A Look into the Career of Allan Moffat 26 June 2018 05:13 Rare Spares General, Rare Spares (0) ShareAlthough 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.
Targa Tasmania Event Wrap-up 15 May 2018 04:51 Rare Spares General, Rare Spares (0) ShareTarga Tasmania has wrapped up its twenty seventh year and caps itself yet again as Australia’s premier tarmac rally series. It really is an event for any driver as there are ten distinct categories to choose from. There’s the Rookie Rallye, Vintage and Classic, Early Modern, and GT Sports Trophy, just to name a few. Combined with these categories is the ability to show up in approved cars that can date back to 1900. This year’s event was also round two of the CAMS 2018 Australian Targa Championship, with the first, Targa North West, also held in Tassie and is intended to give drivers a “taste” of the Targa Tasmania. The next events are Targa Great Barrier Reef before heading south to Victoria for Targa High Country. TT as some call Targa Tasmania, covers close to five hundred kilometers and is run across thirty-three special stages. The overall winners were once again Jason and John White in their Dodge Viper ACR. Jason and John have raced in twenty-one Targas, and have also moved into second place of the all time overall winners, sitting behind former Australian Touring Car Championship driver Jim Richards and long time ally and former V8 Supercars commentator, Barry Oliver. Oliver had also announced his retirement from motorsport prior to the event. The win placed the duo first in the Wrest Point GT2 class (cars made from January 2008 and two wheel drive, minimum 500 made). Second outright was a Subaru WRX STi, co-driven by Steve Glenney and Andy Sarandis. This had them win outright the RDA Brakes GT4 class (as per GT2, but with four/all wheel drive) and now lead the modern car section of the CAMS Targa Championship. Local honours were taken by Hobart doctor Michael Pritchard and co-driver Gary Mourant. They placed third outright in a Porsche and claimed second in the GT2 class. Former GT Championship driver Paul Stokell folded his lanky body into a Lotus Exige, one of many that competed and finished this year’s event, with co-driver Erin Kelly. The Whites were concerned about their tyres as co-competitors Matt Close and Cameron Reeves had been pushing them very hard prior to the final six stages. Jason White said: “We were actually having a lot more sweat about what was going on with the tyres. It really forced John and I to be at the top of our game.” Relief came for the Whites in the form of Close and Reeves’ Porsche GT3 losing traction on cold tyres and going off-road, damaging the car enough to stop further competitive driving. The third round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship is the inaugural Targa Great Barrier Reef to be held in Cairns from August 31 to September 2. Have you ever competed in Targa Tasmania? Or is it on your ‘bucket list’ to get down south and have a crack? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook page and tell us all about it in the comments section below this article!
Future Classics – 5 Australian cars with investment potential 06 February 2018 07:47 Rare Spares General, Rare Spares (0) ShareIt seems to be every couple of weeks we hear of a mint condition A9X Torana, Monaro or GT-HO hitting the market for a monumental price, and they don’t seem to be having many issues finding a new home. So, with the Australian car manufacturing industry officially closed for business, which cars of more recent years will replace the classics of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s in another 50 years’ time? Well, in this article we take a look back at the cars produced in Australia since the turn of the century, and create a very short list of cars that might just be considered a classic in the future. Ford Falcon FGX XR8 Sprint The FGX XR8 Sprint was the most powerful Falcon ever produced, thanks to a 10 second overboost feature that elevated power specs from 335kw/570nm to a mammoth 400Kw/650Nm in short bursts. It was a final farewell for a model that had a long and illustrious history on both public roads and the race track. The final Falcon was a fantastic representation of what the Australian car manufacturing industry was capable of; not only was the car blisteringly fast, it was comfortable, looked good inside and out and rivalled many of its European counterparts in refinement. It will hardly be a surprise when the value of this car increases over time. Holden CV8Z Monaro The CV8Z Monaro was the final offering of the reincarnated Holden Monaro in the 2000s. It featured a beefed up 5.7 litre LS1 producing an impressive (for the time) 260kw. While the car was essentially a coupe version of the SS Commodore, the more compact appearance made the Monaro appear a considerably more sporty option than its full sized brother. Prices are already rising on good condition CV8Z’s, with the 6-speed manuals the pick of the transmissions. HSV GTSR Maloo The HSV GTSR Maloo is the fastest V8 Ute in the world, and as such will hold a special place in the heart of local car enthusiasts for many years to come. Truly one of a kind, the supercharged V8 ute features a host of goodies including 20inch forged alloy wheels, oversized brakes, bi modal exhaust, an impressive suspension setup and a torque vectoring differential. All these goodies result in a ute that stands out from the pack, creating a monster that looks just as home on the worksite as it does cutting laps at a track day. A cult favourite among young males, the Maloo will remain a desirable purchase for the foreseeable future. Ford Tickford TS50 T3 In general, the AU Falcon was not a terribly attractive car, and thus nor was it a terribly popular car, so by the time the BA come along most were happy to see the back of the oddly proportioned AU. The shining light, however, of the AU range was undoubtedly the Tickford enhanced range of TE50, TS50 and to a lesser extent TL50 Falcons. The pick of the bunch was the TS50 T3, which featured a hand built 5.6 litre V8, lowered suspension, and an all at the same time outlandish but understated body kit. While power may have been down compared to its direct competition – the HSV Clubsport; an absurd amount of torque ensured that in real world situations, the TS50 could bat well above its average. While the AU may not be popular across the board, among die hard Ford fans, it doesn’t get a lot better than this! HSV W1 GTRS How could we end this list with anything other than the W1? Less than a year since it was announced, all 300 have been snapped up and the prices are blowing out on the open market, with some selling for around a hundred grand over their $169,000 asking price! With the Corvette ZR1 derived LS9 and performance mods everywhere you look, this car is a true track monster, producing an enormous 474Kw and 814Nm. Expect to see a number of these HSV’s tucked away under wraps, only to surface many decades from now with a truly ridiculous price tag. Do you have any cars that you think should be on this list? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook page and let us know in the comments below.