My first car was a 1975 LH Torana GPAK purchased in 1983. All GPAK Toranas had a 202ci 6cyl motor, 4 Speed manual with 3.36:1 diff from the factory but it wasn’t to long before I put a V8 under the bonnet. When release in 1975 they were priced at $3888. Some say GPAK stood for “Go-Pack” or “General Options Pack” but more likely “Gear Pack”. It was rumoured the GPAK model & livery came about because many customers where purchasing their standard Torana “S” models with popular options like SLR dashboards, 4 speed manuals, 202 motors, Disc brakes and Bucket seats. This prompted GMH to make a specific model as they ran out the LH model before the LX was introduced. They only had 3 colour schemes, Absinth Yellow with Tuxedo Black stripes, Mandarin Red with Casino Blue stripes & Jamaica Lime with Jade Green stripes. However one rainy day back in1989, while driving my then girlfriend and now current wife to work, I made a left turn on a much travelled road in an industrial district. Before I knew it we were doing a pirouette, worthy of a stand up applause at the Russian ballet, mounted the curb and went sideways into the tree on the nature strip. The car impacted the tree on the centre on the front wheels causing the sub frame and chassis to take the full brunt. This caused the chassis rails to shift sideways, the firewall to split open and the roof to kink. Suffice to say it was considered a write off. Luckily we where not .We survived with only seat belt bruising, bruises on our legs from hitting the console & headaches.

I always wear my seat belt even in the back of a car. The first time I wore my seat belt in the rear seat of a car saved a life. I was with friends in the military in 1989 and we had rented a car to travel around Lock Ness (Scotland) looking for Nessie. About ten minutes after sitting in the back seat, a drunk driver came around a bend at a high rate of speed and we had a head on collision. We were probably traveling about 30 mph and he was about 45 mph. Fortunately, everyone in the car were buckled up an all survived. The police, paramedics and doctors were amazed we all survived. They attributed to the rear occupants (me included) were wearing our seat belt. If not, we would have probably broken our legs and had chest and facial injuries. Our weight would and impact forces would have crushed the driver and passenger most likely killing them. So wear your seat beat in the front and back of a car because I am a believer and survivor... Be safe...