  the Police may have liked to have some but they had to settle for the 150 list XU1's instead.

 

 

Believe what you want Dave, 21st Division was not the Run of the Mill force, they were a very special force, RM125n is speaking of the normal cops and there cars. The other Police in NSW would not know what 21st Division Onservation unit or 21st Division was doing. They Trialed the Cars and had a budget to buy any car for Observation work. 21st Division was a Famous Unit within the NSW Force.

Al, in my post I've quoted above I'm not talking about 21 Jump Street Squad I'm only referring to the 'normal cops and their cars'

[xu2308]

Xu2308
When GMH Sold your car in April 1973 it was a standard 6cylinder pink GTR again with the wrong numbered 6cylinder motor right ,so who but the 308 V8 motor back into your car ?
Also when you purchase this pink GTR from the ACT it had a 6 cylinder motor in it right?

RM125n

GMH only Sold the V8 Lone o Ranger (Orange) LJ GTR Prototype as a returned to 6 Cyl GTR format in Feb 1975 by the Tender Network

The White and Pink LJ GTR V8 Prototypes were Sold as V8's, The Pink and White GTR V8's were used out at Lang Lang for Engine Testing as they had moved onto the L34 Program by Fred James in late 1972, the Pink GTR did Marketing Rides to select GMH Dealerships and as Peter Robbo Roberson tells YOU RM125n, NO WONDER THE POLICE WANTED THEM, ummm for them to WHAT THEM and know about them back then, means they were SHOWN one or TRIALED one, hence the Marketing Rides. 21st Division Observation Unit could buy anything for Observation work from a mini to a Bus or a Muscle car etc etc.

Some select GMH Dealerhips built some V8 LJ's (Max Wright Motors in Penrith NSW, Reeves Garage in SA and City State in SA)

They are just the ones we know about so far, a GMH Exec told me that GMH Head Office in Port Melbourne knew about these Dealership building V8 LJ's but turned a blind eye to it as the Dealership was looking after the V8 side of things, GMH supplied them Dealers a 6 Cyl Car from the factory and the dealer got in the 308 V8 and did the conversion. So the marketing rides of the Pink GTR V8 had paid off.

[xu2308]

Here is one of the Dealership Built V8 LJ's, this one was Built by Reeves Garage in SA and is still alive to this day.  11259109.jpg   351.83K   11 downloads

[RM125n]

RM125n
GMH only Sold the V8 Lone o Ranger (Orange) LJ GTR Prototype as a returned to 6 Cyl GTR format in Feb 1975 by the Tender Network
The White and Pink LJ GTR V8 Prototypes were Sold as V8's, The Pink and White GTR V8's were used out at Lang Lang for Engine Testing as they had moved onto the L34 Program by Fred James in late 1972, the Pink GTR did Marketing Rides to select GMH Dealerships and as Peter Robbo Roberson tells YOU RM125n, NO WONDER THE POLICE WANTED THEM, ummm for them to WHAT THEM and know about them back then, means they were SHOWN one or TRIALED one, hence the Marketing Rides. 21st Division Observation Unit could buy anything for Observation work from a mini to a Bus or a Muscle car etc etc.
Some select GMH Dealerhips built some V8 LJ's (Max Wright Motors in Penrith NSW, Reeves Garage in SA and City State in SA)
They are just the ones we know about so far, a GMH Exec told me that GMH Head Office in Port Melbourne knew about these Dealership building V8 LJ's but turned a blind eye to it as the Dealership was looking after the V8 side of things, GMH supplied them Dealers a 6 Cyl Car from the factory and the dealer got in the 308 V8 and did the conversion. So the marketing rides of the Pink GTR V8 had paid off.

I THink you have left out some comments about your car that Division 21 purchase your car from GMH April 1973 to chase down Drug lords in there Ferraris and Lambo's in 1970's
Your car was based at North Sydney only the best cars go there ,which is HQ for STP (LATER HWY Patrol HQ from 17/3/75 )some one would have seen your car if it was ever there and Division 21 is based at REDFERN since the 1960's Clear across town very strange. Now it's just an observation car
It is so sad that you are trying to rely on this Wheels FEB 1973 magazine one sentence NO WONDER THE POLICE WANTED THEM ,Can you please show me where it states that NSW POLICE wanted them in this sentence ?
The documents that you have posted about your car only covers from April 1972 until April 1973 When GMH own it
The documents I want to see is from May 1973 onwards to prove who purchased the car and to prove that it still had a 308 V8 when sold by GMH
I believe state again that your car was sold as a 6yl resprayed mid 1970's and that's why it remain hidden for so many years and still a 6 cylinder today
Now after three years Allan you are the only person that ever stated that NSW Police having V8 LJ TORANA'S on this forum and many other forums including POLICE ones and still have no proof at all could this mean that NSW POLICE NEVER HAD A V8 LJ AT ANY TIME
Please show the documents from May 1973 on wards if you don't have any of these Document just say so ?

[xu2308]

Wheels Magazine is BASED in Sydney NSW, Editor Peter Robbo Robinson is Based in Sydney NSW, Robbo saying what he said in the Wheels Feb 1973 story would be NSW Police wanting them as only NSW Police and SA Police had the GTR Torana's did they not ???????????????  Wheels Magazine Feb 1973 V8 LJ - Copy.jpg   85.78K   0 downloads

 

 

[xu2308]

No body can confirm there is some SLR5000's on Trial, ummmm Here is the photo of it

And about the observation unit had a budget to do what they seemed fit    Saffron LH SLR5000 on loan by GMH to NSW Police.jpg   119.35K   1 downloads  SLR5000 on Trial.jpg   102.45K   1 downloads

Edited by xu2308, 22 December 2016 - 06:56 AM.

[xu2308]

8th Dec 1971 in Sydney is maybe why they wanted a faster Police Pursuit car in 1972  Police embaressed.PNG   218.46K   5 downloads

[S pack]

RM125, my GTR was owned by GMH and was in the XW7 Program, the XW7 program was stopped cause of the Super Car Scare in 1972, but after the program was stopped my GTR did marketing Rides, only one place it could of been marketed was the NSW Police as they bought 300-GTR Torana's.

Why would GMH use a V8 LJ GTR for marketing rides for the NSW Police when they were ordering std 6cyl GTR's?

I'll bet these so called marketing rides you allude to Al happened (if at all) after that contract was awarded.

Doesn't make any sense at all.

Edited by S pack, 22 December 2016 - 07:29 AM.

[Rockoz]

There is a chance albeit very slight chance that the cops may have got to try out a V8 Torana.

Mate of mine years ago was a bike cop.

He had all sorts of different bikes at different times.

Some that werent marketed here.

They were evaluation bikes.

He only had them for a short period, sometimes only days.

Maybe that happened with a Torana.

But it would only be speculation and something that would unlikely to be verifiable.

[xu2308]

Why would GMH use a V8 LJ GTR for marketing rides for the NSW Police when they were ordering std 6cyl GTR's?

I'll bet these so called marketing rides you allude to Al happened (if at all) after that contract was awarded.

Doesn't make any sense at all.

When i was told it was used for marketing rides as well Dave, i thought it did not make sense as well, the person that told me worked on the cars at Lang Lang where they were kept in V8 Format, It was shown to select GMH Dealerships, no doubt there was a demand by customers for a V8 LJ, and GMH got around the problem by letting the select Dealerships put the 308 in some LJ's, and we know that some dealers built some, umm fact. proof is in the photo of the orange lj v8 that reeves garage built, no doubt NSW Police was shown the car, ummm Robbo is telling you's is he not.

And that July 1972 Contract of 300-LJ GTR's, that contract would of been talked about in very early 1972 for sure and what was coming as a road car in july 1972 until Super Car scare stopped it, so had to resort back to the other road going car available.

Have you heard the story about the Sandman Van, ummm Bags got one done and took it on marketing rides, and the select dealerships oh so wanted them, Bags fronts up to the GMH Board and says we need to build the Sandman Van the board said oh NO, then Bags told them he took one for a ride and had a heap of orders, and that is how the Sandman Van was oked. True Story on the Sandman Van, looks like marketing rides was the done thing to get things done.

Edited by xu2308, 22 December 2016 - 07:59 AM.

[S pack]

When i was told it was used for marketing rides as well Dave, i thought it did not make sense as well, the person that told me worked on the cars at Lang Lang where they were kept in V8 Format, It was shown to select GMH Dealerships, no doubt there was a demand by customers for a V8 LJ, and GMH got around the problem by letting the select Dealerships put the 308 in some LJ's, and we know that some dealers built some, umm fact. proof is in the photo of the orange lj v8 that reeves garage built, no dout NSW Police was shown the car, ummm Robbo is telling you's is he not.

And that July 1972 Contract of 300-LJ GTR's, that contract would of been talked about in very early 1972 for sure and what was coming as a road car in july 1972 until Super Car scare stopped it, so had to resort back to the other road going car available.

Have you heard the story about the Sandman Van, ummm Bags got one done and took it on marketing rides, and the select dealerships oh so wanted them, Bags fronts up to the GMH Board and says we need to build the Sandman Van the board said oh NO, then Bags told them he took one for a ride and had a heap of orders, and that is how the Sandman Van was ok.

No, Robbo does not appear to 'categorically' state in his Feb 73 that any NSW Police actually saw and or tested a V8 LJ, only that after he (Robbo) did the article on that home made white V8 LJ he could now understand why Police would want a car like that.

Police officers in the day may have thought it would be great to have a V8 LJ GTR/XU1 simply because of the '160mph bullets on wheels' hype of the supercar scare.

Edited by S pack, 22 December 2016 - 08:01 AM.

[xu2308]

It Clearly says: No wonder the Police wanted them. Read it dont twist it Dave and that Car was not home made it was Built by GMH Dealership Max Wright Motors.  Wheels Magazine Feb 1973 V8 LJ - Copy.jpg   85.78K   2 downloads

Edited by xu2308, 22 December 2016 - 08:08 AM.