Holden LC GTR XU-1 Torana ‘Rat Attack’ – flashback

Lost in time: Whatever happened to this classic piece of 80s muscle?

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Photographers: Street Machine Archives, Ross Woods


This article on the ‘Rat Attack’ Torana was first published in the April 2011 issue of Street Machine, as part of our 30th anniversary special

TRENDS come and go and one that gained quite a bit of traction in the late 80s and early 90s was wild graphics. One bloke who was at the forefront of the trend was Ross Woods, from Moss Vale, NSW. Ross’s genuine LC GTR XU-1 featured in our June 1987 issue. Ross swapped a nice HG ute for a ratty XU-1 when he was 22 and fitted it with a full-house 179, a spare from his dad’s speedway racer, backed by a M21 ’box.

Where the project went wild was the paint and panel. Ross built all-steel flares to cover the fat 7×13 and 8×14 rims, shaved the rear fuel-filler, fitted a snorkel scoop and an L34-style front spoiler. He then mixed a brighter version of Holden’s Liniment Green and laid on the eyecatching graphics. With colour-coded bumpers, doorhandles and mirrors, the LC — dubbed Rat Attack — stood out like the dog’s proverbials.

“I got pulled over a couple of times by the cops, but they only wanted to look at it,” Ross says. “A few people gave me a hard time about cutting up an XU-1 but what used to really stir them up was the Chev badge!”

“I sold the Torana in ’93 to a local, then it went to a bloke in Campbelltown and I never saw it again. I’ve had a lot of cars since then, including a 400ci HJ ute and a ‘37 Chev.”

The LC’s memory is preserved with the plates now on Ross’s ’64 Pontiac. If anyone knows what became of Rat Attack, we’d love to hear from ya.

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