Chronicles: 1967 Year In Review

Inspired by a collaboration of father and son, Enzo's body work proved a fitting tribute to his son Alfredino's sweet V6 engine...

The Rover P5 V8, inspired luxury...

The HB Torana may have been a re-badged Vauxhall Viva, but would provide the stepping stone for much more desirable models such as the A9X...

The 4 seater firebird owes thanks to John DeLorean...

The 2000GT marked Japan's serious entry into the sports car market...

New Zealands Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme would be the Formula 1 champion of 1967, seen here driving his Brabham-Repco in the German Grand-Prix...

V6 and Ferrari – not two words one would normally associate in the same sentence. Although that is exactly what would transpire in 1967 with the release of the “Dino”. Alfredino Ferrari, the only son of Enzo Ferrari, suggested his father to develop a V6 racing engine for F2 in the early 60s, and while Enzo had always favoured V12’s, he soon approved his beloved son's project.

The very compact, 1600c.c., quad-cam V6 would go on to win several F2 championship titles and prove the vision of Alfredino as correct. But before he could savor the victories the new engine would bring, Alredino died of kidney disease.

Although it took several years for Enzo to fully recover from the death of his son, when he put his mind back into building motor cars he decided that, in memory of his son, he would put the V6 into a mid-engined lightweight sports car and call it "Dino", the shortened version of his son's name. The rest, as they say, is history.

Many good Rovers preceded the P5, and many would follow, however in our eyes the 1967 V8 P5 was the pick of the bunch. Although the existing 3 Litre power plant had established itself as one of the best and most refined engines around, it was beginning to show its age and a replacement was needed.

Although a copy of the 1959 American Buick V8, the new Rover 3528cc engine was far more refined, agile, reliable and powerful – and would eventually go on to power such success stories as the Range Rover.

By the early 1960s many car manufacturers began offering motorists a broader range of motor vehicles. The emphasis was on smaller, more economical and considerably cheaper models - particularly as this era was considered the start of the two car Australian household.

For GMH, the cost of designing one from scratch solely for the Australian market was considered too expensive and onerous, so it would take until 1967 for a suitable donor car to be found – in the form of the Vauxhall Viva.

From these humble beginnings began the legend that would see V8 Torana’s dominate Mount Panorama, particularly when one Peter Brock was at the tiller. Incidently, the name "Torana" was derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "To Fly".

We all expect to see John DeLoreans name appear when speaking the ill-fated DMC12, but not many would know that it was DeLorean that headed up the Pontiac Division during the design and release of the awesome Firebird.

Delorean had originally designed a two seat sports car with a body style very similar to what was to later become the Corvette, however Pontiac needed a vehicle to compete with the Ford Mustang and new Chev Camaro. DeLoreans 2 seater design was scrapped, and work began on the design of the Firebird – and the use of the Camaro’s “F” body ensured development time and costs would be kept to a minimum.

1967 would also mark Japan's first foray into the manufacture of sports cars, a niche previously dominated by the Europeans. The Toyota 2000GT was a joint development between Toyota and Yamaha, the car first being shown to the public at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show.

Built on a sturdy X-backbone frame, the 2000GT's 4-wheel independent suspension had double-wishbones front and back, and derived its considerable performance from a 1988cc DOHC 6-cylinder engine fed by triple Solex carburetors.

With a top speed of over 220km/h, the 2000GT included true sports car features such as a close-ratio 5-speed transmission, limited slip differential, and Japan's first 4-wheel disc brakes with vacuum booster. Today these cars are extremely rare and make a great investment if you can find (and afford) one.

Formula One Championship: Danny Hulme (New Zealand) / Brabham-Repco

1967 Bathurst Winner: Harry Firth & Fred Gibson / Ford Falcon XR GT

NRL Grand Final:

VFL/AFL Grand Final:

Melbourne Cup: Red Handed (R. Higgins)

Wimbledon Women: Billie Jean King d. A. Jones (6-3 6-4)

Wimbledon Men: John Newcombe d. W. Bungert (6-3 6-1 6-1)

The Movies:

Gold Logie: Graham Kennedy (In Melbourne Tonight, Nine) and Hazel Phillips (Girl Talk, 0-10)

Academy Awards: