John Harvey’s Holden Torana goes under the hammer

John Harvey is not a household name in the way that Peter Brock was, but Harvey’s place in the pantheon of Australian motor sport is not to be underestimated.

So the auction of the race-prepped 1977 Torana A9X he drove in the Australian Touring Car Championship during the years 1977 to 1979 is sparking a lot of interest among online speculators and fans.

Online bids for the Torana have already reached $700,000, with three days yet to run before bidding closes. The auction could close at a bid of around $1 million – or possibly much higher – says Lee Hames, chief operations officer for Lloyds Auctions.

“Arguably one of the most important pieces of Australian Motor Racing History to go under the hammer in some time, this car is presented in the correct HTD Marlboro livery bearing #76 and running as good as the old days thundering around the tracks,” Hames was quoted as saying in a press release.

“Who knows what this car could end up selling for, I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells for $2 million.

“The significance and provenance of this car is paramount to Australian history and is something that is very special and extremely rare, there is no other like this car, it is 1 of 1 driven by legendary race car driver John Harvey.”

Harvey is remembered for his high-profile defection from the Holden Dealer Team to Tom Walkinshaw’s Holden Special Vehicles not long after Holden withdrew support for HDT in 1987.

But fans will also recall that Harvey notched up some notable wins in motor racing, not least of all a Bathurst win in 1983 when he shared his Commodore with Brock and Larry Perkins after their car expired. Harvey also co-drove a Commodore with Allan Moffat to an unlikely win in the World Touring Cars Championship round at Monza in 1987 – after the leading six BMW M3s were all disqualified.

Holden developed the A9X option for the LX series of Torana to go racing in the Australian Touring Car Championship. Numbers were limited, and the race cars (liftback coupes rather than the sedans also available as road cars) were rarer still.

This particular Torana has been in possession by the same owner since 2002, and there has been plenty of interest in the car, both at home and abroad, since it was listed for sale some weeks ago. According to Lloyds, the Torana is being sold with spare tyres, apparel worn by Harvey, plus trophies, racing records “and a huge array of other memorabilia items”.

The auction will conclude at 7pm on Saturday, November 28.