Steve Holmes
04-15-2014, 02:32 AM
I've had a request from a Melbourne GT-HO historian looking for images of Allan Moffat in his factory Phase III which was sent to New Zealand to compete against the Castrol GTX cars at the Lady Wigram Trophy event on January 20, 1973.
The 1973 Castrol GTX series was dominated by E49 Chargers, and particularly by Leo Leonard's car. I'm not sure if the rumours were true that Ford paid to send the Moffat car to NZ to deal to Leonard, but obviously someone paid to get the car there.
As it happened, Leonard actually beat Moffat in qualifying, which apparently surprised Moffat somewhat. Motorman magazine wrote this: "In the Castrol GTX class, Leo Leonard's Charger E49 romped around in 1m 26.3s - only 4s slower than the best time set by a Wales (BNSW NZ Saloon Car Championship) car! Allan Moffat, amazed when he saw the speed of Leo's car, said, "That must be the fastest Charger in the world!" His works Falcon GTHO, the car which won the 1972 Bathurst 500 and was flown to NZ for Wigram, recorded 1m 27.4s, but overnight the mechanics found the car had been running on seven of its eight cylinders".
In the race, Leonard took the lead at the start, followed by Ron Rutherford's E49, and Moffat, with the Falcon driver moving to second in the opening lap. According to Motorman, Moffat managed to pass Leonard, but both drivers were having problems, and both retired on lap 4, Moffat with a blocked fuel filter, Leonard with a blown tyre from an earlier lock-up while leading.
The GT-HO then raced at the Teretonga round of the Tasman Series, on January 28, 1973, but this time driven by Jim Richards. Richards qualified the car third behind Leonard and Rutherford, and then finished second in the race behind Leonard.
Does anyone have photos from either of these events of the Falcon?
The 1973 Castrol GTX series was dominated by E49 Chargers, and particularly by Leo Leonard's car. I'm not sure if the rumours were true that Ford paid to send the Moffat car to NZ to deal to Leonard, but obviously someone paid to get the car there.
As it happened, Leonard actually beat Moffat in qualifying, which apparently surprised Moffat somewhat. Motorman magazine wrote this: "In the Castrol GTX class, Leo Leonard's Charger E49 romped around in 1m 26.3s - only 4s slower than the best time set by a Wales (BNSW NZ Saloon Car Championship) car! Allan Moffat, amazed when he saw the speed of Leo's car, said, "That must be the fastest Charger in the world!" His works Falcon GTHO, the car which won the 1972 Bathurst 500 and was flown to NZ for Wigram, recorded 1m 27.4s, but overnight the mechanics found the car had been running on seven of its eight cylinders".
In the race, Leonard took the lead at the start, followed by Ron Rutherford's E49, and Moffat, with the Falcon driver moving to second in the opening lap. According to Motorman, Moffat managed to pass Leonard, but both drivers were having problems, and both retired on lap 4, Moffat with a blocked fuel filter, Leonard with a blown tyre from an earlier lock-up while leading.
The GT-HO then raced at the Teretonga round of the Tasman Series, on January 28, 1973, but this time driven by Jim Richards. Richards qualified the car third behind Leonard and Rutherford, and then finished second in the race behind Leonard.
Does anyone have photos from either of these events of the Falcon?