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Points taken, but I think if you do a comparison between a Holden a P76, you should be comparing a 202 3-sp manual Kingswood to a 2600 3-sp manual Deluxe, it too had 'skinny wheels'

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Don't want to bang on about the poor old P76 too much in a Holden forum I've joined here, haven't owned a '76 for 26 years and own 2 Holdens now so it's clear where I stand. I really like Holdens, but the P76 is a soft target, over-hyped over the years to a joke that has overtaken reality. My first car was a P76 Deluxe 2.6 auto. It was shabby, but cost $350 with 8 mths rego. It did have the 6-in steelies and was an auto, so it had extras over the standard car. Still could rope in my mate's $2000 HQ 202 3-sp, from his being a car-length ahead at 80km/h to me passing him at 100km/h... my grandad's HQ Premier 4.2 was a competitor to the Super V8 auto I later owned, and the Super was the better car. Not better looking, not better built, just better designed/engineered off the shelf, and less than 1/2 the price used. Anyway, I gotta go do some work! :)

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Originally posted by HK1837
Yes, HK and HT GTS327 and GTS350 dominated all GT's and GT-HO's of their era. Everyone respects the GT-HO but not everyone wants one. I'd have a PhaseII if one was offered, but it'd have to be much cheaper than an XA RPO83 or HK GTS327 for me to even consider it! At least the Monaros and XA GT's beat V8 opposition!

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hey byron i seem to remember the little torana giant killer wipped the gt's in 72 and would have in 73 had they not run out of petrol lol a gt is so overated and over priced it aint funny

Edited by user Thursday, 21 April 2011 9:27:38 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

drive a HO, then drive the equivelent in a holden(if there is such a thing)and you will be very impressed. the only thing that i have driven in the holden range that even comes close would be an XU-1, nothing else, it was just a bit more nimble thats all, but even that lacked the grunt of the HO. only my 427 vette had more power than the HO, but so it should have, it had 76 more cubes.overpriced? well yes they are, and always have been and always will be, as are most australian cars anyways.
ps AU's are probably the best value for money car you could buy.

we wreck...dead right,and they are overpriced now,but back then they weren't,sorry but holdens had nothing that could touch them 4v's,but holdens were way more reliable,a solid capped 4v would rev to7,500 but occasionally break..damn!VN Heads are the closest....I drove a GT and dragged everything from L34's XU1's gts 327 /350 honestly nothing even came close(in a straight line..xa rpo coupe),but this was my experience,not flaming any of the old cars..lovem all.

++++P.S...and yes the door handles broke//lol

Here is mine.
Best.
HQ GTS COUPE
HK GTS COUPE
HT GTS COUPE
HG GTS COUPE
LJ GTR XU1
Worse.
Any Camira
AU Falcon
Lexcen
TA Torana
UC Torana.

By the way I thought we only had to list 5 of each.
Regards Tony.

wonder how many of those bagging the p76 actually ever so much as drove one or even have seen one.
the p76 was a victim of a scurrilous campaign by the existing manufacturers and the massive increase in fuel prices. yes it had problems but it was leylands first attempt at a large australian car. after 60 years of making cars ford brought out the xl falcon with suspension that collapsed as soon as it saw a rough road. most of them had to have the front end rebuilt. fast forward to today and fords are still, after 30 years of knowing there is a problem, being put on the road with a basic fault in the rear wiring which makes whether or not the stoplights or taillights work a matter of luck. then there was the 2 door Cobras which had a valve in the fuel tank which was supposed to stop fuel leaking if the car overturned, but in dozens of cases actually pumped fuel into the boot, my mate had one and he often found 2" of petrol floating around, this was fron new. ford denied it and never fixed it. what did fix it was it caught fire and burned his 2 children to death because his wife could not get access to the rear seat belts to get them out.
at the inquest ford denied any responsibilty said it was a one off, despite there being around 80 of them going up in the eastern states.
a set of oxy bottles in the boot was blamed, although they were empty.
Holden did no better,the sunbird which leaked gallons of water into the boot from new and the rust which came as a bonus 0on all holdens because the panel metal was left out in an open paddock until made into pressings, i saw this myself on a visit to the factory in sa., and the 4 cylinder commodore, the vh/vk wagons which had to have the front ends realigned after every second trip to the rough roads (i had personal experience of this) the XD ride was far better on rough roads but the vk handled better but tended to float at speed on sandy/gravel roads, to the extent it was frightening.
the oil leaky gen1 vn engines, the loose pistons in the LS1 which owners had to fight to get rectified, , the rear tyre wear in the irs commys, show the manufacturers are still reluctant to build a good car.
personally I have owned over 300 cars and the only ones I actually hated were the 1985 nissan 720 4wd diesel, and the vw beetle. although the kia sportage is rapidly coming close to being hated.

Great subject!

Fav =
HK GTS 327 Monaro
A9X Torana Hatch
EK Holden Special (Auto)
WB Statesman Caprice Series 2
VE SSV Commodore in Ignition (Orange)

(Sorry E49 Chargers & XA RP83 Hardtops)......

Hate=
AU Foulcan
Nissan Nimbus
Morris 1100
Mazda Capella
Anyhing from Korea.....

Long live the Aussie made car (Holden or Ford)....
Cheers.....