The last of the line before
the arrival of the Commodore, the now very sought
after HZ...
European production of the Beetle would end
in 1977 with the introduction of the Golf, but
would continue in Mexico until 2003...
The trajic scene at Granville on January 18,
Australia's worst ever rail disaster...
Sadly, the King was to die in August 1977 after
taking a drug overdose... |
1977, and the last of the big Holdens was to be released
before the arrival of the VB Commodore in 1978. The
HZ was very much only a face-lift of the outgoing HX Holden model, but it did feature Radial Tuned Suspension (RTS)
that improved road holding markedly.
And 1977 would also mark the passing of another legend
(for European production at least). The Volkswagen Beetle had endured since the war, but consumers were fast growing
tired of the cars noisy and slow characteristics, and
VW were to counter lost market share with an entirely
new car, the Golf.
But such was the popularity of the
"Bug" that it would remain in production in
Mexico until July 2003, Volkswagen being forced to make
the deicision to close after the Mexican government
legislated against 2 door taxi's!
Sadly, Australia would suffer its worst rail disaster
in history on January 18th when the crowded 6.09am commuter
train from Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains would
crash at Granville, a suburb of Sydney.
The train left
the rails and hit a support of an overhead steel and
concrete bridge, bringing the bridge and several cars
down on top of several carriages. 83 people were to
die in the tradgedy, with many others being seriously
injured.
Roots, the multi-million dollar US mini-series, airs
on Channel 0 and receives the highest ratings of the
decade.
Seven televises the VFL Grand Final live for the first
time. Hotel, a Crawford production for 0-10, begins production
in Melbourne. The series was axed before the first episode
had even gone to air.
Graham Kennedy returned to television as host of 0-10’s
evening game show Blankety Blanks, which dominated ratings
in the 7pm timeslot for the next two years. On
December the 22nd the 1218th and final episode of Number
96 went to air on 0-10.
In the VFL, North Melbourne and Collingwood would clash
in the Grand Final - and for only the second time in
history the match would result in a draw. The subsequent
replay would see North run away with a 27 point victory.
Formula One Championship: Niki Lauda (Austria) / Ferrari
1977 Bathurst Winner: Allan Moffat & Jackie
Ickx / XC Falcon
NRL Grand Final: St. George (9) tied
with Parramatta (9), St. George winning the decider
22 - 0
VFL/AFL Grand Final: Collingwood (10.16.76)
drew with North Melbourne (9.22.76) North would win
the replay by 27 points
Melbourne Cup: Gold and Black (J.
Duggan)
Wimbledon Women: Virginia Wade d. B.
Stove (4-6 6-3 6-1)
Wimbledon Men: Bjorn Borg d. J. Connors
(3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4)
The Movies:
- Saturday Night Fever
- Star Wars
- Annie Hall
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Julia
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture - Annie Hall
- Best Actor - Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl)
- Best Actress - Diane Keaton (Annie Hall)
Gold Logie: Don Lane (The Don Lane
Show, Nine) and Jeanne Little (The Mike Walsh Show,
0-10)
The Charts:
- Mull Of Kintyre - Wings
- You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
- I Just Want To Be Your Everything - Andy Gibb
- Don't Cry For Me Argentina - Julie Covington
- Dance Little Lady Dance - Tina Charles
- That's Rock & Roll - Shaun Cassidy
- The Way You Do It - Pussyfoot
- Living Next Door To Alice - Smokie
- I Go To Rio - Peter Allen
- Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
Farewells:
- Charles Chaplin (Silent film comedian)
- Bing Crosby (Crooner and Bob Hope's buddy)
- Groucho Marx (Famous for his one-liners)
- Vladimir Nabokov (Russian novelist and author
of
"Lolita")
- Elvis Presley (The King)
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