Above 1200 Sq/FT The Cow Pasture Garage - Australia

[kitdoctor]

Gotta love marketing.

Once, what were thought as a problem to get rid of have now gone on to become very sought after.

The Option 97 cars (#0002-#0031) sell for north of AUD500k and the rest (Option 96 cars) north of $200k when in tidy-very nice condition. Recent examples.

 

[Geoff289]

Their value and desirability helped by the legendary 1.2 finish at Bathurst in 1977. I was there.

 

[kitdoctor]

Album 4 of 6.

A tidy Ford XC panel van, although IMO the stripe which is from the earlier XB series (1974-76) never looks right on an XC. This is what I'll say is a plain Jane panel van and not a Sundowner (see below).

I bought a similar van in the late '80s when I lived in Alice Springs. It had been abandoned by a tourist departing Australia. Such was the value, or more correctly the lack thereof, of these cars.



Holden, Ford and Chrysler tapped into the youth market in the 1970s and offered the Holden Sandman, the Ford Sundowner (see also Ford Sundowner) and the Chrysler Drifter respectively. I'll post some photos in another post, just for interest.

A very talented club member built this replica GT 40. That was a while ago, maybe 2012-13.









The same club member has recently completed this build. It's not a replica or tribute but loosely based upon his father's recollections of open-wheeler cars from his youth era.






Ford T-bucket. A sunny day only driver.



The interior of the T-bucket.



The guy in the white tee-shirt built the GT 40 and open-wheeler. His father built this hauler which the son now maintains. I'd assume F-series.

 

[kitdoctor]

Holden Sandman, Ford Sundowner and Chrysler Drifter Brief Story Part 1

The Holden Sandman was released across four models: 1) HQ (1974), 2) HJ (1974-76), 3) HX (1976-77) and 4 HZ (1977). It was also available as a utility and at the 2000 Sydney Motor Show Holden exhibited a concept utility (not shown).








I particularly liked the twin-headlight Premier frond-end.






This YouTube video tells the historical Holden Sandman story (acknowledgement Postcards From Down Under).

Ford's Sundowner was first released in the XB model (1974-76) (not shown). I can't say for sure whether production spanned the entire three-year period. The most recognised Sundowner's are those that were introduced after this, particularly the Falcon panel van and the smaller ****** panel van which feature the new exterior graphics.

An XC Sundowner panel van. All came standard with the GS package. This was a special order Ford employee car fitted with the 351C, four-speed single rail transmission, Meadow Green paint and Jade vinyl interior.



A Sundowner ****** panel van.



Ford also released the Sundowner in the Transit van.



The Sundowner was also included in the XD Falcon range (1979-81). Again, I can't say for sure whether production spanned the entire three-year period.



This video from an owner covers the ******, XC Falcon and Transit van Ford Sundowner range (acknowledgement Aussie Garage).

 

[kitdoctor]

Holden Sandman, Ford Sundowner and Chrysler Drifter Brief Story Part 2

Not to be left out and the model I know least about was Chrysler's Drifter, released as a panel van and utility.

One thing I know is that these models were produced in incredibly low production numbers, only manufactured in 1977, 338 panels vans and 114 utilities respectively. I'd assume this was because Chrysler was late to the party on tapping into the youth market and the growing trend towards smaller cars.

In 1978, Chrysler did add the Drifter name to the two-door Valient Charger (shown below).



A 1977 Chrysler CL Drifter panel van...



...and another.









A 1977 Chrysler CL Drifter utility...



...and another.



Here's the story of the Chrysler Drifter (acknowledgment Mark Behr who has a great YouTube channel).

 

[kitdoctor]

Their value and desirability helped by the legendary 1.2 finish at Bathurst in 1977. I was there.

@Geoff289 I wasn't old enough to attend (unless of course I ran away from home) in those final years of the 1970s and was limited to watching it on television.

That would have been an awesome experience.

Sadly, as we know, Allan Moffat passed away in November 2025. Colin Bond is still alive, aged 84.

 

[Geoff289]

@Geoff289 I wasn't old enough to attend (unless of course I ran away from home) in those final years of the 1970s and was limited to watching it on television.

That would have been an awesome experience.

Sadly, as we know, Allan Moffat passed away in November 2025. Colin Bond is still alive, aged 84.

As a died in the wool blue oval fan, it was particularly exciting and satisfying. For the record, having just completed my 71st trip around the sun yesterday, I was 22 and drove myself and couple of mates to Bathurst in my XY GT covered a while back in my own thread.

While drag racing has been my main motorsport interest since the age of 11, seriously, that was my second Bathurst having also been the year before, and I've been about half a dozen times since, the most recent being 2009 I used to go to most of the local rounds of the Supercar and before that the Touring Car championships but haven't been for a long time now.

 

[M.Brane]

Great stuff! It's very interesting to see the familiar body lines on completely different vehicles. Thanks again for sharing all the pics & info.

 

[kitdoctor]

As a died in the wool blue oval fan, it was particularly exciting and satisfying. For the record, having just completed my 71st trip around the sun yesterday, I was 22 and drove myself and couple of mates to Bathurst in my XY GT covered a while back in my own thread.

While drag racing has been my main motorsport interest since the age of 11, seriously, that was my second Bathurst having also been the year before, and I've been about half a dozen times since,

@Geoff289 great memories Geoff.

Those early visits (and perhaps others), if I'm correct, would have been within the historic Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) Group C touring car era from 1973-84.

All of us older motorsports enthusiasts know what that means. It was an era of widely different cars, both Australian made and imported, factory backed teams, privateers and various classes, which together made it IMO the most interesting and memorable period of Australian motor sports (in that division, i.e. touring cars).

It produced the drivers that became household names, Peter Brock (RIP) The King of the Mountain (i.e. the Mount Panorama Circuit or race track at Bathurst, NSW), Bob Jane (RIP), Allan Moffat (RIP), Jim Richards , **** Johnson, Ian 'Pete' Geoghegan (RIP), Kevin Bartlett, John Goss, Colin Bond and many more.

Let's reminisce over a few of the more memorable race cars.

The Peter Brock and Jim Richard's 1979 Bathurst winning Holden Torana LX A9X Hatchback (acknowledgement Street Machine). Second place 1979 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC).



Bob Jane's 1967 Ford Mustang GT 390 (acknowledgement Bob Jane 1967 Mustang GT 390). Sixth place 1969 ATCC and third place 1970 ATCC.



Bob Jane's 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO ZL-1 (acknowledgement wikipedia). First place 1971 and 1972 ATCC.



Alan Moffat's 1969 Ford Mustang Trans Am Boss 302 (acknowledgement AutoAction). Sixth place 1970 ATCC, second place 1971 ATCC and third place 1972 ATCC.



Allan Moffat's 1971 Ford Falcon XY GT HO Phase III (acknowledgement Shannons), first place 1973 ATCC.



**** Johnson's and John French's 1980 Ford Falcon XD winning the Bathurst 1000 in 1981 (acknowledgement The Sydney Morning Herald).



At Bathurst the year before, the car crashed on lap 17 after hitting a rock that was accidentally rolled onto the track by two spectators.

The Ian 'Pete' Geoghegan 1967 Ford Mustang GTA snapped in 2011 (acknowledgement speedcafe). First place 1966-69 ATCC, fourth place 1970 ATCC and third place 1971 ATCC.



Kevin Bartlett flipping his 1978 Chevrolet Camaro Z 28 at Bathurst in 1982 (acknowledgement Australian Muscle Car magazine). For the benefit of those unfamiliar with this car it was finished in a very, very dark blue with yellow Channel 9 (television channel) sponsorship markings. Second place 1980 ATCC, eleventh place 1981 ATCC, third place 1982 ATCC and thirty-seventh place 1983 ATCC.



A replica or tribute of the 1972 Ford Falcon XA GT hardtop of John Goss and Kevin Bartlett (acknowledgement Unique Cars) which won Bathurst in 1974. Fourteenth in the 1973 ATCC.

The 1969 Holden HT Monaro GTS 350 of Colin Bond and Tony French (acknowledgement Shannons & Autopics) which won Bathurst in 1969.

 

[kitdoctor]

Great stuff! It's very interesting to see the familiar body lines on completely different vehicles. Thanks again for sharing all the pics & info.

@M.Brane. What's that saying, "everything old is new again".

A rear view of Ford's new fastback styling for the 1970 Torino, shown here on a 1970 Torino Cobra (in this case a SCJ or Drag Pack car) (acknowledgement Hemmings) tells the story of where Ford Australia took it styling cues from for the 1972-1976 XA-XB-XC series (1972-78) hardtops.



Shown below is a 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT hardtop (acknowledgement Unique Cars).



For the front end treatment of the XB series (1974-76), in this case a replica or tribute 1976 Ford Falcon XB GT sedan (acknowledgement Unique Cars), do the bonnet flutes and egg crate grille look familiar?



That's right, taken from the 1971 Ford Mustang styling. Shown below is a 1971 Ford Mustang Boss 351 (acknowledgement Unique Cars) that used to belong to a friend of mine.

 

[kitdoctor]

Very interesting.

I'm about 90% sure the gizmo on the shock tower is an early aftermarket cruise control set up.

@Geoff289 how about that. I'm not sure I'd trust one from that era.

 

[Geoff289]

Those early visits (and perhaps others), if I'm correct, would have been within the historic Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) Group C touring car era from 1973-84.

All of us older motorsports enthusiasts know what that means. It was an era of widely different cars, both Australian made and imported, factory backed teams, privateers and various classes, which together made it IMO the most interesting and memorable period of Australian motor sports (in that division, i.e. touring cars).

That's right. Under those Group C regs there were three classes - up to 2 litres, 2-3 litres and 3-6 litres.

What's that saying, "everything old is new again".

Of course, the original XK, XL, XM, and XP Falcons manufactured here in the very early '60's were direct copies of American Falcons, although a year or so behind. XR, XT, XW and XY's were still heavily based on yank models but not direct copies. Apart from that, the famous shaker hood on the XY GT's came from the '69 Mach 1 Mustang.