Great Cars, Great Runs, Great People, Great Times ....

Torana UC Series ....

March 1978 - Phased-Out Early 1980 ....

The UC series followed the LX and was the last of the Torana line. Major changes were made to the front sheetmetal, grille, headlights, tail-lights and interior. The big news on the mechanical front was the dropping of the V8 and sports-oriented models. Radial tuned suspension reveived even more refinement and the car's chassis was lightened in some areas to improve the power-to-weight ratio. This could be done because the additional strength was no longer required with the demise of the V8. The interior was upgraded with redesigned seating, resulting in increased legroom, a more modern dash and a HX-type multi-function column stalk switch for windscreen wipers and washers, headlight dimmer, flasher and indicators.

Other improvments included more aerodynamic styling with improved, larger, rectangiular headlights, larger fuel tank and the option of four-wheel disc brakes.

The new Holden 10-bolt 'small Salisbury' differential made its debut in the UC series, replacing the old banyo type. The change to the Salisbury differential meant the introduction of a new rear floor panel to cater for the repositioned upper trailing arms (as fitted to the LX A9X).

The new optional disc brakes were similar in design to the A9X and HZ units, but were smaller in diameter to suit the 13-inch road wheels. Another worthwhile improvement was the new central, floor-mounted handbrake located between the front bucket seats. Only the bench-seated six-cylinder Torana retained the underdash pedal-operated park brake from the previous LH and LX models.

The attractive new dash fascia had the heater/demister (or optional air-conditioning) controls in the centre, above the air outlets. The instruments were upgraded to include a temperature gauge on all models. An optional instrument cluster was made available, which included fuel, temperature, oil and volt gauges as well as a speedometer and tachometer with a small clock mounted within the arc of the tachometer.

Four-speed manual transmission was standard fitment on all models except the Torana S six-cylinder which came with a three-speed column-shifted manual gearbox. The Torana six-cylinder range consisted of the S and SL sedans and the SL hatchback. A Deluxe package was optional on both SLs and included a tinted-band laminated windscreen, tinted side and rear glass, intermittent wiper control, AM radio/cassette, cloth seat inserts, full instrumentation and front and rear bumper over-riders.

The Sunbird lineup was increased to include the Sunbird sedan and hatchback, SL sedan and hatchback, and later in 1978, the SL/E sedan and hatchback. In mid-1979, the Sunbird Deluxe sedan was released (no hatchback was offered).

The four-cylinder 1900 Opel engine and the six-cylinder engine range were basically an LX but with minor refinements. However, late in 1978, the Opel engine was substituted with the GM-H-designed four-cylinder Starfire engine. It was released simultaneously with the Sunbird SL/E and was based on the 2.85 litre (173ci) six-cylinder Holden red motor with two fewer cylinders, a new shorter camshaft, a newly designet cylinder head and a two-barrel Rochester Varajet carburettor. It was the first four-cylinder engine designed and built in Australia.

As the UC was phased out, its place in the market was filled by the various versions of the Commodore and later by the JB Camira.

MINOR FEATURES

SPECIAL FEATURES

yENGINES

Engine Size Engine Code Compression Output Engine No
    Ratio kW Prefix
1900cc Low-comp Opel (ex)  L16 8.6:1 74 Y
1900cc hi-comp L16 8.6:1 68 UA
1900cc hi-comp Opel L16 9.0:1 72 UA
1900cc Starfire L18 8.7:1 60 UN
2.85 litre manual LD1 8.3:1 78 HE or XQ
2.85 litre auto LD1 9.4:1 87 HD or XQD
3.3 litre manual L20 7.8:1 81 HM or XQM
3.3 litre auto L20 9.4:1 88 HL or XQL

TRANSMISSION

FINAL DRIVES

Note: All Sunbirds were four-cylinder and all Toranas were six-cylinder.

RELEASE DATES

PRICES AT RELEASE

TOTAL PRODUCED