February of 1976 would see the debut of the Holden LX Torana to the Australian market and buying public.
The LX replaced the popular LH Torana. It featured a relatively mild facelift. The most note worthy from front on being the use of round headlights, as opposed to the rectangular ones used on the LH.
Despite similar aesthetics, the LX featured some rather substantial changes over the outgoing LH Torana.
The LX featured reworked engines, to comply with government exhaust emission regulations that took effect from mid 1976. The upshot of this? Decreased emissions, allegedly better fuel consumption, but at the expense of power.
Despite this, the engine line up would remain similar. The LX would be available with a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engine. Both automatic and manual transmissions would be on offer as well. This would be the last time a V8 engine would be available in a Torana.
Despite the new government controls, the LX Torana sold with a performance option, known as the A9X. It is one of the most sought after Torana models, fetching a high figure on the second hand market. One of the most famous Bathurst 1000 victories came in 1979, with an A9X, driven by Peter Brock, winning the race by a record 6 laps.
The LX introduced the 2 door hatch to the line up, to compliment the 4 door sedan.
Like the previous few Torana models, they would be marketed as a compact version of their fullsize counter part. In the case of the LX, the HX Holden. Like the previous model LH, the LX shared a number of mechanical components with the HX Holden.
Production totalled around 65 000 LX Toranas. It would spend just over 2 years (about 25 months) on the production line. The UC Torana replaced the LX in March of 1978. The UC would end up being the last Torana model produced.