Made in Geelong

[jphanna]

Hi Guys

For Fathers day yesterday, we headed to the BEND at Tailem Bend SA, for a peek at some nice cars both on and off the track.
We were there late in the day so the main event was well and truly over by the time we arrived. What we did see initially was people taking their personal cars onto the track for a thrash. These cars were widely varying. A brand now Toyota YARIS 4WD Turbo, a couple of HSV Monaro, and……..an XA falcon.

So the XA goes by and I expecting a typical 351 sound but that didn’t happen. I hadn’t figured it out yet……. Then the 2 HSV Monaro went past and they sounded nice and looked fast down the straight but the XA was making ground on them in leaps and bounds. I was then starting to think this doesn’t add up. Old school suspension, old school 351 up against the best GM could provide (at the time) for the Monaro’s. It still didn’t click to me. What I was seeing and what my brain registered as ‘expected’ didn’t gel. Then the 2 HSV Monaro went past again and the XA absolutely gobbled them up in one swoop (and wasn’t strained at all in how it sounded) . I then thought, this must be a turbo Barra. Remember watching Bathurst with the big brutes out front, and all the back markers running 4cyl ****boxes at the back. Getting lapped multiple times. Well the HSV Monaro were almost embarrassing against this beast.

Sure enough, we saw the car in the pits. It was a Turbo BARRA. I thought maybe it’s a full blown race car with race spec suspension, as well as the turbo Barra. Had a quick peak, regular XA suspension with factory leaf springs all there…..

I know its been said many times before, but can any motor, in Australian history, take it to the BARRA, as the best ever TRUE 100% Aussie built Engine ever built.