It appears 57D - HT 350 is for sale:
http://ro6119.wixsite.com/hdt-monaro(if the link above doesn't work copy and paste into a web page)
Below is a short extract from the web site which has the full history of the car and plenty of pictures:
Holden Dealer Team Monaro for Sale.
Here is the opportunity of a lifetime for an Australian Motor Racing purist who can appreciate an iconic piece of Australian Motor Racing history.
This vehicle is the first Series Production Race Car prepared for the newly formed Holden Dealer Team by Harry Firth after crossing over from the Ford Works team in 1969.
In 1969 Harry Firth was considered by those at Ford to be 'too old' and was replaced as Ford Works Team boss by American Al Turner. Within a short time he had crossed over to General Motors Holden (GMH) to become manager of the new Holden Dealer Team, which despite the "Dealer" name was actually a full works team backed by Holden and set up by GMH executive John Bagshaw. Because of General Motors world wide factory ban on motorsport at the time (dating back to the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans disaster that killed 80 people), the team's cash flow from Holden had to come through the 'back door' to avoid alerting GM headquarters in Detroit. Ironically, the HDT operated out of Firth’s Auburn workshop, the same that had once housed the Ford Works Team.
The first race Firth prepared a car for was the 1969 Sandown 300, the pre crusor to Bathurst, the most important date on the Australian Motor Racing calendar.
Firth requested and was granted by GMH four newly released Monaro GTS 350's which were manafactured to tackle Fords GT HO's on the Mountain. These vehicles were supplied by various Holden Dealers around Melbourne with this Monaro supplied by Campbell Motors in Preston. These cars were to be prepared for Sandown and Bathurst a few weeks later.
This Monaro is the car Firth prepared for the Sandown 300. It is the first car ever prepared for the Iconic Holden Dealer Team, the most successfu racing Team in Australian Motoring history.
Firth selected as drivers Spencer Martin and Kevin Bartlett for the Sandown 300, both Gold Star winners which is in effect an Australian Drivers championship as we know it today.
Below is a photo of the Monaro as it prepares to take to the front row of the Grid for the start of the Sandown 300.
In order to move to page 2 and beyond please click on the "Page" tab above and click on the next page.
Unbenowns to all involved with the race team there had been a mix up with brake pads. Having spoken with Harry Firth, Ian Tate (The former Head Mechanic of the Holden dealer Team) and Frank Lowndes there were two sets of brake pads for the Monaro that were utilised for practise, a road set and a race set. The high tech system consisted of two small boxes with "Road Pads" and "Race Pads" written on the exterior of the boxes. After the last practise prior to Sandown someone placed the "Race Pads" in the "Road Pad" box and the "Road Pads" in the "Race Pads" box. Subsequently at the three quarter of an hour distance Spencer Martin having reached the end of the front straight at Sandown at well in excess of 100 MPH went to squeeze on the brakes only to find the pedal went straight to the floor. The road pads were destroyed in a very short period of time due to the extreme conditions of racing.
Spencer was no fool and knew the consequences of hitting the fence at such a speed and instinctively reefed on the handbrake, spun the Monaro around backwards and hit the Armco at approximately 80 MPH, leaped over the armco and down onto the return road. The armco ripped the fuel tank and subsequently the fuel spilled and hit the hot exhaust manifold and ignited.
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