Holden Monaro GTS – Australia’s Answer To The Ford Mustang

This is an original, unrestored Holden Monaro GTS, it was Australia’s answer to the onslaught of American muscle cars in the 1960s like the Mustang and the Camaro, and it would arguably become Holden’s most loved car of all time.

The Monaro – Australia’s Pillarless Sports Coupe

The first Holden Monaro was released in 1968 and sold over three model iterations until 1971. The styling was influenced by American V8 coupes like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, however the Monaro was entirely unique and it quickly became one of the most desirable sports cars in the country.

The elegant design of the Monaro belied its capabilities on track, over the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s Holden Monaros would win a slew of important Australian races and championships including the Hardie-Ferodo 500 (now known as the Bathurst 1000) on two occasions and the 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Interestingly the Monaro didn’t have a name for much of its development, hundreds of names were tossed around and the name “Torana” seemed like the final choice until Noel Bedford, member of Holden’s design team, discovered the name by accident while on a family road trip holiday.

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Above Image: The styling of the Monaro was done 100% in-house at Holden, but it took some inspiration from similarly equipped American cars.

Bedford was driving through the town of Cooma in New South Wales in Australia’s east when he saw a road sign: “It said Monaro County Council in western-type lettering that reminded me of “Marlboro Country” and “Camaro”. It seemed to me so simple and logical. Why didn’t somebody think of it before? I was quite excited and couldn’t wait to get back to work.” – Noel Bedford

After he got back to the office and checked the trademark status of the name Holden held an impromptu board meeting and approved it.

The first generation Monaro would be built in three iterations, the Monaro HK, Monaro HT, and finally the Monaro HG. They all share the same body panels and look indistinguishable to the non-trained eye but there were a slew of changes made underneath and in the engine bay.

Initially you could buy a Monaro with a straight-six under the hood, you could opt for either a 5.0 litre (307 cubic inch) V8 or the top-of-the-line GTS model with a 327 cubic inch small-block Chevrolet V8. At this time Holden engineers were hard at work on their own V8 engine, this new engine was developed 100% in-house and it was intended to become the company’s flagship engine – which it was between 1969 and 2000.

In 1969 you could order your new Monaro with the new Holden V8, a 308 cubic inch (5.0 litre) 90ยบ V8 with 16 push-rod actuated valves and cross-flow heads. This engine proved popular both because it was smaller and lighter than the 327 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 and because it would give its owners bragging rights as owners of a “100% Australian muscle car”.

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Above Image: Original Monaros with the Australian 308 cubic inch V8 are highly sought after by collectors today.

Today these original first generation Holden Monaros are highly sought after in Australia, particularly the GTS V8 versions which had proven so successful on the race track.

The 1971 Holden Monaro GTS 308 Shown Here

The car you see here is an original GTS equipped with the Australian-developed 308 cubic inch V8. Unusually this car is also an unrestored survivor – a rare find nowadays as many of these early Monaros have been restored back to showroom condition but perhaps lack the character of a car in its original paint.

As a 308 V8 equipped GTS the car will have a great deal of appeal to many Australians, it’s fitted with the desirable Saginaw 4-speed manual transmission, and it has factory air-conditioning, power steering, and the side stripe delete option.

The car is finished in Electra Blue over a black and houndstooth interior, it’s still wearing the correct steel wheels, and it has just 16,660 miles on the odometer.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual piece of Australian history of register to bid you can click here, it’s currently being offered on Collecting Cars with approximately two days left on the bidding.

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Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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The Tamiya FMC XR311 R/C – A Re-Release Of Tamiya’s First Off-Road Buggy From 1977

The unusual looking buggy you see here is historic two for reasons, firstly (the full scale version) was a prototype intended to replace the venerable Jeep, and secondly because the R/C version by Tamiya was the Japanese company’s first off-road buggy.

The reason why the folks at Tamiya choose this prototype as their first off-roader is interesting, and it’s possible that they took a gamble on this being the vehicle that was chosen to replace the Jeep – so they would have the brand new “Jeep” available as an R/C model.

The model is based on the FMC XR311, a prototype military vehicle that entered development in 1969. A number of development models were built and the military are known to have bought at least a dozen of them set up to perform various tasks.

The US military ordered a number of FMC XR311s for testing purposes and they could be configured to fulfill a multitude of roles including anti-tank, reconnaissance patrol, convoy escort, command and control, medivac, military police, mortar carrier, internal security and forward air defense communications vehicle.

Above Video: Footage of the Tamiya FMC XR311 being put through its paces.

The FMC XR311 likely had an influence on both the Lamborghini Cheetah and AM General’s HMMWV – better known as the Humvee and the vehicle that would eventually fill the role.

The XR311 had a rear-engine, four-wheel drive layout with power sent from the Chrysler V8 engine through a 3-speed TorqueFlite A727 automatic transmission and a single-speed full time transfer case.

These vehicles were tested extensively throughout the 1970s and they did look like a likely M151 Jeep replacement – likely enough that Tamiya created their model of it, the development of which likely started in the mid-1970s, before the FMC XR311 project was cancelled.

First released in 1977 the Tamiya FMC XR311 R/C is now largely unknown, and it’s certainly far less famous than the brand’s better-known off-roaders like the Tamiya Hornet. Tamiya recently brought the model back into full production for people who missed out the first time around.

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FMC XR311

Above Image: An artist’s rendition of the original FMC XR311 vehicle.

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For Sale: A Restored Dodge M37 – A Tough Ex-Military 4×4 Pickup Truck

The Dodge M37 was developed as an improved version of the venerable Dodge WC Series 4×4 trucks from WWII. When engineers set to work designing the M37 they took everything that worked well on the WC trucks and redesigned anything that didn’t – resulting in a truck so tough that some of them remain in service to this day with civilian agencies in rural areas.

The Dodge WC 4×4 trucks were critically important vehicles during the war, they also introduced an entire generation of young men to four-wheel drive drivetrains and pickup trucks.

There’s no way of directly quantifying the influence this had on them, but we do know that in the years after WWII the popularity of both 4×4 vehicles and pickup trucks would skyrocket across the United States.

With the 3/4 Ton M37 Dodge were working to fulfill the needs of the US Military heading into the 1950s and 1960s. Although the earlier WC series trucks had been invaluable during the war there were some shortcomings that came to light, and Dodge worked to solve them all.

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Above Image: The unmistakable profile of the M37, this truck carries all of its period-correct military markings.

Firstly, the width of the M37 was slightly less than that of the WC, and it was also a little shorter – giving it a lower profile. The original four-speed gearbox was replaced with a newer fully-syncromesh four-speed which made the truck much easier to drive for newly enlisted 18 year olds with limited time behind the wheel.

The M37 also used a sealed 24 volt electrical system, a waterproof ignition system, built-in deep water fording ability, much improved weather protection, and steel doors with roll-up glass windows were available on many variants.

The original inline-six cylinder gasoline engine from the WC series was modified for use in the Dodge M37. This engine was originally sourced from a 1930s era passenger car, however it had been through a series of modifications for use in trucks. Power was just 78 bhp at 3,200 rpm however the M37 was never intended to be quick, just tough and dependable.

Power was sent back through the four-speed transmission into a two-speed transfer case. The front axle could be disconnected to save fuel when four-wheel drive wasn’t needed, and the two-speed transfer case allowed for high and low range operation.

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Above Image: Although still utilitarian, the interior of the M37 was a considerable improvement over its predecessors.

Over the course of the 1951 to 1968 production run Dodge would build over 115,000 examples of the M37. The trucks were deployed to the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and they played a role in a series of other conflicts including the Laotian Civil War, the Nicaraguan Revolution, the Cambodian Civil War, the Salvadoran Civil War, and the Guatemalan Civil War.

Once they were slowly retired from service many were sold into civilian hands, and today they’re seeing a surge in popularity along with many other vintage 4x4s.

The 1953 Dodge M37 you see here has been given a full frame-off restoration, it was resprayed with period-correct military markings and numbers, and it’s fitted with the correct information plates. It carries the correct field tools on the tailgate and it’s sitting on 9×16 non-directional military issue tires.

Inside you’ll find a reupholstered interior, there’s a multi-purpose box on the floor, and the steering wheel and other plastic items are in excellent condition.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum, it’s due to roll across the auction block in March.

Dodge M37 4x4 Truck Specifications

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Images courtesy of Mecum

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The Two Wheeled Jeep – A Custom Yamaha TW125 From Portugal

This Yamaha TW125 was completely rebuilt by classic car restorer Manuel Vieira, his goal was to build the perfect long-range off-roader with a fuel efficient 125cc engine, a large capacity fuel tank, and ample space for carrying supplies.

Vieira is based in Vila Nova de Gaia, about 10 kms from Oporto in Portugal. He has been a production manager in the textile industry until the industry collapsed during the Great Recession, after leaving the textile world he turned to his true passion – restoring classic cars.

Over the past decade Vieira has made a name for himself bringing vintage cars back to life, but what many people don’t know about him is that he’s pretty handy at building motorcycles too – in fact the first project he ever embarked upon was building a sidecar for his bicycle when he was 12 years old.

The first motorcycle he developed was a modified trials bike for his 7 year old son, who rode it to a win in a Portuguese Trial Championship. When he works Vieira uses old school techniques, there’s no CAD software or 3D printers used at any part of the process, he painstakingly creates each part by hand to match what he sees in his head, and then moves onto the next part.

The bike you see here started life as a standard Yamaha TW125, it was bought from a previous owner who lived on the Azorean islands off the Portuguese coast. Initially it was modified for flat track racing however at some point the engine blew, relegating the bike back to the workshop.

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Above Image: With its ample luggage space and attached trailer this bike is capable of extended periods of travel off the grid.

Due to the proliferation of scramblers within the modern custom motorcycle scene, and the increasing number of scramblers being made by manufacturers, Vieira decided to create his own version of this 70+ year old motorcycle type.

Rather than creating the kind of scrambler that never sees the dirt and spends much of its life parked outside popular cafes, Vieira decided to create a genuinely capable two-wheeled Jeep. Just as with the original Willys Jeep from WW2 engine power would not be a major concern, rather it was decided to focus on giving the bike excellent trail riding ability and long-range.

The project began with a full teardown, the engine obviously needed a full rebuild and a new piston which it received, the frame was stripped and repainted, and it received a new subframe.

A luggage rack was added to above the front fender, this was paired with a luggage rack over the rear fender, and an all-new trailer was built allowing the bike to carry everything a person might need for long periods of time away from civilization.

The most challenging aspect of the build was creating the new higher-capacity fuel tank. Vieira carefully shaped it from foam initially with great care taken to get it symmetrical – no mean feat. A new intake system was devised to keep water out of the engine, an alloy tube now runs from the intake up to just behind the seat, and it’s capped with a washable foam filter.

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Above Image: The shovel-sump-guard keeps the delicate underbelly of the engine safe from rocks, plus it’s easy to remove and replace if needed.

Once the mould had been created the tank was laid up using fiberglass, and a matching rear fender was created using the same material with an old motocross fender used as a mould.

The was was fitted with twin LED headlights to ensure trails would be well lit at night, it has a small windscreen, a flag for improved visibility, and perhaps best of all, a shovel has been used as the under sump bash plate.

The completed bike is ideal for weekends away or for the occasional zombie apocalypse, it’s been named “Jumatsu TransWorld” and it won’t be the first such creation rolling out of this Portuguese garage.

Manuel Vieira doesn’t yet have a website or a social media presence, however we’ll be staying in touch with him and bringing you his new builds as they’re completed.

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Images: Manuel Vieira

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