All language subtitles for ford.v.holden.2023.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

[♪ "BETTER"
BY THE SCREAMING JETS]

NARRATOR: There's been
a car industry in Australia

for almost as long
as there's been cars.

From the outset,
two manufacturers

have not only
dominated the road,

but helped to weave
the social fabric

of Australia's
national identity.

GM Holden and Ford Australia.

The rise and fall of these
two Australian icons...

became a rivalry...

-Holden!
-...unlike any other.

For almost a century,
it divided us.

These beasts of steel, chrome
and rubber

have defined our tribes.

What was it about these brands

that made us fall in love
with them,

and embrace them as our own?

How did they manage
to not only survive

but thrive here for so long?

Aussie blood runs red or blue.

Which one are you?

Believe it or not,
Ford and Holden

don't start out as rivals.

In the early 20th century,
they're business partners.

In 1908, the world's first
successfully mass-produced car,

Henry Ford's Model T,

hits Australian shores, and it
quickly becomes very popular.

The Model T
was the first designed car

that worked well
on Australian roads.

MAN: Over 15 million
of the Model Ts were sold

and what it did was really bring
vehicles to the masses.

And what we saw is that
democratisation of transport.

And, in Adelaide, the Holden
family's saddlery business

has been around
for more than half a century.

Edward Holden was interested in
things that moved by themselves

rather than pulled by horses.

And he quickly realised he could
utilise his father's business

to refurbish motor cars.

MAN 2: And Holden ended up
with a contract

to make body parts
and assemble body parts

for Ford chassis
imported from America.

It was a cosy arrangement.
Ran for about eight years.

However,
it's about to change gears.

Until now, General Motors

has been exporting chassis
to Australia.

They have a solid foothold
in the Australian market.

But they want more.

General Motors thought,

"We're not gonna let Ford

dominate the Australian market,"

and they swooped
onto the expertise

that Holden
had acquired with Ford.

A deal is struck in 1924.

After building bodies for Ford
and many other brands,

Holden agrees to work
exclusively for General Motors

out of its new factory
in Woodville, South Australia.

Ford makes a strategic
decision.

They decided to cut out
the middleman

and set up
their own assembly plant.

In 1925, Ford Australia is born
in Geelong, Victoria.

And so we had these two
different American manufacturers

building cars in Australia.

In 1931, General Motors Holden
is formed

and a rivalry commences
between the two brands

that will last nearly a
century.

MAN 3: With the introduction
of Ford and Holden,

there came modern marketing.

And part of that process

was to create a sense
of brand identification.

The logos of the two brands sum
up exactly what they're about.

MAN 4: The Holden lion and boar
logo goes back to the 1920s,

based on the fable
that man invented the wheel

by observing a lion
rolling a rock.

Ford's blue oval,
highly recognisable.

That blue,
all about superiority.

And the white in the Ford
is all about cleanliness.

We see the colour,
we see the shape of the oval,

and we immediately
think about the brand.

AARON: It's not just
the cars they produce

and the people that drive them.

It's the badge, it's the emblem,
it's the banner.

It's what you march behind.

[TRAM BELL RINGS]

In Australia,
the automotive landscape

in the 1930s
is still in first gear.

And the roads are filled
with imported cars.

MAN 1: There seem
to be a lot of cars here.

MAN 2: Yes. Many of them are
brought in from other countries.

There wasn't a great deal of
other vehicles in the country.

There were some
European vehicles here

and British vehicles.

But there wasn't competition

between those two key brands,
Holden and Ford.

[SHOUTING]

In 1939, world events
intervene.

Holden and Ford unite again,

this time against
a common enemy.

Their factories are retooled

to produce machines
for the war effort.

ARCHIVE: The giant wheels
of industry whir

under the terrific impetus
of conflict.

Every rivet driven home,
every bolt wrenched to its place

is a nail in the coffin
of totalitarianism.

NORM: Ford built Bren
Gun Carriers by the hundreds.

Both companies built fuel tanks
and engines for aeroplanes.

ARCHIVE: They are assembling
a Gipsy Moth engine

entirely made in Australia

for an Australian-built
trainer plane.

Workers
are now producing products

that they would never have
dreamed of making before...

ARCHIVE: ...molten metal
turned to engines of war.

...including entire engines.

NORM: Although the technology
existed in 1939,

it's very expensive to tool

for things like engines,
transmissions and axles.

But the war actually gave them
that capability.

The World War has been won.

But a new contest
is brewing at home.

ARCHIVE: This is Australia.

Island continent of wide
horizons and vast distances.

Australian conditions
are a little bit unique.

We've got a little bit
of everything.

The distances that we have

require
quite unique engineering.

ARCHIVE: Capital cities
lie hundreds of miles apart.

The nation
of a thousand contrasts

needed specially
designed transport

to meet local conditions.

NORM: But after the war,

the Australian government
had asked

Ford, Chrysler and Holden

what were their plans
to build an Australian vehicle?

And really, Holden
was the only one to respond.

Holden formed a team
of engineers

to look at what
an Australian car might be.

Before this point, Ford and GM
Holden had either imported cars

or assembled them locally,
using mainly foreign parts.

When GMH really decides

to get into producing cars
locally in Australia,

they're very anxious to prove
that they are part of Australia.

They finally bit the bullet

and decided to build
an Australian car

for Australian conditions
for Australian consumers.

ARCHIVE:
General Motors Holden executives

made complete investigations
of Australian conditions.

Continuous ruthless tests

probing for any weakness,
however slight.

NORM: Holden
had been very clever

in hiding the details of the car

during its development.

So much so
that a lot of people said,

"Oh, this is all smoke
and mirrors.

You're not really
building a car here."

And, in November 1948,

Prime Minister Ben Chifley
unveils a feat of engineering

that will revolutionise the way
Australians travel forever.

ARCHIVE: It's the first really
big public preview of this car

about which Australia
has heard so much

and there's an air
of excitement.

The Holden 48-215,
also known as the FX,

is the first locally
mass-produced car

designed specifically
for Australia.

It was kind of

the first really big
manufactured thing that was ours

and there really was that sense

of coming into our own
as a country.

The unveiling of the FX
takes the nation by surprise.

ARCHIVE:
And that's how she looks.

The car whose appearance
and general design

had an element of secrecy
for so long.

[APPLAUSE]

The four-door sedan is powered
by a 2.2 litre engine.

Its robust chassis design
is undeterred

by Australia's rough roads.

Dealers are reportedly
holding thousands of orders

before the first one
is even built.

And it catches Holden's
biggest competitor off guard.

Ford were probably
caught napping

by Holden's decision
to put out a whole new car.

Holden managed to take
a position of being much more

the car for Australia
than did Ford.

Holden certainly adopted
that first-mover advantage.

If you're first into the market,
Australia's own car,

it's difficult for any other
follower to come in and say,

"We're also Australia's
own car as well."

We got off to that start first.
We owned that territory.

For now, the title
of Australia's own car...

will go uncontested.

NORM: Ford had to react
to Holden.

They needed their own premises
to compete, and chose Geelong.

The decision for Ford
to set up in Geelong

was a major achievement
for Geelong.

ARCHIVE: Its population
of 90,000

has increased at the rate
of more than 5,000 a year

for the last eight years,

making it one of the fastest-
growing cities in Australia.

Automotive factories
become significant additions

to our growing cities,

providing jobs,
stimulating economies,

and building
communities.

The car industry brings with it

a range of skills and jobs
and opportunities

that were woven right into
the fabric of the city.

WOMAN: In Adelaide, everything
lives and breathes Holden...

having pretty much
the birthplace

and seeing how it's evolved.

I'd say a majority of Adelaide
worked for Holden.

There was always a family member

that worked at Holden
or knew someone.

It was a part of every family.

And the car industry
actually was the means

of providing good livelihoods.

DEE: For a lot of immigrants
particularly,

their first jobs were on
the factories of these brands

so there was that kind
of seeped into families.

The 1950s sees the nation
accelerating

into a new era of prosperity.

GRAEME: Cities began
to expand far beyond

the confines
of the late-19th-century city,

the horse-and-buggy city,
and even the railway city.

GARY: So the population
began to grow

and we started to see that
urban spread of suburbanism.

And as those suburbs spread,

there was more demand
for vehicles.

GARRY: The Ford versus Holden
battle initially

was fought out on suburban
streets and country roads

and in arguments over barbecues
and over back fences.

GARY: People were living in
close proximity to one another.

You know, people saw
the types of cars you drove.

So there was this element
of aspirational drive

to sort of keep up
with the Joneses.

GRAEME: We've somehow
been persuaded, haven't we,

that a car denotes who we are?

It denotes our position
in society.

ANDREW: It was basically
every household.

So you're either a Ford family
or a Holden family.

The rivalry is a rich tapestry
and part of our history.

It sort of meant something.

While Holden are streets ahead,

Ford's still playing catch-up
to the FX.

ARCHIVE: Ford Motor Company
of Australia is today faced

with one of the most difficult
policy decisions in its history.

Namely whether or not
to go into the manufacture

of a completely built
Australian car.

NORM: Ford did make
the Zephyr in Australia,

but the Zephyr was really
an imported car

that was assembled here.

They couldn't bring
enough Zephyrs

in from England
to match the Holden.

They couldn't compete.

In 1953, to capitalise
on their market advantage,

Holden releases one of
the most cherished cars

in Australia's history.

The FJ.

The FJ was the one vehicle

that really started Holden's
future in this country.

ARCHIVE: The neighbours
often take us for a drive

in their Holden.

It made a huge impact.

It was exactly what
the Australian public wanted.

RICHARD:
It's the car that everybody had

and it was uniquely
designed for Australia

and Australian conditions.

It was a light six-cylinder,
it gave excellent fuel economy,

it could tow a caravan, and
hundreds of people wanted them.

By the late '50s,
Holden's outselling Ford

by a huge margin.

It's turning out
more than 150,000 cars a year.

And every second car
sold in the country

has a lion on the bonnet.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ARCHIVE: The curtain rises
on a new star, the new Holden.

Fashion-setting beauty
to thrill the eye.

New finer performance
and surging power.

1956, and the arrival
of television

which dramatically shifts
the way we communicate.

Viewpoints that were once
exchanged in the streets

and over backyard fences

are now beamed straight
into living rooms

across the nation.

MAN: A decorative
instrument panel

and spacious lock-up glove box.

GRAEME: In the days of radio,
you could talk about a vehicle,

but it was only
when television came

that you could show
what it looked like.

ARCHIVE: Look at the new Holden
from any angle,

and you'll see things
to win your admiration.

In economy, dependability,
performance, styling...

And Holden are making
the most of it.

MAN:
See how much leg room there is.

Holden really tapped into that
working-class, middle-class,

mainstream marketplace.

Mum and Dad and two kids,

that traditional nuclear family
that we had.

Those traditional images

and traditional Australian
values were very important

to drive
that marketing strategy.

ARCHIVE: Australian
as they come, that's Holden.

GARY: So it starts with
advertising, marketing messages.

It continues into the showroom

where you're actually engaging
with the brand.

ARCHIVE: Designed here,
tested here, proved here.

Holden is the only car designed
and built in Australia

for Australian motorists.

What's your favourite car?

-The Holden?
-Yes.

-Aren't they wonderful cars?
-Yes.

-You always happy in a Holden?
-Yes.

Attaboy.

Try as they might,
Ford is still struggling

to make a dent in Holden's
"Australia's own car" image.

ARCHIVE: A study of the growing
traffic on Australian roads

had indicated the necessity
to build

a quality car
with top performance,

good fuel economy, comfort,

modern design
and attractive styling.

Ford Australia set itself
to do just that.

In the late 1950s,

Ford Australia convinces
their American bosses

that without a locally made
car,

Ford may as well take
their bat and ball and go home.

That's where the market was
in Australia,

so we had to go unique.

There was no choice, really.

Ford Australia wants a car

that will turn the competition
on its head

and drive the company
into the future.

It will be built at Ford's
new manufacturing plant

at Broadmeadows in Victoria.

It's a huge commitment
for the Blue Oval.

You knew the market was there

if you had the right product
to put into it.

Enter the Falcon.

ARCHIVE: A car is born.

Ford Australia launches
the first Falcon,

the XK, in September 1960.

It's a styling revolution

that will underpin four models
across seven years,

from the XK to the XP.

Sleek and modern.

And it features

a two-speed Fordomatic
automatic transmission.

ARCHIVE: Here is
the Australian Falcon,

a car of sculptured styling.

The event is splashed
across the front pages

of newspapers
across the country.

And Ford Australia
has high hopes.

The Falcon, many Ford people
believed it was their saviour.

ARCHIVE: A car
with a proved background

and a great future
in this country.

Initial sales look promising.

But it's not long
before the wheels fall off.

ARCHIVE: Built to
the highest standards of quality

in the Australian
automotive industry.

Their difficulty was
they didn't engineer it

for Australian conditions.

And so it was launched
with great fanfare,

but it failed dismally.

The front ends fell out of them,

and they had lots
of other small problems.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

Ford's bold move to place
itself

on a level playing field
with Holden

has spectacularly backfired...

allowing Holden to continue
its market domination.

ARCHIVE: The time is now
and the car is Holden.

In the early 1960s, Holden
embraced a fresh new look

with the EJ and EH series.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

ARCHIVE: The most breathtaking
car in years,

new all-new Holden.

Between them,
the new-look Holdens

sell more than 400,000 by 1965.

New-model Holdens,
in those days,

you know,
it's like a movie premiere.

We'd all get dressed up
and go down to the showroom

and see this brand-new car.

AARON: My dad, he had
an EH Holden station wagon.

A roaring 202, six cylinders.
Sounded the part.

As a little kid
in the bucket seat

bouncing along down the road
in Ballarat,

I thought that that was

the biggest, fastest car
you could probably find.

The EH sells
over 256,000 vehicles.

The car is a major departure
from previous Holdens.

Lower, sleeker, and features
the iconic new red engine.

ARCHIVE: The new
115 horsepower engine

boosts Holden power
by 53 percent.

It was the first car
I ever drove.

It was a 179 Hydra-Matic Special
with all the accessories.

That was the first production
motor car that Holden had built

-that was competition oriented.
-[TYRES SCREECH]

And the two companies
are about to go to war

for the hearts and minds
of young Australians.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

And this is where
it all plays out.

Originally constructed
as a scenic tourist drive,

Mount Panorama in Bathurst
is considered

one of the greatest
racing tracks in the world.

AARON: It had been built
as a racetrack

after the Great Depression.

So eventually,
such a great racetrack

needs a marquee event.

So it really evolved
from something very small,

and it got big very, very quick.

COMMENTATOR: 6.2Ks of
the best racetrack in the world.

The track's unique. It's like
nothing else in Australia.

It's narrow in places.
It's steep. It's fast.

It's just like
a ping-pong table.

AARON: You need a bit of
everything to win at Bathurst.

You've got to have a bit
of everything to go fast.

COMMENTATOR: Down to second gear
for the first turn, Hell Corner.

AARON: It's Hell Corner.
It's Mountain Straight.

It's Griffin's Bend.

It's the Cutting.
It's Reid Park.

It's McPhillamy.
It's Skyline. It's the Esses.

Forrest's Elbow,
Conrod Straight,

The Chase, Murray's Corner.

COMMENTATOR:
Now the main agony starts.

Pit Straight.
There it is. That is Bathurst.

ARCHIVE: Fifty-seven entries
in the Armstrong 500,

Australia's leading event
for production cars.

A hundred and 30 laps,
over seven hours' hard going.

The Armstrong 500,
held at Mount Panorama,

is an endurance competition
to decide which cars

have the best combination
of performance and reliability.

REPORTER: They've all got to be
standard models,

as from a dealer's showroom.

This was
a production motor car race.

Therefore, everything was on
an even footing.

You drove your race car
to the track,

you raced it
and you drove it home.

In the early days of Bathurst,
there'd be anything.

There'd be little BMWs

and Minis and slow cars,
fast cars, funny cars.

But we ended up, essentially,

with a track full
of Holdens or Fords.

It was primitive in the extreme.

The pit area at the back
of the track

was also the accommodations.

The track itself was not fenced,
no safety requirements.

Those days they didn't have,
you know,

race boots, no safety gear.

ARCHIVE: The race is over
for the Mini Cooper.

BEV: It was a completely
different world

of almost you'd say amateurish
but intense frenzy.

And everybody
helped everybody else

to make sure that the event

was worthy
of a major race meeting.

RAY: As it developed over the
years and the cars got faster,

it became more of a contest
between teams,

a contest between drivers,
a contest between manufacturers.

And the real racetrack rivalry
came to public attention.

The inaugural Battle of
the Brands takes place in 1963.

Holden's EH goes up against
the British-designed

Mark 1 Ford Cortina GT,

driven by early Bathurst
legend Bob Jane

and teammate Harry Firth.

-Ford's Cortina wins.
-[APPLAUSE]

But, impressively, Holden's EH

places second
on its racing debut.

That's where the real
Ford versus Holden took off.

♪ Holden! Holden! Holden!
Holden! Holden! Holden!

Despite Ford's win
on the racetrack,

Holden's Red Lion is the king
of the urban jungle.

Ford's Falcon is still grounded
and in big trouble.

MAN: Performance is proof

that new Falcon
is quality built by Ford.

If the next model
isn't a success,

Ford will close operations
in Australia.

NORM: The Ford had a bad name.

It was increasingly difficult
to sell them against the Holden.

Ford had to do
something desperate.

The plan is simple but insane.

ARCHIVE: An announcement
to the Australian press

that five stock
model Falcon sedans

would travel a total
of 70,000 miles in nine days.

That's 112,000 kilometres,

or almost three times
around the planet.

Australia's best drivers

are going to tag team
behind the wheel.

It's hoped the collective
star power

will draw an audience.

Ford's future in Australia
is on the line.

ARCHIVE: Ford managing director
Wallace Booth

gives them the start flag.

[TYRES SCREECH]

For nine days, they'll maintain
a punishing average speed

of more than
110 kilometres an hour.

The whole premise was to address

the shortcomings
of the original Falcon.

JOHN: It was because the Falcon

was getting a name
for not being quite up to

the durability standards
that Holden had set.

It was to change
people's perception

of the Falcon as a car,

as an Australian car.

DICK: If you knew
the countryside there

and just knew how loose

all the volcanic rock
and stuff is around there,

it'd be so damn dangerous.

If the Falcon
can make it here...

it can make it anywhere.

ARCHIVE: But it was this fact,

the 15 twists and bends,
plus the big hill,

that caused the experts to say

that Ford had bitten off
more than they could chew.

Just before 2:00 a.m.,
five battered Falcons

smash through the finish line.

ARCHIVE: It's all over,
and even at this deadly hour,

there's jubilation
from the entire camp.

The gamble has paid off.

NORM: It was a huge publicity
coup for Ford.

It was a PR masterpiece.

It's the last time
anyone will say

the Falcon isn't cut out
for Australian conditions.

The Falcon XP wins "Wheels"
magazine Car of the Year,

propelling Ford to
a competitive position

in the marketplace.

RACHAEL: The Ford XP,

I just fell in love
with the shape of that.

I love the bullnose fronts
on them.

They're just a beautiful,
beautiful-lined car.

Ford finds itself a champion.

At that stage,
Ford was 12 percent,

14 percent share
of the market

and GM Holden was 50 percent
of the market.

But there was obviously a desire

that we were ultimately
going to beat GM.

Holden produced
something special for 1968.

The new-look HK.

Its handsome styling underpins
three models across four years.

It introduces
the iconic Kingswood

and its lion roars
with Holden's first V8

in the form of an imported
Chevrolet engine.

ARCHIVE: Holdens.
Australia's own car.

Born again
with youthful new lines

that match
its pulsing new power.

JOHN: Kingswood was a bigger
car, so it started to increase

the size
of the Australian family car.

And that's what it was.
They were family cars.

They had, in most cases,
bench front seats,

so you could sit
six people in them.

That was before seat
belts.

The Kingswood station wagon

was basically part
of my upbringing.

I learned to drive in one.
It was my first car.

It represented
a lifestyle to me.

Outdoors person,
fishing, surfing.

It was part of my life.

GRAEME: The prime part
of the market was the family car

and the family car
was a fairly versatile thing.

In the family car market,
the Kingswood faces off

with the newly bred
Mustang-inspired Ford Falcon.

GRAEME:
One of the great mysteries

of the Australian car industry

is why it wasn't
more differentiated.

Why were the two main companies

selling us products
that were very similar?

To some extent,
it's simple economics.

But it's also one that I think

is exploited
by the car companies

to create a sense that
this was the Australian norm.

♪ Ford! Let it lead the way...

By the late '60s,
Ford is leading the way

and focused on
a high-performance future.

ARCHIVE: New Falcon is here.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

In 1967,
Ford release the XR GT Falcon.

Australia's first produced
V8 muscle car,

wearing the GT, or Grand Touring
badge, for the first time.

It features a high-performance,
289-cubic-inch engine.

RAY: When Ford released
the first Falcon GT,

the first Australian-built
production sports touring car,

that opened the door.

The Ford racing team
make a bold move,

entering three new XR GTs

in the 1967 Gallaher 500
at Bathurst.

The Falcon GT Superior V8
is well suited

to the Mount Panorama circuit.

ARCHIVE: Up Pit Straight
and the Falcons mean business.

Five years' history here
suggests Mount Panorama

is too tough for the big cars.

Is this showmanship
or can they keep it going?

Falcons finish first and second.

JOHN: They all started
to build better cars

so that they could win Bathurst.

The Bathurst thing
was always big

and it just became
bigger and bigger.

ARCHIVE: Out to drive you wild.

Holden hits back
with the V8 Monaro HK Coupe.

ARCHIVE: Super-tuned suspension,

engines right up to
a 250-horsepower V8.

I think the Monaro's iconic
as a Holden.

Have you ever looked at one?

It is a good-looking thing.

It's a coupe. It looks sporty.
It's got flow.

It's got a V8. I mean,
what more is there to like?

♪ Monaro this year!

ARCHIVE: Make him show you.

GARY: The two-door muscle cars
like the Monaro,

the ads were very much around
very, very masculine images.

Fast driving.

GRAEME: The big car
with the throaty muffler.

That denotes a certain kind
of masculine Australianism

that people really responded to.

The young Australian male,
they wanted to have a car

that they saw winning
at Bathurst.

ARCHIVE: Mount Panorama,
Bathurst.

The most gruelling event
on the motor racing calendar.

In 1968, the V8s
of the factory-backed teams

of Ford and Holden
face off for the first time.

ARCHIVE: With an incredible
burst of speed,

Des West shatters the old lap
record by nearly five seconds.

NORM: The Monaro
was a revolution for Holden.

Performance engine.

Four-speed transmission.

It was a sporty car.

And they took it to Bathurst

and they won straight
out of the box.

So suddenly, the Monaro
became the car to beat.

[APPLAUSE]

It's Holden's first win
on the mountain

in an annual war of attrition
that will rage for decades.

Bathurst in that period was
the biggest and best showroom

anywhere in the country.

PHILLIP: The average guy
with a family

could see his family car
go on the track.

That was very, very significant
to win.

GARY: If Ford Holden wins,

you're out in the showroom
on Monday

wanting to buy that vehicle.

MAN: The majority of the public
come to see the touring cars,

the Holdens, the Falcons,

and the cars
that they themselves

can identify themselves with.

There's no question about that.

INTERVIEWER: Does Bathurst
performance sell cars?

MAN: A gentleman
has to take pride

in the vehicle that he owns.

Nobody wants to own
a vehicle that's a loser.

REPORTER: Car dealers believe
the best advertisement

is a chequered flag
with the winning make

shining proudly
in their showroom.

It was a catchphrase
that became,

"Win on Sunday,
sell on Monday."

And advertising
became the big thing.

ARCHIVE:
The outright winner, Falcon.

Ford fans versus Holden fans,

that narrative has worked
incredibly well

for both of those brands.

You either drove a Ford
or a Holden

and there was
a lot of sledging going on

from day to day at school
and other places

about whose dad drove what.

Eventually you're either
in one camp or the other.

ANDREW: So it wasn't just
about the customers,

there was also
some internal pride,

and that's where
it came out.

BEV: The rivalry between
Ford and Holden

was a really intriguing thing.

It's intrinsic
in the Australian idiom.

The rivalry then
was seriously crazy.

I mean, it divided families.

People are born into one
or the other, Ford or Holden.

GARY: Granddad had a Ford, Dad
had a Ford, I've got a Ford now.

My son will have a Ford
when he grows up.

It's very important
to signal to

not only your friends,
your in-group,

but also the outer group,
which team you belong to.

It becomes almost a religious,
ritualistic experience.

Pretty soon, V8 petro-hedonism

starts to leave its mark
on the streets,

getting young, cashed-up buyers
to tune in and pay attention.

MAN: What looks good in a show
has to go well on the road.

Twenty-three different makes
and models

in this year's 500-mile
marathon.

At the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500,

the competition between
the muscle cars is heating up.

ARCHIVE: All the cars
are carefully scrutineered

to ensure they're standard
off-the-peg machines.

Ford enters its new high-
performance XW Falcon GT-HO.

And in the red corner,
with a significant makeover,

Holden's GTS Monaro.

Newcomer Colin Bond
is behind the wheel

for the Holden dealer team.

COLIN: Because we were running
serious production motor cars,

you had to look after the cars
when you were driving.

You couldn't drive them
flat out.

It was a long race and you
had to make the things last.

COMMENTATOR:
But still in the lead,

Bond pilots a careful course

through the final bends

as he heads for
the chequered flag.

Winning driver Colin Bond

becomes an instant hero
for Holden supporters.

But it's the two rookie drivers
that place third and fourth

that are destined
to fan the flames

of the Ford versus
Holden rivalry like no other.

Peter Brock and Allan Moffat.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

[WIND HOWLS]

And off the track,

another challenger
to the status quo is emerging.

ARCHIVE: Now, a breathtaking,
carefree, new beauty.

Stylish, exciting,
daring to be different.

DEE: From as early as the 1960s,

car manufacturers
were targeting women

and there were so many
social changes in Australia,

the car for a lot of women,
you know,

became a symbol of freedom.

GRAEME: Women who want
to go out and work

need the means to get to the job

and that often gets them
into the car.

GARY: That era of feminism
certainly was a driver behind,

I guess,
brands getting into that market.

Probably for many years,

it overlooked that female market
for vehicles.

You walked into a showroom,

the salesman spoke to Dad
and not Mum.

But that started to shift
as feminism grew.

BEV: I'm the one who works.

I'm the one
who has a regular life.

I was the first woman
they had allowed

to sign a sale contract in her
own right at that point in time.

GRAEME: Many women
actually begin secretly

to go and take driving lessons.

When they get their licence,
they come back,

plonk it on the kitchen table

and they say, "Now it's time
for me to get a car."

Girls in particular,
when you're living at home,

your car's the first space
that's yours.

GRAEME: So there's these
most intriguing discussions

that were taking place

in many families
about how men and women,

husbands and wives

renegotiated their status

and often, it's the motor car

that's the centre
of that discussion.

Excuse me. Who is the boss
of your house?

-I am.
-Oh.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

As the '60s roll to a close,

a sense of change is blowing
in the wind.

-♪ Ford,
-♪ Ba-ba-ba ba

So Ford gets groovy
with its advertising.

-♪ Ba-ba-ba ba
-♪ It's a going thing

Holden gets far out
with colour selections

for its newest small-car
offering...

the Torana.

I moved into the Torana studio,
which was new.

They established that
because Japanese

were coming in
with smaller cars.

REPORTER: This is one of

the most closely guarded
buildings in Australia.

In it, 60 men have been
working three years

on a $20-million secret.

RICHARD: One of the hard parts
about designing a new car

is that there's such
a long lead time

or gestation period
from the first sketch

to when the car
is finally launched,

and this can be
four or five years.

Designers drawing inspiration

from every activity
during daily life,

whether it's furniture,
architecture,

pop culture, anything.

ARCHIVE: This is not 1948.
This is 1969.

RICHARD: With the Torana,

we were right on cue with the
music scene at the time,

what was happening,
just socially.

We'd like to say
it's a combination

of Australian,
European

and American concepts.

They captured the market
far beyond

what we thought
we could do at that time.

These bright colours certainly
attract your attention.

Let Us Alone, Strike Me Pink

and some few other
outrageous names,

but they were fantastic.

The four-cylinder one
covered the mums in the market

and the six-cylinder versions

became successful
in the motor racing field.

[CAR HORNS BLARE]

ARCHIVE: The field
will soon be on its way

in the 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500.

A hit with consumers,

it's time for the little
six-cylinder Torana

to prove itself a giant killer
at Bathurst

where the cars lined up
on the starting grid

are the most powerful
the nation has seen.

In the blue corner,
the XY Phase III Falcon GT-HO.

One of the fastest four-door
production cars on the planet.

In the red corner,
Holden's LJ Torana GTR XU-1.

Leading the charge for Holden

is young rising star
Peter Brock.

BEV: His ability to focus
was uncanny.

He'd get in that car and
suddenly nothing else existed.

He was one with the car,
one with the track.

Behind the wheel for Ford

is the Bathurst 500 reigning
champion Allan Moffat.

BEV: Now Allan
was intense, amazing.

People didn't understand Allan.
A very private, shy person.

MAN: You've also been
described as introverted.

Do you think that's apt?

Yes, it is. I don't enjoy
swanning around

and big-timing myself.

BEV: Peter and he are polar
opposites, but Peter understood

Allan's need, passion,
determination to win.

And the two together,

boy, you knew you had a fight
on your hands.

[CAR ENGINES REV]

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS]

GARRY: And the public loved it.

And they adopted Brock
and Moffat

like knights in shining armour.

COMMENTATOR: Forrest's Elbow,

French holding second,
Brock very close.

Over the early laps,
Moffat and Brock

tussle for the lead
in slippery conditions.

COMMENTATOR:
...down to Forrest's Elbow.

Ford looking for a way past two.

Falcon's definitely slower...

Moffat, in his powerful Falcon,

widens the gap
on Conrod Straight.

But Brock's lighter
and more agile XU-1

makes up time
on the mountain bends.

Then, while trying to keep
the more nimble Torana at bay,

Moffat loses control
and spins out.

Peter Brock and his XU-1
take their first Bathurst win.

It's a day that gives birth
to legends...

and pours petrol
on an already fierce fire.

GARRY: I think the Ford GT-HO
and the Torana

were the two standout
early muscle cars

that set the tone for
the real battle that followed.

Holden's unexpected win
is a red rag

to a blue bull for Ford.

Both have plans
already underway

to put the ultimate supercar
on the street.

But that's about to become
a huge problem.

-[CAR ENGINE REVS]
-[TYRES SCREECH]

[CRASH]

The rising popularity
of production car racing

is what's driving sales
of performance vehicles.

REPORTER:
The Nepean Rescue Squad

had to spend considerable time

freeing the bodies
from the wreckage.

Road tolls in the early 1970s

are the highest
in Australian motoring history.

MAN: Once you associate

youthful behaviour
with motor cars,

I think you have to use
the word "problem".

BEV: Some young guys
would go out there

and wipe themselves out
on the road.

There weren't too many women,

unless they were passengers
in the cars.

Pass someone else on a hill
at 70 miles an hour

and all the girls
in the back seat scream.

By 1972, performance cars

are becoming
the enemy of the people.

[SIRENS BLARE]

It starts
with a front-page article

published
in "The Sunday Telegraph".

The attention-grabbing headline
hits a nerve.

GRAEME:
The road toll, truly horrendous.

Almost as many people
are killed on the roads

as had been killed
in the Second World War.

So there was a serious problem

of how Australia
was going to adjust

to this new beast
that had been unleashed

-in their environment.
-[TYRES SCREECH]

The New South Wales
Transport Minister

is calling these supercars

"bullets on wheels" and he vows
to fight for a national ban.

Ford has already
invested heavily

in its new XA Phase
IV GT-HO Falcon.

And Holden's not far behind

with plans for a wild
V8-powered XU-1 Torana.

DAVID: It certainly
had effects on boardrooms

in Ford and Holden.

They all decided very quickly

that the political fallout
was too dangerous.

Before they even roll off
the assembly line,

both cars are consigned
to the scrapyard of history.

DAVID: Both manufacturers

wanted to beat the other guy
with their new toy,

and both of them
had to put the toys

back in the box for a while.

But they are about to be faced
with even bigger problems.

[CAR HORN BLARES]

In 1973, an oil embargo
in the Middle East

is sending petrol prices
soaring across the globe.

ARCHIVE: Making motor cars is
our biggest secondary industry.

When it sneezes,
the economy catches a cold.

GRAEME: For a long while,
Australians lived in a world

which seemed to be
full of limitless possibilities.

There was as much oil
as we would ever want.

The oil crisis
of the early 1970s

when literally the oil supplies
were cut off for a while

made us realise
just how vulnerable we were

in driving our cars
to that supply of oil.

So I just kept looking at
that fuel gauge and I thought,

well, 20 yards isn't worth it,
so I'll stay in the car.

If I break down on that,
I'll cry.

-You've got two miles of cars...
-Really?

...to reach the station.

Well, I'd last out, but I don't
think my little girl will.

So I might be pulling out.

-[PULLS HANDBRAKE]
-I'll make it now. [LAUGHS]

GRAEME: Ever so gradually,

the preference
for the large six-cylinder car

began to decline
and people began to look

particularly to Japanese-made
four-cylinder cars.

The floodgates have been opened

and it doesn't take long
for the sharks to circle.

We've been doing
about $40 million's worth

of imported cars. I suppose
it'll go over 60 million.

GARY: Ford and Holden
were so focused on themselves,

they didn't see the threat
of Japanese and Korean vehicles

entering the marketplace

and they didn't see the shift

in consumption behaviour.

Despite all this,
Ford and Holden

continue to ride the wave

that's kept them afloat
in the past

by competing against each other
with big, powerful cars.

For Holden, that comes in the
form of a brand-new model

of its homegrown
family-sized car.

Across five models
from HQ to WB.

It will underpin Holden sales
throughout the 1970s.

Suddenly the Kingswood

became an iconic middle-class
Australian family car.

DEE: Mum had a Kingswood
station wagon.

When we were going
on long car trips,

you'd have two kids
in the middle seat

and then one or two of you

would buzz the back
and you'd go in the back,

lie on top of all... all the
packing and stuff like that.

And nowadays you think,

man, that was probably
a little bit dangerous.

But, you know,
there was seven kids,

but it got us from point A
to point B.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

DEE: And I used to get
really bad car sickness.

I reckon that smell of hot vinyl

would probably
still make me throw up today.

ARCHIVE:
Now, on the wings of change,

Holden announces
a fantastic, exciting range

of totally new cars.

The HQ features a new ground-up
design, the first since 1948.

It's also available as a
station wagon, luxury Premier,

-Statesman and Monaro models.
-[CAR ENGINE REVS]

The Monaro was all done
in Australia.

I was fortunate
to have been involved

in the development
of that car.

It had a lot of refinement

that we didn't have
in Holden cars before.

It was a complete design,

doesn't matter
how you look at it.

It always looked good.

MAN: Bathurst winner Peter Brock

tests the new Holden Monaro
GTS four-door.

The HQ's smooth body design

creates arguably
the best-looking Monaros.

They were accepted
in the marketplace

as the benchmark for good value
and clean, progressive design.

BROCK: For the guy who likes
and understands motor cars,

this Monaro GTS four-door does
everything better than most.

And Holden once again
gets quirky

with colour themes
like infrared and ultraviolet.

We tried to blend

a sort of a more international
look into the car

so it wasn't a flamboyant
American car.

We took the best of both worlds

and sort of married it
into that.

MAN: New Holden Monaro
GTS four-door.

It's the great way to move.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

It became
an Australian icon product.

Ford is thrown a curveball.

Ford USA has decided to retire
the Falcon in America,

a move that also threatens
to clip its wings down under.

Ford Australia tasks
its local design team

with creating a new car
from the ground up.

The XA, XB and XC

will fly the Falcon flag
throughout the '70s.

The XA was a much improved,
quieter, smoother vehicle

than the prior models.

Curved side glass
which gave you improved package.

So it was
a much more modern vehicle.

Yeah, the XA Falcon
was definitely the total break

from no longer being
just an Australianised version

of a vehicle
which was also sold in the USA.

Almost 130,000 XA Falcons
are sold,

a far cry from the HQ range.

But Allan Moffat showcases the
XA's pedigree on the racetrack,

winning the 1973 Bathurst 1000
against Peter Brock

and Holden's LJ Torana XU-1.

It's a constant game
of one-upmanship.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

And, as the mid-'70s kick in,

Holden and Ford both get lucky
with an unexpected hit.

The panel van.

It's available and new to a van.

You get bucket seats,

sports instrumentation
with taco and clock,

stick shift or optional T bar
automatic, six-inch-wide wheels,

and best of all,
a tailgate that opens down.

GRAEME: When you sell the idea

that the car
is a liberty machine,

it's a freedom machine, then
of course everybody wants one.

Enter the Holden Sandman.

GARY: When we think about cars
being an extension of oneself,

the brands or the products
that I buy

is who I want to be seen to be.

And if you bought a Sandman,

you want to align yourself
with that surfy culture.

DAVID: You could actually
have your surfboards in them

or strap them on the roof and
throw a mattress on the floor

in the back of the panel van.

But Ford's not far behind
with its bedrooms on wheels,

the SurfeRoo and the Sundowner.

And it's not long before
they all have their nicknames

like the Sin Bin
and the Shaggin' Wagon.

Real horny.

And if you saw a guy in
a panel van, you're like, whoa!

"Don't hop in the back."

The whole area is padded out
in a crushed brown velvet

with a mosaic mirror
on the roof.

ARCHIVE: Don't laugh, it could
be your daughter inside.

Those thoughts
must cross the mind

of many an anxious mother

as one of these powerful
V8 mag-wheeled

four-on-the-floor travelling
jet palaces rolls past.

It's a whole new
motorised way of life.

♪ Life has never been this good

But Ford and Holden's
small-car offerings

are struggling to compete.

JOHN: The rivalry
between Holden and Ford

was so intense,
it became an obsession.

And that obsession
allowed Toyota

to creep in
without being noticed.

REPORTER: High petrol costs
has seen buyers switch

to smaller, fuel-efficient
Japanese models.

By the mid-'70s,
Japanese manufacturers

have a sizable
and rapidly expanding share

of the Australian car market.

ARCHIVE: When a lot of people

start getting uptight
about their cars,

that's the day the people who
build the Australian machine

look, listen, start fresh over

and come up with new Torana
6 V8, the car for its time.

March 1974
sees the introduction

of the midsize
new-body LH Torana.

And at Bathurst
in 1975 and 1976,

Holden's V8 Toranas
score crushing wins

against Ford's XB GT Falcons.

But in 1977,

there's more friction

between Ford and Holden tribes
than usual.

I remember my first big
shattering disappointment

in my motorsport fandom

was when Colin Bond left Holden
to drive for Ford.

One of Holden's favourite sons
has done the unthinkable.

It was unheard of
to change brands.

It was just unheard of.

Moffat and Bond
are a formidable team

behind the wheels
of their XC Falcon hardtops.

Brock rides low
in his A9X Torana...

the weight of countless
Holden fans

resting heavily
on his shoulders.

The early stages of the race
are a cat-and-mouse game

between the front runners
Moffat, Brock, Price and Bond.

COMMENTATOR: Two Fords,

two Marlborough Holden
dealer team cars.

Moffat then takes
a commanding lead.

ARCHIVE: This race
belongs to Moffat.

With just ten laps to go, the
race leader runs into trouble.

ARCHIVE: Consternation
for the Moffat team

as the lead Falcon starts
displaying signs of fatigue.

Moffat ran out of front brakes
completely, you know,

wore the brake pads,
the backing plates,

the pistons, there were none.

And Moffat is forced
to slow down.

I was catching
him at ten seconds a lap.

A lap ahead of Brock's Torana,

Bond is set to take
the chequered flag.

ARCHIVE: The second Falcon
of Bond and Hamilton

soon catches up
with the slowing Moffat X Car.

The temptation
to pass is strong,

but team tactics prevail.

And then the sign came out.

The team orders him
to stay behind Moffat.

COMMENTATOR:
Colin Bond just sitting

and not making
any attempt to manoeuvre.

He's playing it strictly
to instructions in this,

the final half lap
of the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000.

RAY: Allan Moffat
owned the team,

but there was nobody
within cooee of catching them.

If you're number one and you
own the team, you win the race.

Moffat doesn't just want
to win the race,

he wants to do it in style.

That aerial shot
from the Channel 7 telecast

of the two Fords
crossing the line together.

Two XC Falcons, hard tops,

with the helicopter
coming over the top.

And it's one of the iconic shots
from Bathurst.

Allan Moffat leads Colin Bond
across the line in formation.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

It was very good footage.

Channel 7 and the others
thought it was great.

Two cars going down
the straight together.

I was quite happy at the time
that we let him win.

He was quite happy. [LAUGHS]

[CHEERING]

COLIN: And I still think
it's probably one of the races

that if you ask someone
who won in '77,

they would know it was
the Ford one-two, basically.

From a Holden fan's perspective,
it was devastating.

♪ We love football, meat pies,
kangaroos and Holden cars

♪ Football, meat pies,
kangaroos and Holden cars

ARCHIVE: That's football,
meat pies,

kangaroos and Holden cars.

♪ Football and meat pies,
kangaroos and Holden cars

It's clear Australia's own car
needs a big win.

Holden wants to replace the
successful full-size Kingswood

with a new family car

that is smaller
and more fuel efficient.

I believe the consumer is
telling us that he wants a car

that is more manoeuvrable,
easy to operate within the city,

a little smaller on the outside.

Holden decides to adapt
a European GM Opal design

and start building it
down under.

It's unveiled in 1978.

Meet the Commodore.

The Commodore, I think,
was a game-changer for Holden.

It was a downsizing, and it was
a really good car to drive

and it was a good-looking car.

It had a European flavour
which the people liked.

It had clean styling.

DAVID: And it did initially
have the image that maybe

this was where the market
might be going for the future.

JOHN: The new Ford model
was due to be released

on March the 28th, 1979.

And we brought
our entire sales team together

to blunt the Ford release.

ARCHIVE:
A new Holden so advanced,

it will challenge all your ideas
about Australian cars.

JOHN: Holden were very worried.

We had downsized
as a consequence

of the energy crisis.

Ford didn't do that.

We were holding our breath

that we could sell
a smaller-size family car.

And we set record sales
in the first six months.

And it's time to prove
that the Commodore

is the car Australia
is waiting for.

DREW MORPHETT:
Of all the long-distance

motoring events
around Australia,

this is to be the longest,
fastest

and most taxing
on cars and competitors.

To proclaim
the Commodore's credentials,

Peter Brock,
his co-driver and navigator,

are driving
for 20,000 kilometres.

Fourteen days non-stop in the
Repco Round Australia Trial.

DREW: Peter Brock,

the fastest long-distance driver

in Australia,

suited to this type of charge.

BEV: He was competing against
the world's top rally drivers

in a field that he wasn't
used to dealing with.

DREW: With Portman losing
two and a half hours,

it's now the expected
Ford-Holden battle.

The Commodores have nearly

a four-hour advantage
over the field.

At all odds, he beat
the world's best drivers

over the harshest course
anywhere in the world.

And that to him was probably

the most satisfying event
in his life.

MAN: Well, really,
none other than Peter Brock.

[APPLAUSE]

The Commodore's
one-two-three victory

captures the country's
imagination

and confirms Holden's claim
as Australia's own car.

However, Ford
has a surprise in store.

ARCHIVE:
Introducing new Ford Falcon GL.

A world-class family car
without a world-class price.

Released in 1979, less than six
months after the Commodore,

the XD Falcon
is a Design Award winner.

Part of the XD programme

wasn't just in getting
a more Europeanised,

more precise,
tighter-looking vehicle.

We decided to do an
emissions programme

and improve
the Falcon performance.

As it turns out,
the fuel efficiency

of the XD Falcon
is just as good

if not better
than the Commodore.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

DAVID: All of a sudden,
marketing decided, well,

maybe this isn't a bad
combination

of better fuel economy
and bigger vehicle.

For savvy car buyers,
the wait is worth it.

I think within about 12 months
of that

we'd got to number one
in the marketplace.

You know, you didn't have
to squeeze your family

into that little car.

Falcon Alloy Head 6.
Ton of room.

Beautiful performance.

And economy that makes some
of your small cars, well...

ARCHIVE: Don't settle for less.
Falcon is the answer.

AARON: When I think back

to how Holden and Ford
marketed their cars,

their brands, themselves,

there's a few little
sniper shots

across at the other
mob along the way.

Some still talk about
how big their car is.

JOHN: Rivalry marketing
is a risky subject.

The last thing you want to do
is give your competitor

some reference
in your advertising

because it could indicate
a little bit of anxiety.

Holden wheeled out an ad
with Peter Brock driving

their radial-tuned suspension
that was pretty trick,

with a couple
of pointed references

to maybe the other brand's cars
at the time.

ARCHIVE: Now watch
some competitive cars.

Same test, same driver.

So Ford responded

and put their drivers
out in a field on a runway

and had race drivers

weaving in between
race drivers in their car

to show how good
their suspension was.

ARCHIVE: And the point
we're making

is that no matter
how a car looks

when it's driven around
witches' hats,

it's how a car performs

when your life's at stake
that really counts.

We never felt better
about Falcon

and Falcon never felt better.

AARON: And the marketing
elements of each brand

were just as bitter
as the race drivers were

or the car salesmen were.

And they would stop at nothing

because it was all about
beating the other mob.

ANDREW: Advertising of vehicles

has certainly changed
and has evolved

but what hasn't changed
is bringing the vehicle to life.

It's the story.
It's the emotion.

We believe we've got
an emotive brand

so that's what we want
to play with.

We want to emphasise that.
We want to bring that to life.

♪ We're moving with you...

Suddenly,
for the first time ever,

Holden is playing
second fiddle to Ford.

JOHN: It was tough going
for a while.

That first year after Falcon
was not easy.

But there is still one arena
that really counts

and where fiery, affiliated
passion is on display.

ARCHIVE: The scene is set
for the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000.

COMMENTATOR Bond's got him
down at Forrest's Elbow.

Ford's looking
for a way past, too.

Bathurst 1000 in the '70s,
for me, was an eye-opener.

In terms of being a festival,

it was a drink-a-thon
for a lot of them.

They would go up midway through
the year and dig a big hole

and bury their stack
when the police

decided to keep
alcohol levels down.

To keep it refrigerated,

they'd run underground lines

to the major power source.

So it was this atmosphere
of these guys in army greatcoats

with every badge that they
could con from any race team

and these hats,
and they were diehards.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT]

BEV: You know, this raw
enthusiasm for a need for speed,

an outlet that they weren't
getting anywhere else.

It wasn't an era where,
you know,

money was big
and professionalism existed.

It was a raw, enthusiastic,
incredible atmosphere

that had to be seen
and experienced.

[CAR HORNS BLARE]

This is an economic goldmine
for Bathurst.

And the money and the people
that flowed through the town

and the restaurants
and the pubs, phenomenal.

-[BAND PLAYS MARCH]
-[CHEERING]

But there are people
who don't cotton to it.

They don't like the invasion,
they don't like the noise.

Some of the people that live
in the centre of the circuit

are not all that much in favour
of the car race.

But only one man can lay claim

to having been here
before the race started.

He was here in 1932

and he's not all that fussed
about racing cars.

It's a curse, really.
A curse to us.

A curse to the... I'd say
it's a curse to bear this,

the mighty pollution,

this glorifying of speed...
has on young people, you know.

He'd stuff cotton wool
in his ears

and just bear it
for the rest of the day.

But he couldn't abide it.

[CHEERING]

[CAR ENGINES REV]

At the 1979 Bathurst 1000,
Ford fans are still talking

about the Falcon's high-flying
one-two finish in '77.

But one man is determined
to change the narrative.

Peter Brock.

RAY: By 1979, Peter
was at the peak of his powers.

He was driving better
than he'd ever driven before.

GARRY: Brock had something
to prove.

He was always setting the bar
higher and higher.

After qualifying
for pole position,

Brock is off to a flying start
in his Holden Torana.

Not even Moffat can catch him.

With just a handful of laps
to go,

Brock's built up
an enormous lead.

He's almost 40 kilometres
ahead of the next car.

But he thought, "No. Bugger it.

I'm gonna
do something different here."

BEV: Peter wanted to prove
that this car was so good

he could go out on that last lap
and get the lap record.

By the last lap, Brock
is pushing his Torana

to its absolute limits.

RAY: I think he just said,
"One lap to go. Let's have a go.

Let's have fun on the last lap."

COMMENTATOR:
Listen to the crowd warming up.

The chequered flag unfolds
a page in history as Peter Brock

in the Marlborough Holden
Dealer Team

comes across
to take the chequered flag.

Brock wins by six laps

and breaks the lap record
on his last lap.

COMMENTATOR: ...of Australia's
greatest race, Peter Brock.

It's Brock's fourth win,
equalling that

of his long-time rival,
Allan Moffat.

It's also the last time
a Torana

will take the chequered flag
in the Bathurst 1000.

[COMMENTATOR
SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

It's the end of an era,

and the beginning of a new one.

1980.

The new VB Commodore faces off

against the XD Falcon
for the first time.

It's the beginning of what
will become a 40-year battle.

There are also some new faces
on the circuit.

Dick Johnson, the laconic,
laidback Queenslander,

but, boy, he could strangle
the best out of a car.

I don't really try to portray to
be someone that I'm really not.

I just do my own thing
in my own time

and if nobody likes it,
well, that's just too bad.

He's a privateer
with talent and big dreams,

but no factory backing.

But I had to fund
all my own stuff

on a very minimum
sort of wage.

It's very difficult to sort of
fund something like that.

Johnson's Falcon
is built from a used car.

We built the XD Falcon,

which was an ex-police
patrol car from Maryborough.

And Johnson, the battler,
needs every dollar he can get.

DICK: It was ten grand for pole
position and second was nothing.

Guess where we ended up. Second.

[CAR ENGINES REV]

Johnson picks up the start,

a slow start
by Kevin Bartlett...

Johnson gets off
to a flying start.

DICK: From that point on,

here's me cruising around
leading the race

and bugger me dead if this rock
didn't appear on the racetrack.

COMMENTATOR 1:
Oh, we've had another bang.

Is that the race leader?

COMMENTATOR 2: Dick Johnson.

He has gone into the fence.

He's hit a rock.
Demolished the car.

Demolished his chances.

COMMENTATOR:
In all of my years in racing,

I have never seen a man

so emotionally shaken
as was Dick Johnson.

The Commodore's win
is overshadowed

by drama off the track.

MAN: I know the viewers
across Australia

are absolutely shattered

by what has happened
the same as you are shattered.

We all feel the same.

GARRY: And there was such
a great wave of sympathy.

Ford fans and Holden fans
started ringing Channel 7.

"What can we do?
How can we help?"

A national appeal

raises what would be worth
more than $300,000 today

to get Johnson back
on the track.

GARRY: Ford got on board

and offered to match
dollar for dollar

and that enabled Dick Johnson
to come back

and win the damn thing
the following year.

[CHEERING]

[CAMERA CLICKS]

♪ Newspapers all told me
I should drive a smaller car

♪ They said that in the future,
families won't travel far

♪ But when the road is long and
I'm driving through the night

♪ And my kids
are sleeping peacefully

♪ I know I was right

♪ It's times like these
I'm glad I drive a Falcon

The 1980s are very good
for Ford.

Not so much for Holden.

Dick Johnson's success
on the racetrack

is a key ingredient

that helps the Falcon
edge out the Commodore

as Australia's top-selling car.

It has taken Ford 22 years to
knock Holden off the top spot.

And they manage to retain it
for the next seven years.

But as the decade kicks
into gear,

the automotive landscape
in Australia

continues to change
dramatically

for both manufacturers
and consumers.

ARCHIVE: If all the Toyota
Coronas sold in Australia

were parked end to end

they'd reach from Melbourne
to Sydney.

That's a quarter of a million
Coronas

and a quarter of a million
people

who've chosen Corona
for its reliability, comfort,

and all-round good value.

The Commodore and Falcon may
be Australia's biggest sellers,

but increasingly, the consumer
has a far greater choice,

particularly
in the small-car market.

Ford and Holden were heavily
invested in the large sedan car.

And it was only gradually

that it began to dawn upon them
and the market

that there was a much greater
appetite for smaller cars.

Four-cylinder cars of the kind

that the Japanese
were already making.

JOHN: It was inevitable
that Toyota became

the number-one brand
because of the cars they built.

They were building a world car.

The more they built, the more
cost effective it became.

And Holden were building Holdens
for Australians

and Ford were building Falcons
for Australians.

Despite all of this,
Ford and Holden

remain obsessed
with each other.

They refuse to shelve
their large, powerful sedans.

And in the early '90s,

the Japanese aren't just
knocking on the door,

they're kicking it down.

GARRY:
When the Nissan GTRs came along,

supporters of the V8 muscle
power normally aspirated,

Fords and Holdens, were livid.

COMMENTATOR: Winfield Nissan

have got the great race
by the throat.

This new turbocharged threat

challenges Australia's
deep-rooted tribal war.

Ford and Holden fans
were great rivals,

but they were friendly enemies.

COMMENTATOR:
Jim Richards, Mark Scaife

in the Winfield Nissan GTR

winning the 1992 edition
Tooheys 1000

over Dick Johnson
and John Bauer.

GARRY: The only time
they joined forces as enemies

is when somebody else intervened

and upset the Ford versus Holden
formula.

[BOOING]

COMMENTATOR:
The natives are restless.

I'm just looking to see

if I can find any
Nissan flags out there.

AARON:
The fans hated the Nissans.

They wanted the Fords and
the Holdens to be up the front.

The winners of the great race
for the second year running,

Mark Scaife and Jim Richards.

[BOOING]

And the crowd
are really getting worked up

and I know why they are.

GARRY: I was on the balcony
emceeing the presentation,

and both Ford and Holden fans
took up the half-full beer cans

and were throwing them.

COMMENTATOR: I hope Wilko's
wearing his can-proof vest.

We had to dodge those
to get through the presentation.

JIM RICHARDS:
I can't believe the reception.

I thought Australian race fans
had a lot more to go than this.

This is bloody disgraceful.

I'll keep racing,
but I tell you what,

this is going to remain
with me for a long time.

You're a pack of arseholes.

ANDREW: Australians
have always been passionate

about their vehicles

and there's an element
of tribalism

where they want
to come together.

Go, the mighty V8 Commodores!

-The battle lines were drawn.
-Go, Ford!

Go, the Holdens!

It is definitely to do
with the history

of being a full-blown
Australian vehicle

and to be manufactured here.

ANDREW: What makes a superfan
is loyalty.

The ability to stick through
thick and thin

and we certainly know with
motorsport that's what we see.

Go, the Holdens! Yeah!

And it gives people
an opportunity

to display their passion
and their emotions

for their vehicles,
which is wonderful.

Ford rules!

ALL: All Fords are shit!

That's what we race to do.
We want our fans to cheer,

we want them to be happy.

BILL: They just wanted
Ford versus Holden.

They wanted the big bangers.

They wanted
the maximum-capacity car.

The big, powerful, noisy machine
out there banging away.

Just the red versus the blue

and that was all they wanted
in life.

That was just the atmosphere.

It was seeing the crowd
and just understanding that...

[LAUGHS] there was this mad,
crazy Australian battle.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

REPORTER: For Australian
touring car fans,

they say it's a dream come true.

Ford Falcon
against Holden Commodore.

It's just like going
into time warp,

for me,
going back about nine years.

And from 1993,
Australian touring car racing

returns to its V8 roots.

A ring-fence is thrown around
the competition

with the rules being rewritten

to only allow Falcons
and Commodores.

DICK: We sat down and said
what was it like years ago

when we had all the fans

who used to come
to the race meetings?

All the television
that had great ratings.

And it came down
to Ford versus Holden.

So we went back to the future.
V8 Commodores, V8 Falcons,

and out of that became
V8 Supercars.

It's the most successful period

of touring car racing
in Australia.

It's when
the commercialism grew.

It's when the teams
went from paying to race

to being paid to race.

You're selling millions
of dollars of merchandise,

of multimillion-dollar
television deals.

It's been nothing
short of amazing.

Many in Australia
and around the world

see the dawning
of the new millennium

as a fresh beginning.

But for Ford and Holden,

it feels more like they're
nearing the end of the road.

Their market
has once again shrunk

with half the cars
on the Australian roads

imported from overseas.

It's beginning to look

like that all that Ford
and Holden can bank on

is nostalgia and the loyalty
of their rusted-on fans.

And that's exactly
who Holden's design team

decides to appeal to
as they scramble for ideas.

It starts with a concept car on
display at the 1998 Motor Show.

The covers came off
this concept car

and the media
swarmed around it

and they're going,
"Hey, guys, we're over here."

It wasn't called Monaro yet,
it was just VT Coupe.

It was the groundswell of people
and media saying,

"Well, it's got to be a Monaro
and you've got to make it."

A lot of people went nuts. "Yes,
you've got to do this thing."

Following
an overwhelming response

from the public and media,
the modern Monaro is born.

No one knew about it.

Jaws were on the ground.
This thing looked amazing.

RICHARD: A sedan-based vehicle

with lots of room,
lots of style, lots of pace,

but at an affordable price,

and something
that suited the market.

So much like the early Monaros,

they found their niche
in the market.

This new one
did exactly the same.

The public was ready for it,

which was why
it was so successful.

And of course it wasn't just
successful only in Australia.

We sold the Monaro
around the world

as a Chevrolet
and a Pontiac as well.

And more than 40,000
are sold in America.

Twice as many
as sold at home.

AARON: It went on the racetrack,
won the Bathurst 24 Hour.

It was a performance car
that Holden fans had to have.

RICHARD: Just by pushing
boundaries a bit,

this is how these things evolve

and how you can have
success stories.

That one was absolutely
a success story.

Ford's unveiled
the latest weapon

in its struggle to overhaul
arch-rival Holden,

the new Falcon will go head
to head with the Commodore

in a $500-million bid
to recover industry leadership.

Ford refuses
to accept second place.

They unveiled the new look,
European-inspired

BA Series Falcon
in September 2002.

COMMENTATOR: And here it is,
the BA Falcon race car.

It's officially revealed
at Bathurst,

tipping its hat
to past Ford glories.

COMMENTATOR:
This is a re-enactment

of the fabulous
Ford one-two finish

at Bathurst in 1977.

And heralding
a promising future.

COMMENTATOR:
The V8 Falcon race car,

the man who's given the honour
is of course Dick Johnson.

COMMENTATOR 1: Look at this.

COMMENTATOR 2:
That's a beautiful car.

Within months of its launch,

the BA Falcon takes out
"Wheels" Car of the Year,

a first for the Blue Oval
in over three decades.

And more importantly,
outselling its Holden rival,

knocking the Commodore
off its perch.

Following
the production model launch,

the BA's flagship sports models
are released.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

Ford has fallen short of
the GT legends since the 1970s.

But the new GT badge Falcon

is a high-powered return
to its roots.

The quality of the cars that
we were producing in Australia

were awesome cars.

I think the XR Turbo
in particular was a special car.

It was a cult car.

The BA is a Supercar champion
three years in a row.

And driven by Craig Lowndes
and Jamie Whincup,

is victorious at Bathurst
in 2006.

Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup!

Winners of the Supercheap
Auto 1000!

[CHEERING]

Well done, you've broken
a drought, Craig, for Ford.

Thank you very much.
I love youse all.

Still, the Red Lion
is on the prowl.

[CAR ENGINE REVS]

MAN:
There's a basic law of nature

which says the mightiest...

-[ROARS]
-...will lead.

[ROARS]

Launched in 2006,

the VE Commodore
is the first Holden

that's been entirely designed,

engineered and built
in Australia

since the demise of the HQ
in the late 1970s.

RICHARD: It was
a very exciting period

when we were
developing the VE.

Not since the HQ did we have

an all-new architecture
from the ground up

and that's what designers love.

You're not hamstrung
by what's already existing.

This is a clean sheet of paper.

We know how to do this.

Now we've got the opportunity,
just watch us.

[APPLAUSE]

AARON: This was the brand
that always found a way.

Come up with something new
and different

to capture the attention
of Australians.

Power on. Absolutely superb.

It's also the most expensive
and largest automotive project

in Australia's history

and earns the car the nickname
the Billion Dollar Baby.

Good evening.
The global financial crisis

is affecting financial markets

right around the world,
including Australia.

The global financial crisis

brings car manufacturers
to their knees.

And some don't survive.

GARY: Consumers started
to reduce spending,

reduce their consumption.

Also, you know, people
were concerned about driving V8s

as insurance policies went up,

as fuel prices
started to creep up,

registration increased,

a move away from V6s

and into sort of smaller
four-cylinder vehicles.

With the booming popularity

of imported SUVs
and dual-cab utes,

the mighty Ford Falcon
is in a death spiral.

Sales plummet and many
workers lose their jobs.

If you lose the car industry,
then you lose a key component

to having a manufacturing sector
in our nation.

GARY:
The 2007 global financial crisis

presented more challenges
for Ford and Holden.

We saw families, again,
constrained in their spending.

NORM: The high cost
of the Australian dollar

impacted our exports

and low-cost imports
flooded the country.

In May 2013, Ford makes
a shock announcement.

They will end manufacturing in
Australia by the end of 2016.

Manufacturing is not viable

for Ford in Australia
in the long term.

BILL: They were
totally unscrupulous

about what worked for them.

It was all about selling cars.
Can't blame them for that.

After a century of bitter
rivalry,

you'd think Holden
fans would celebrate.

But they don't.
They're in mourning as well.

BILL: You don't have a rivalry
if you don't have opponents.

You've got to keep your enemies
strong enough.

They would have desperately
wanted to keep each other going,

to keep the whole concept going,

to keep the tradition going,
the culture.

RICHARD: When Ford
announced the closure

of their manufacturing,

it put the shivers
through the industry.

So we were on notice,
and I think it told us

that we need to do
everything we possibly could

to keep things going.

When you open the door
to the new Commodore,

your mind opens too.

When you get behind the wheel,
you'll know why.

Technology. Luxury. Quality.

Goosebumps.

In 2013, Holden releases
the VF Commodore.

The newest model
is celebrated by some

as the greatest car
ever made in Australia.

Years in the making.

Over 3.3 million kilometres
of testing.

RICHARD: That was
the pinnacle for Holden.

We were able to introduce
even more technology.

It was a fabulous-value
equation.

It did everything well.

It really was
a world-class car.

It's also Australia's
last great muscle car.

RICHARD: We're sending
performance cars to the US

and they're loving them.

In fact, the VF Commodore
became the NASCAR.

The car that's always turned
heads, now changes minds.

Sadly, that was
the last one we did.

In September 2016, Ford
shutters its Geelong plant,

the birthplace
of Ford Australia.

In October,
it shuts Broadmeadows.

REPORTER: After 91 years,
Ford's rich history in Australia

came to an abrupt end

with the last Falcon
rolling off the assembly line.

The remaining employees
said an emotional goodbye

and left the grounds
for the very last time.

Very sad. I miss something.
My heart is empty.

Yeah, sad day.
Sad day for Australia.

It's not just for Ford,
it's Australia.

MAN: There's people with tears,
there's people devastated.

It was just a really emotional
day for a lot of the workers.

It was a really emotional day.

I'm working with people
that have been here for 42 years

and they're devastated,
you know.

It's not really the thin end
of the wedge

because the wedge
is nearly all the way in

so there's not much left.

Then in 2017, Holden builds
its, and Australia's, last car.

[APPLAUSE]

RICHARD: It was quite sad
because, you know,

the ability, the passion and
the creativity was still there.

It felt like a tragic irony.

[CHEERING]

[CAMERA CLICKS]

Today is a very sad day for
Holden and for South Australia.

And now, GM and Ford have gone
and the Holden badge has gone.

That Australianism, that
Australian identity is gone.

The cities and towns

that have been home
to these mighty firms

have been defined
by their presence.

There were towns that,
particularly in South Australia,

that were almost
being abandoned.

And just seeing all the families
that are affected,

it was like doomsday.

It was so sad to see.

The disappearance of the
car industry has brought with it

the disappearance
of a ladder of opportunity

that was available to people
in previous generations.

The local car industry is done.

Holden's managing
director always said

Australia needed
three manufacturers.

GARY: The market in Australia
became too small.

They probably lost the battle
with Japanese imports.

It's a tragic end
for an industry

that helped Australia
become what it is today.

RICHARD: Sadly,
I can't think of another country

that had the ability

to actually design, engineer
and manufacture cars

in the same country

and then give it up.

2017. It's the last time

Aussie-built Falcons
and Commodores

face off on the track
at Bathurst.

WILL: You could sense
chatter amongst the paddock,

amongst the fan base,

that this was the end of an era.

COMMENTATOR: How great is that?

Holden took the win.

But will these brands
ever truly disappear?

Today, these iconic symbols
are being immortalised.

Nostalgia for the past means

the fans are keeping
the dream alive,

Spending up big
to get their hands

on their dream Fords
and Holdens.

RACHAEL: Now it's just whether
we're restoring them,

whether we're getting our kids
to be inspired by them

and just keep the love alive.

ANNOUNCER:
Ladies and gentlemen...

In the showrooms
and on the racetracks,

it's been a fierce rivalry
unique to Australia.

RACHAEL: We know if the passion
dies, the cars will die with it.

So we don't want to give up,
and we probably never will.

Whether red or blue,

our homegrown cars
were so much more

than just a means of transport.

We grew up in them.

We were liberated by them.

But the stories
of these cars didn't end

when they were tossed
on the scrapheap of history.

They remain indelible
in the snapshots of our lives,

our family stories,
and in our folklore.

ANDREW: Cars play an incredibly
important role in our lives.

Ultimately, it's a core part
of your existence.

And I think they tell stories
and that's what we want.

They enabled us
to grow as individuals

and as a nation.

They may be disappearing
from our streets...

but their legends will live on.