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A Look into the Career of Allan Moffat

Although Australian motorsport has its fair share of locally grown heroes, there’s one that hails from Canada. He’s a name with a familiar voice to many thanks to his 1970s TV adverts for Ford and Victa but it’s his on track prowess that he’ll be remembered for. He is, of course, Allan Moffat. Born in the double tongue twisting city and state of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in November 1939, Moffat became an Australian citizen in 2004. He had been eligible since the early 1970s but said he’d never bothered to follow it up. It was in the mid 1950s that Moffat and his family arrived in Australia, after his father, who worked for tractor manufacturer Massey Ferguson, was transferred to Melbourne. Moffat commenced his racing career, which would span twenty five years, in 1964, co-piloting a Ford Lotus Cortina. The venue was Sandown Park and the race, the Sandown Six Hour International, was a precursor to the Sandown 500. What was called the Australian Touring Car Championship saw Moffat enter for the first time in 1965, again driving a Lotus fettled Cortina. Travelling to the USA and back kept the taciturn Canadian busy for the next three or four years before finally settling down full time in Australia. It was 1969, the year of the first manned lunar landing, that would cement Moffat into Australian motorsport history. An interview with the US based head of Ford motorsport at the time after a ballsy approach by Moffat had one of seven Trans Am Boss 302 Mustangs become his drive and enabled him to take a tilt at the ATCC crown. The “Moffstang” as it’s now popularly known, was soon to be decorated with his new, and first, major sponsor, Coca-Cola. It’s history now that the car, although a race winner, never did win the championship for him. Rule changes in the early 1970s saw the Mustang effectively retired from competition however Moffat had already established himself as a driver to beat in other Ford cars. 1969 was his first year in the Bathurst 500, driving a Falcon XW GTHO, and courtesy of a recalcitrant gearbox managed to miss the traffic jam that grew after the now famous Bill Brown rollover at Skyline. 1970 and 1971 were marquee years for Moffat, winning back to back at Bathurst, and also stamping his authority on the event by becoming the first driver to lead from the start and win. The car? The now fabled Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase Three. Moffat, although known for driving and promoting “Blue Oval” products, also made his mark in other marques. The 1980 Le Mans had him in a Porsche 935. His co-driver was a soon to be famous Bobby Rahal. Moffat also drove a Porsche in the 1980 Australian Sports Car Championship. 1981 brought with it a change of direction for the bespectacled Moffat. Enter Mazda and its ground breaking Wankel rotary engine. Four consecutive top six finishes, a second and a third in 1983 and 1984, and wins in the Australian Endurance Championships, plus his fourth Australian Touring Car Championship win in 1983 have this car and its timeframe in history etched in Australian motorsport folklore. Of his friends and rivals, it was perhaps Peter Brock that would be rated the highest in Moffat’s opinion. The pair would race together on numerous occasions, including one memorable outing at the 1986 Spa 24 Hour event. As part of a two car team from HDT they won the Kings Cup, an award for a team that had the highest overall placings for at least 3 of their cars at the end of the race. After Holden cut ties with Brock in 1987, Moffat bought a car, a VL Commodore SS Group A that had been readied for an assault on the World Touring Car Championship to be held in Europe. The car placed seventh yet after a remarkable protest saw the top six cars, all factory backed BMWs, disqualified, Moffat and co-driver John Harvey were declared the winners. A return to the Blue Oval came in 1988, in the form of the Sierra RS500. Although a troubled car, Moffat did win in one in 1988’s Enzed 500 at Sandown. What was then called the “Toohey’s 1000” would be Moffat’s last at “The Mountain”. Driving with Gregg Hansford and along with Ruedi Eggenberger and Klaus Niedzwiedz, the car would retire with a blown head gasket and a cracked block with just 32 laps remaining. It was his friend and co-driver Brock that would present the still strongly Canadian accented Moffat his Australian citizenship papers in 2004. After his 1989 retirement from driving, Moffat would go on to continue his strong association with motorsport in areas such as team management and television commentary. And, like his now departed colleague, Moffat has long lines of fans awaiting his time and signature when he appears at events such as the Muscle Car Masters. And forty years after that famous 1-2 victory at Bathurst in the XC Falcon alongside Colin Bond, Sydney Motorsport Park immortalized him by naming the super-fast Turn 1, Moffat Corner. What are your memories of the great Allan Moffat? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook page and let us know in the comment section below the article.

Ireland’s John Goss Special

When Falcon Coupe enthusiast Brock Mahoney started his search for a John Goss Special XB Falcon, we doubt a trip across to Ireland was on the agenda. With only a few vehicles matching Brock’s online searching, he tried to track down a winner with the local Aussie examples, leaving another potential match in Ireland as a last resort. However, with no luck, Brock found himself on a flight to Ireland for what felt like a treasure hunt of sorts, hoping he would hit the goldmine to share a space with his custom XC Falcon show car “INENVY”, a car we are sure that many of you will be familiar with. The John Goss Special XB Falcon was manufactured in 1975 to honour Goss’ privateer victory in the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. There is believed to have been up to 800 of the unique Falcon’s produced, although Ford has never announced an exact number. Features unique to the model included a special polar white and either blue or green accent paint scheme, increased dash instrumentation, a three spoke steering wheel, vented bonnet and twelve slot steel wheels. The John Goss Special in question had been sent over to Ireland a decade ago and restored by the previous owner Tom. This particular Falcon was one of four that have spent time in Ireland, with three being sent directly from Australia and one making its way via England. Tom’s example had been restored so well, it would put many Australian experts to shame, and whilst the exterior remained almost completely to Goss standard, some changes had been made. The original 302 had been replaced by a 351, the four-speed transmission had been replaced with a T5 transmission and the original wheels were replaced with Weld wheels. The original white, single headlight grill had also been replaced with a black, duel headlight grill. Since returning to Australia, the grill has been returned to its original single headlight state, and the steering wheel has been replaced with a correct GS wheel. New tyres have been fitted and plans are also in place to return the engine and transmission to the original 302 and four speed specification. And whilst the Falcon lived a cosy life inside a humidity bubble, safely nestled away from the harsh Irish conditions, the car will certainly appreciate a life back on home soil, bathing in the warmth of the Queensland’s Gold Coast. Do you have any John Goss Special stories the Rare Spares Community will find interesting? Or maybe you’re the proud owner of a beautiful old Falcon? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook Page and let us know in the comments section below.