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Is that the same Stillwell that protested the windscreen on Faheys Escort, when Fahey took it to Oz, was not correct minutes before a race,, and so got him removed from their race so he could win?
Apparently it looked different when the sun shone on it
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More from the 1972 ATCC final at Oran Park. Pete Geoghegan charged off from the front row to lead, while Moffat dropped back behind Harvey, where he stayed until lap 25. He then took off after Geoghegan, who'd pulled out a good gap, but began to slow towards the end. Moffat passed the Super Falcon with three laps to run, and took the win.
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Bob Jane spent up large building this stunning new HQ Monaro coupe to Improved Production rules, to replace his Camaro. The Monaro finally made its race debut at the penultimate round of the 1972 ATCC, driven by John Harvey. Here at the Oran Park final, Harvey held second place for much of the race behind Geoghegan, while a frustrated Moffat worked like crazy to get past, which he eventually did as the Monaro's brakes began to give trouble.
For 1973, the Monaro raced as a Sports Sedan, and Jane raced it until the end of 1978. I believe Jane raced this car for more years than any other car he owned.
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Here he is, the man himself, about to be crowned ATCC champion for the fourth (and final) time.
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This is an interesting photo! In 1984 Dick Johnson went to Germany and purchased two Zakspeed Mustangs in preparation for the impending switch to Group A for 1985. Johnson was still racing his XE Falcon in the final year of Group C, and won his third ATCC that year. He took one of the Mustangs to Bathurst in 1984, as much as anything to test it at the mountain, and see how it compared to the other Group A cars (which included two TWR Rovers) that were at that years race. The Group C Falcon was his main priority, but he did find some time to get in a couple of practice sessions with the Mustang, which didn't actually race.
The new Mustangs were panted white as supplied, and the car that went to Bathurst in 1984 remained so for its Bathurst appearance. The paint scheme was a reverse of the Falcons, with green lettering over white paint. Of course, by the start of the new 1985 ATCC, both cars were painted the traditional Greens-Tuf green with white lettering.
This photo was taken at Surfers Paradise, in 1984. A quick check reveals the Surfers round of the '84 ATCC was held in May, so I don't believe this was from this event. Its likely Johnson brought the car out later in the year as a special treat for the local Queensland race fans, perhaps at a lesser meeting? But note, the number is as the car appeared at Bathurst, #71, a reverse of that on the Falcon. And it would become #17 by 1985.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
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Class of 87. Its amazing how many new Group A cars appeared in 1987. Its also amazing to see a field of Group A cars containing Sierra Cosworths, but not being headed by them. 1987 was probably the last really interesting year for Group A, in which there was a lot of manufacturer interest and numerous race winners. From 1988, the RS500s completely dominated.
This photo is from Round 3 of the 1987 ATCC, at Lakeside. And just check out all the new machines for this year! Gone are the Mustangs, BMW 635CSi's, Volvos, Alfa GTV6s, etc. New for this season are the BMW M3, Sierra Cosworth/RS500, Alfa 75. Leading here is Glenn Seton in the Nissan Skyline, now in its second season. His team mate George Fury is further back. Seton is being chased by Peter Brock, still running the older VK Commodore, having parted ways with Holden.
Next are the JPS M3s of Jim Richards, and, I think, Tony Longhurst, followed by Larry Perkins in the VK Commodore he debuted in late 1986. Behind Perkins is Allan Grice in his VL Commodore. I'm not sure if this was the Bailey owned car that won Bathurst in '86, or a new Les Small built VL. Then there are the two DJR Shell Sierras of Dick Johnson and Gregg Hansford. I'm pretty sure these cars, and the other two OXO Supercube Sierra Cosworths further back of Andrew Miedecke and Don Smith, would still be in their original Cosworth guise, with the new RS500 upgrades having not been introduced yet.
Behind the DJR cars are Colin Bonds new Alfa 75, and Neville Crichtons 1986 Sierra XR4Ti, this being an Eggenberger car. I'm sure I read somewhere at the time Crichton only planned to run the XR4 for the early rounds until a new Cosworth arrived.
Johnson had turned up the boost in the Sierra and sped through to lead for a while, but was later disqualified. Can anyone remember why? From memory it was something to do with his turbo.
This was an exciting new era for Group A, and each team must have been thinking their new machinery would have something over the opposition. Jim Richards eventually won the 1987 ATCC, after a season long battle with Seton, but Formula Sierra would take over Group A from 1988.
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Now for a bit of 1970s Aussie Sports Sedan action. Here is Allan Moffat getting crossed-up in his DeKon Monza. Note narrower 10" wide wheels the car was forced to run under CAMS Sports Sedan rules. To me these don't look as good as the wider wheels it originally raced with in the US and NZ.
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Moffat again, here being chased by Jim Richards in the Sidchrome Mustang.
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Moffat again, this time chasing Pete Geoghegan in the Craven Mild Monaro. This is from 1976. Moffat won the Australian Sports Sedan Championship this year, its first as a recognised Australian championship.
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In 1976, Kiwi driver Don Halliday took his self-built quad-cam Capri to Australia to compete in the rich Aussie Sports Sedan races, including the Australian Sports Sedan Championship, and Marlboro $100,000 series. I believe he also returned again in 1977.
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By the mid-1970s, Sports Sedan racing was the biggest thing in Australian motorsport. It was bigger than Group C, and bigger than F5000. But in 1976, this car appeared on the scene, and proceeded to destroy the opposition. This is Frank Gardners Chev Corvair. It first appeared in Round 5 of the ASSC, won that round, then won the remaining two rounds, to finish second in the championship. Amazingly, despite only entering three round, it finished just 6 points behind champion Allan Moffat!
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The Corvair again, being chased by the HDT Repco V8 Torana of Colin Bond, in one of its rare outings.
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In early 1977, Bob Stewart pulled Leo Leonard and the PDL Mustang II from the NZ Saloon Car Championship, which it was winning, to take the new Mustang to Australia to race. The decision was partially to promote Stewarts new Lego style Torro Toys building blocks product for kids. The car ran at Baskerville, but wasn't actually allowed to race, so was instead given its own slot, on live tv, running around doing demonstration laps. Stewart was pretty pleased about this! It also raced at Calder, against the top Aussie Sports Sedans, plus Jim Richards' Sidchrome Mustang, Don Hallidays Capri etc.
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The Garry Rogers Motorsport team has got off to a pretty good start in this years V8 Supercar Championship. Before becoming a team owner, Garry was himself a pretty good peddler, and raced for many years. His most recent seat time was a few years ago in a Group Nc HQ Monaro, which he was doing to let off a bit of steam while running his race team.
But here is Garry back in 1969, having graduated from FX Holdens to this EH.
This photo is by Peter D'Abbs.
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A couple of years later, in 1971.
Peter D'Abbs photo.
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And in his rapid Escort, being chased by the similar car of Michael Stillwell.
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Fantastic action shot here. I'm guessing this is 1968, based on the second and third cars in picture, Bryan Thomsons Mustang, and Jim McKeowns superb MkII Lotus Cortina. McKeown ran the Cortina in both 1968 and '69, but 1968 was the last season Thomson ran the ex-Norm Beechey Mustang before switching to a big block Camaro. Leading these guys is Terry Allan, in the lurching 396ci Camaro.
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And speaking of lurching, here is Norm Beechey in 1969 in his impossibly tall and softly sprung HK Monaro. The ground-scraping stance of Allan Moffats Mustang just makes the Monaro's ride-height seem even more lofty.
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Loved the look of the Monaro in that guise.
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Impressive Sports Sedan line-up at Adelaide in 1976. This is Round 5 of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship, the first year Sports Sedans were given a national championship by CAMS.
Looking at the first couple of rows, Frank Gardner is on pole with the Chev Corvair, while Allan Moffat is next in his Capri RS3100. Moffat had actually run his DeKon Monza during the first four rounds, winning three races, but with Ford upping its involvement again with Moffat, he parked the Monza and dusted off the Capri, which he already owned. Pete Geoghegan is the third car on the front row, in the Craven Mild Monaro, now fitted with its huge flare kit, and with its nose reverted back to an HQ, after months of battling CAMS to retain the HJ nose.
On the second row is Jim Richards in the Sidchrome Mustang, enjoying another good year in Australia, winning the Marlboro $100,000 series and finishing 4th in the ASSC. Next to him is (I think) Ian Diffen in the ex-Bob Jane Torana, while Vince Gregory, in the ex-Bryan Thomson V8 VW rounds out row 2.
Further back Tony Edmonson can be seen in the ex-John McCormack Repco Charger, while further back Garry Rogers Escort and Frank Ure's V8 Torana (I think) are also visible. Good days!
This was the debut race for the Gardner Corvair. It took pole and won, then won the remaining two ASSC rounds, and finished second to Moffat in the championship, despite only making three starts.
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