A former race engineer in Queensland is planning to build “brand new” Holden LX Toranas complete with 6.2-litre LS3 V8s under Australia’s low-volume manufacturing laws.
The brainchild of former motorsport data analyst Andrew South, Drive South intends to recreate the 1977 LX Torana on a “V8 Supercar-style spaceframe chassis” of extruded and bonded aluminium with a chromoly roll-cage – with full replica composite glass-fibre body panels.
The car will be powered by a GM-supplied, brand new LS3 6.2-litre V8 producing 320kW and 580Nm, mated to the same Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual transmission that saw years of service in many V8 Falcons and Commodores.
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Called the Drive South Hatch, the car will also be offered with a new GM 6L80 six-speed automatic transmission, while out back there will be a nine-inch limited slip differential.
Front suspension will be double wishbone, the rear fully independent, with 320mm discs clamped by four-pot Wilwood calipers at each corner.
Inside, the Drive South Hatch will come with leather-trimmed Recaro front seats and a carbon-fibre dashboard panel with a Kenwood 11-inch infotainment display supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There’s even planned to be a wireless phone charger.
Mod-cons will also include air-conditioning, power steering, power windows and a push-button start, while making the vehicle as safe as possible was a priority, said Drive South.
Company director Andrew South said the idea came to him as he was in the process of restoring a car.
“I was driving out to Gayndah in country Queensland, it was a day trip, and going to buy some parts off a guy who was fairly ripping me off with parts that were no good, and I’m thinking as I’m driving there, what am I doing,” said South.
“Buying all these parts, it’s costing me a fortune, I have to restore them as well… why don’t I build a new car? Is that such a crazy idea? What would that look like?”
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South said the idea of a spaceframe road car with fibreglass panels came to him while watching a Supercars race.
“Those cars are built from a tubeframe chassis, so why not do that? It’s Australia, those chassis are produced in Australia, they’ve been proven out by V8 Supercars, they’re very light, very strong, very safe,” he said. “So why not do it that way in terms of reproducing that as a road car?”
A running prototype is currently in the build. South said his cars will come with a factory warranty and are expected to cost around $250,000, or approximately the value of an original vehicle in good condition.
South wants to produce race versions of the car and enter them into motorsport events, he said.
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