27-521: Birrana was the name of two motor racing organisations, both associated with South Australian racing driver and engineer Malcolm Ramsay. From 1971 to 1978 Birrana constructed a series of successful open-wheel racing cars under the Birrana name. It also constructed a Holden Kingswood HQ for Ramsay to compete in Group C Improved Production Touring Cars racing. Ramsay brought the Birrana name back to motor racing in
54-639: A 253 cubic inch Holden V8 as standard, with an optional 308 cubic inch V8 variant optional, mated to an Aussie 4 Speed Gearbox, and 3.36:1 Ratio 10-Bolt Salisbury differential as standard, making the SS a hit among younger power hungry drivers, so much so that a Series II SS was released after the Series I run failed to meet demand, in the end, Holden had produced 2800, The SS also featured a Black Roebuck Vinyl Interior with Houndstooth or Flax-Raydo inserts, Standard arm rests, center console with floor shift, Sport Steering wheel and
81-577: A full GTS dash cluster. The GTS was a specification of the HQ Holden Monaro , Based on the Kingswood, decked out with all the bells and whistles, the GTS featured its own stripe style, available in most colours, along with a choice of 253 or 308 Holden V8s, mated to either a 4 Speed Holden manual or 3 speed GM Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic, backed by a heavy-duty Salisbury differential, the GTS package featured
108-793: A full interior with optional houndstooth seat inserts in standard bucket seats, sports steering wheel, center console, tachometer, dual split gauges (pictured) and more. For the South African market, the Holden HQ sedan was marketed as the Chevrolet Kommando , and the HQ utility as the Chevrolet El Camino . The Kommando received only the Chevrolet 4.1-litre six while the Constantia was also offered with
135-528: A lesser model, in this case on a V8 Kingswood sedan. Option XV4 was the HQ GTS sedan. Option XW8 was the HQ GTS350 sedan. The commercial vehicle range included coupe utility , panel van and cab chassis truck models. The One Tonner, which was new for the HQ series, was a cab chassis truck . A Sandman option, which was offered on utility and panel van models from January 1974, included various "sports" items from
162-629: A road-going version. As of 2024, HQ racing events are still held regularly in every Australian state and territory, and a national event is held annually. The organising body is HQ Racing Australia. The Statesman HQ range of long wheelbase luxury sedans, based on the Holden HQ series, was also released in July 1971. The Statesman models replaced the Holden Brougham from the HG range however they were marketed as Statesmans rather than as Holdens. The Statesman HQ
189-431: Is utilises the 202 ci/3300 cc size six-cylinder engine, the largest six-cylinder engine sold in the car, and is limited to four-door sedan bodied cars. The HQ motor racing category also had an effect on spare parts in wrecking yards around Australia, with parts and body panels becoming scarce as many of the teams would 'raid' the yards for cheap spares. This led to a shortage of spares for the HQ model for anyone who owned
216-415: The 1973 Australian Formula 2 Championship from Enno Busselman in a 273 entered by Bob & Marj Brown. Graeme Crawford also drove a 273 to win the 1976 Australian Formula 2 Championship . Peter Brock also drove an ex-Leo Geoghegan Birrana 273 during the 1973 Australian F2 Championship, finishing second at Oran Park and sixth at Amaroo , while also winning a number of non-championship races. Brock ran
243-675: The Penang Grand Prix and the Selangor Grand Prix and third in Malaysian Grand Prix and was leading the series when it was cancelled. The A78, which was the last model to carry the Birrana name, was later sold to John Holmes of Queensland as were all Birrana patterns, jigs and dies. Holden Kingswood HQ The Holden HQ series is a range of automobiles that was produced by Holden in Australia from 1971 to 1974. The HQ
270-522: The 1990s running a series of Reynard Motorsport built Formula 3000 chassis in the Australian Drivers' Championship . Birrana came to dominate the championship winning titles with Jason Bright , Paul Stokell , Rick Kelly and Simon Wills as well as giving Mark Webber his first racing experience of wings and slicks open-wheeler racing. As Formula Holden started to wither, Birrana moved into V8 Supercar with Wills. Ramsay reduced his involvement as
297-516: The Birrana under the "Team Brock" banner and the car used a Ford engine, and later a Hart engine. Brock's Holden Dealer Team boss Harry Firth claimed that he let Brock race the Birrana to get formula cars out of his system. The F73 was a Formula Ford design. Richard Carter drove an F73 to victory in the 1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series . The 274 was the company's new Australian Formula 2 car for 1974 with Malcolm Ramsay announcing plans to build an initial batch of six cars. A 274
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#1732876642079324-807: The HQ range totalled 485,650 vehicles prior to its replacement by the Holden HJ series in October 1974. Holden HQ series cars were produced at GMH plants in Adelaide ( Elizabeth, South Australia ), Melbourne ( Dandenong, Victoria ), Sydney ( Pagewood, New South Wales ) and in Brisbane ( Acacia Ridge, Queensland ). Engines, transmissions, and final drive assemblies were produced at the engine casting plant at Fishermans Bend, Victoria , although 350 cu in (5.7 L) engines and its drivetrain components were fully imported from fellow General Motors subsidiary, Chevrolet , in
351-767: The Holden 5.0-litre V8 coupled to an automatic transmission. The El Camino received both of these options as well as a new (to South Africa) 3.3-litre six, only in conjunction with a manual transmission. The HQ One Tonner was sold as the Chevrolet El Toro. With the introduction of the HQ model, Holden's factory supported production-car racing efforts shifted from the V8 Monaro to the smaller six-cylinder LC Torana . A few Monaro and V8 engined Kingswood cars were built for racing, most notably Malcolm Ramsey's V8 Kingswood. These HQs were never as successful as earlier model Monaros had been or
378-490: The Monaro GTS. The two inline six cylinder engines from the HG range were carried over to the HQ, but were enlarged to 173 cu in (2.8 L) and 202 cu in (3.3 L). The 253 cu in (4.1 L) - marketed later as 4.2 liters, 308 cu in (5.0 L) ( Holden V8 engines ) and 350 cu in (5.7 L) ( Chevrolet small-block engine ) V8's were also carried over. Production of
405-533: The United States. Many local automotive component businesses in all these states across Australia supplied the main plants with many other parts, such as wiper arms, glass, carpets, electrical systems, fasteners, and the like. HQ production in New Zealand was at GMNZ's assembly plant at Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand using some NZ production components and ran until 1975 to use up HQ parts that weren't used on
432-542: The following Holden HJ series. The Belmont was the barebones HQ, successor to the Holden Standard , coming with a standard 173 cubic inch Inline 6 and column shift 3 speed manual, The Belmont also featured a unique, more toned down door trim design. The Kingswood was a slightly midrange, just like the Special it replaced, with a more stylish interior, featuring armrests as standard, and added exterior chrome. The Premier
459-553: The larger-budget Torana teams or the Ford Falcons and Mustangs they raced against. From the late 1980s, the Holden HQ was used in Australia as the basis of a one-make racing category with an emphasis on cost. The category began in Tasmania but very quickly expanded to every state and New Zealand to become the entry-level motor racing category nationwide. The cars are built to comply with CAMS Group 3H Technical Regulations. The series
486-568: The team morphed into Team Dynamik . Today Ramsay continues the Birrana name as a mechanical engineering firm servicing the mining industry. The first Birrana was a Formula Ford built by Tony Alcock in 1971 for John Goss . Alcock was a designer builder who had previously worked for Elfin Sports Cars in Adelaide and for Brabham , Cosworth , McLaren and Cooper . "Birrana" is an Australian aboriginal word meaning "throwing stick". The Birrana 272
513-615: Was a monocoque Australian Formula 2 car, constructed by Alcock in Adelaide for South Australian racing driver Malcolm Ramsay. The 272 won the Australian Formula 2 class on its debut at the Sandown round of the 1972 Australian Drivers' Championship in April. It was later sold to Peter Brock , and subsequently won the opening round of the 1973 Australian Formula 2 Championship in the hands of Leo Geoghegan . Birrana Racing Cars Pty Ltd
540-575: Was available in two trim levels. A Holden SS sedan was released in August 1972. Although marketed as a separate model in reality it was a Belmont V8 sedan fitted with the XV2 option package. The Monaro range initially consisted only of two-door coupes . Two four-door sedan variants of the Monaro GTS were released in March 1973 and similarly to the SS the new sports sedans were a special vehicle package optioned on
567-462: Was formed later in 1972 by Alcock and Ramsay and construction of racing cars was undertaken in a former service station in suburban Adelaide . The company would go on to sell a total of 16 cars. The first car sold by Birrana Racing Cars was a Formula Ford , the F72 produced in 1972 for Steven Drewhurst of Melbourne . The 273 was an Australian Formula 2 car. Leo Geoghegan used a factory team 273 to win
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#1732876642079594-617: Was killed in a plane crash which also took the lives of Hill and four other Embassy Racing team members. There were three 374’s made by the team all that were very successful on track The S74 was a speedcar built to run at the Adelaide International Raceway half-mile bitumen oval. It utilised a mid-engined configuration. The Birrana A78 was built by Malcolm Ramsay using 273 and 274 components for Ramsay to contest Rothmans Series events in Malaysia in 1978. Ramsay finished second in
621-531: Was offered in two models, the base "Statesman Custom" and the premium "Statesman de Ville". 1974 Australian Formula 2 Championship The 1974 Australian Formula 2 Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Australian Formula 2 racing cars. It was authorised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as an Australian National Title and was the eighth Australian Formula 2 Championship to be awarded by CAMS. The championship
648-677: Was released on 15 July 1971, replacing the Holden HG series. It was the first ground-up redesign of the Holden line since its original release in 1948, and included an all-new body, chassis, and suspension. The HQ was later developed into a series of successor models, finally ending production when the WB series was discontinued in 1985. The mainstream HQ passenger car range consisted of four-door sedan and five-door station wagon models in three trim levels. The long wheelbase luxury model, "Statesman by GMH" consisted of one body style (four-door sedan) and
675-496: Was sponsored by Melbourne shirt-maker Van Heusen, which provided $ 50,000 prizemoney for the eight round series. The championship was won by Leo Geoghegan driving a Birrana 274 Ford for the Grace Bros. Levis Racing Team. The championship was contested over an eight round series with one race per round. Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six eligible finishers at each round. Only holders of
702-586: Was the top dog of the mainstream 'Holden' Line throughout to the release of the XV8 GTS350 Sedan in 1973, featuring a woodgrain styled interior, full length armrests, a standard center console with bucket seats, and many exterior style accents. The Premier's design language was also carried through to the Monaro LS coúpe. The SS was a limited edition variant of the Belmont V8 Sedan, Option code XV8 , Featured
729-504: Was used by Leo Geoghegan to win the 1974 Australian Formula 2 Championship from Bob Muir in a 273. Geoff Brabham took a 274 to victory in the 1975 Australian Formula 2 Championship . The 374 was an Australian Formula 3 car. Birrana Racing Cars Pty Ltd was closed in 1974. Bob and Marj Brown took two Birrana 273s and Tony Alcock to England to compete in the 1975 Formula Atlantic series. Later, Tony Alcock joined Graham Hill 's Embassy Racing Formula One team. Later that year he
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