Holden Torana 1979 News

Peter was my mentor and he and Bev took me under their wing in my early days of racing. So it was a no-brainer to give my race car a Brock livery for the 50th anniversary of Bathurst this weekend.Our team chose the red, white and black livery of the 1979 Torana A9X in which Peter won by a record six laps. I don't think that record will ever be broken, but I'm hoping the livery inspires us to a win in Peter's honour. My car was choppered into Skyline from the Bathurst airport and I was just praying they didn't drop it.I met up with Bev and we drove down the Mountain together rekindling our memories of the great race and the King of the Mountain. Most of the teams have entered the spirit of the anniversary with special paint jobs, although Jamie Whincup's car will remain in its standard livery.While no one could win by six laps because of the safety cars used these days, I'm sure Sunday's race will be fast if the weather and the Sandown 500 race are any indication. The forecast is for clear conditions in the low 20s, which means good tyre life, fast lap times and comfortable driving conditions. They are ideal for a very fast race like the pace in the Sandown 500.I'm a farmer so I'm always up early, but with daylight saving starting on Sunday in NSW, it will be an hour earlier than I'm used to. I sleep in a caravan next to the transporter, so I virtually roll out of bed and straight into a race car.Every morning, except the Sunday, we walk the track from 5.30 as we have for the past four or five years. It takes about an hour. Then I have my normal breakfast of cereal, fruit and yoghurt. I try not to change my routine for this weekend or any race weekend.I'm not superstitious and don't have lucky jocks or anything like that for the race, but I do think pole position can have a bit of voodoo about it. While it's a great honour to get pole, not too many seem to win from grid position one.By Sunday morning we will know where we are with car speed, fuel economy and grid position, and have a race strategy set in our minds. My co-driver Warren Luff knows this place as well as I do, so we will evenly split the practice sessions.Hopefully, a bit more common sense will prevail here among the drivers than we had in the 500. It's a long race and over the 161 laps you are bound to encounter lapped traffic, crashed cars, wildlife and all sorts of surprises. 

Previous Bathurst 1000 Winners 1963 Harry Firth/Bob Jane Ford Cortina GT 1964 Bob Jane/George Reynolds Ford Cortina GT 1965 Bo Seton/Midge Bosworth Ford Cortina GT500 1966 Rauno Aaltonen/Bob Holden Morris Mini Cooper S 1967 Harry Firth/Fred Gibson Ford Falcon XRGT 1968 Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Holden Monaro GTS

Racing legend Peter Brock drove many race cars in his long and successful career. And with his passing late last year, the value of his classics increased dramatically. So it's not surprising that what could be the most important car of his life, where he first began his racing passion, has been valued at a massive $400,000. Or is it surprising?It's not a vehicle from the muscle car family and there's no V8 power under the bonnet. The only race track it's been on was a self-made dirt course on the Brock family farm.It has no brakes and has been sitting in pieces for more than 50 years.But now, the 1929 Austin 7, the car where the racing legend learned to drive at the age of 12, is driveable once again.After six months of hard work, restorer Peter Denman has returned the car from Brock's childhood to its original form.As a friend of Brock's and with his wife as the director of the Peter Brock Foundation, Denman put his hand up for the job.He used four photographs that were taken at the time by Brock's older brother Neil, to help in the restoration process.The photographs of the engine, chassis and rear end allowed him to recreate the car as closely as possible.“The car was remarkably complete except for a few items,” he says.“The original engine was on it and the chassis was the original. It needed quite a bit of cutting rust out and so forth.”Denman says that despite its small size, there was considerable work involved, including a rebuild on the front and rear ends, the gearbox and repairing the engine.The engine was in a poor state and was split in half, so Denman had to call on the Austin 7 club to help weld it together so the original engine could remain in the car.Another obstacle Denman faced was the flooring. As the original had rotted away, he used wood Peter had collected to make his own furniture in recent years.Brock's younger brother, Lewis Brock, last weekend re-enacted the image of Brock racing around the family farm in his first car.He says the image of Peter and his dad working on the car is etched in his memory.“I won't forget it, all the boys were involved in varying degrees, but it was Peter's car. He did the work on it,” he says.Lewis fondly recalls Peter getting into trouble from their mother for cutting the body of the car with an axe. He says she was more concerned about the damage to the axe.Lewis believes he and Peter were the only two to have driven the car as youngsters and the one time he got behind the wheel, he ended up in a palm tree.“I was struggling to get my legs down to the pedals,” he says.Lewis says his brother had to fine-tune his skills of going down through the gears and putting it into a slide in order to stop.Brock drove the car until he was 16. Although many decades have passed, Lewis says the noise of the engine is still identical from their childhood.“It's fabulous,” he says. “When we started the engine, my uncle Sandy was there ... we looked at each other when the car fired up and said that's the same noise.”Both Lewis and Denman describe it as interesting to drive, Denman claiming it feels like a “rocket ship”. “It only weighs probably 200kg.“It's very, very low to the ground, it's something that you couldn't describe,” he says.Lewis is concerned over the lack of brakes and says he won't be driving it again until brakes are installed.The previous owner bought the car from Sandy Brock 45 years ago and had it sitting in the roof of his factory for most of that time. About 10 years ago he discovered it was Brock's first car.Lewis says Brock knew about the car, but didn't have any plans to reclaim it. But after Brock's death last year, the owner decided to sell it and it was purchased and donated to the Peter Brock Foundation by a supporter.“Peter would be rapt,” Lewis says. “He would think it was a hoot and he was probably sitting on the back axle watching me drive it. That's what it felt like.”If Brock's history was taken out of the picture, Denman says the car would be worth a lot less.“The car itself is probably worth $2000 if you wanted to buy one, for the chassis, the engine, that's what you'd pay,” he says. “It's the history of the car, the car is complete.”The Peter Brock Foundation will now display the car at different shows and racetracks around the country and it's likely to end up in a museum.“When Peter signed signatures he'd put on posters `follow your dreams',” Lewis says.“That's where it started for him, he turned it into something to hone his skills in.”And Lewis says Peter would want everyone to see it. While this might have been his first, there are many more cars where Brock mastered his driving skills. According to the fans and collectors, Brock would have raced more than 100 cars during his time on the track. The most valued and important of those would have been his victories at Bathurst.Queenslander Peter Champion has a collection of 32 Brock cars, both ones he raced and road registered models.He's collected the cars over the past 15 years and believes they would be worth between $6 million and $7 million.The collection includes a replica of the Austin A30 Brock raced in 1967, a project Brock's step-son James Brock completed for Champion. The first Bathurst car Brock raced, the 1969 Monaro is also in the collection, as well as the 1974 L34 Torana and the 1982, 1983 and 1984 Bathurst-winning Commodores.He also has the Ford Sierra and the 2002 Motorola-sponsored Commodore that he raced at Bathurst. And Champion this week said he and his team are currently rebuilding the car that claimed Brock's life.“I'm guessing they're worth from half a million to a million each, that's what people say. I don't get involved, they're not for sale.”As Brock's friend, navigator and competitor, Champion wants to share his collection from Brock's career with the public.“I'm building a museum which I have been doing for a number of years. Peter was involved in with me for quite a few years. A lot of the personal stuff, he gave to it,” Champion says.“The reason he was an icon was because he always had time for people, he always stood there and signed autographs, he stayed well after dark.”Champion says the museum should be opened in Queensland by the end of the year.Fellow Queenslander, David Bowden, has his own slice of Brock history. He owns the Bathurst-winning A9X Torana's from 1978 and 1979, as well as Brock's 1987 VL Commodore. He says that although the value of the cars has increased with Brock's passing, Bowden's not comfortable talking about what they're worth.“It's so hard, he was such a good mate to everyone, that I hate talking about things like that,” he says.The value is not important, Bowden says, as he wouldn't consider selling them at this stage. He says he's spent too much money building up his collection to sell them.“I don't expect to jump on for a quick profit,” says Bowden, who often sends his cars to Bathurst so the public can see them.“Brocky” did his last hot lap at Bathurst in the 1979 A9X Torana. Where are they now? Brock's classic cars 1967 Austin A30 original lost, replica owned by Peter Champion1969 Monaro (Bathurst third place) owned by Peter Champion1972 XU-1 Torana (Bathurst winner) owned by Glen Amos1973-74 XU-1 Torana sold last year for $500,000 to an anonymous Melbourne buyer1974 L34 Torana owned by Peter Champion1975 Torana (Bathurst winner) lost1978 A9X Torana (Bathurst winner) owned by David Bowden1979 A9X Torana (Bathurst winner) owned by David Bowden1979 Commodore (Round Australia trial winner) owned by Holden1980 Commodore (Bathurst winner) claimed to be owned by Rowan Harmon1982-83 VH Commodore (Bathurst winner) owned by Peter Champion1983 VH Commodore (Bathurst car) owned by Peter Champion1984 VK Commodores (Bathurst winner and third) owned by Peter Champion and the Bathurst Museum1986 Commodore Spa 24-Hour Race owned by Peter Champion1987 VL Commodore (Bathurst winner) owned by David Bowden1988 BMW (Bathurst car) unknown1989-1990 Ford Sierra owned by Peter Champion2003 Monaro 24-hour race winner owned by Rob Sherrard2006 Daytona Coupe owned by Peter Champion 

They include his six-lap winning margin at Bathurst in 1979, on the day he slam-dunked his superiority by setting the fastest lap of the race on his last lap.And his first Bathurst win, driving single-handed for 500 miles in a giant-killing Holden Torana XU1.And what about the two-hour queue of fans at Bathurst, waiting patiently for a word and an autograph the year of his first (second and third) retirement race?Many of the Brocky stories have passed into folklore. Such as fans getting his autograph on their body and then having a tattoo put over the top of his signature ...There are countless youngsters named Brock by parents who loved the man. Some of us were lucky enough to spend more time with Brocky, and Peter in private, and so the memories are even more special.Here are a few of mine:THRILL RIDESRiding with Brocky was always something to remember. He was brilliant at the Holden proving ground in a V8 Commodore rally car, holding the car in massive sideways drifts as he calmly chatted about a bunch of stuff I can't remember. My brain was overloaded and as frozen by his skill as a kangaroo in a set of headlights.He was totally relaxed as we headed out of the pits at Phillip Island in his Ford Sierra race car, even though my side of the ride was on a piece of foam without a seat belt or even a seat.He was incredibly focussed as he blitzed Sandown in the same Sierra, after asking what lap time Dick Johnson had done in an earlier passenger ride. Brock was so committed to beating the mark that he fired us on to the track before I had time to grab a helmet. And, yes, he went quicker. But only after we slip-streamed past Allan Moffat at the top of the back straight.The last time I took a track lap was at Bathurst in 2002. Mount Panorama was damp, we were on slicks, and Brock's black eyes were flashing like a pair of precious pearls. Then we ran off the road coming into The Chase. It was never a drama but Brocky was annoyed."Bugger," he joked. "As soon as I realised we were going on to the grass I knew you had your story."MONEYBrock never spoke about money. And often didn't have his wallet with him but he lit up when we published a story which said he was earning $1 million a year.I was called into the presence of Peter Perfect for a severe dressing down.Once he had calmed down, it emerged that he was really worried about the Tax Department reading the story and chasing him for more money.After all, he had been through a long, tough fight with the cash men in Canberra after the collapse of his Holden Dealer Team operation that was only resolved many years later.A few months later, Brocky was smiling again when I asked him about the $1 million man tag. "So, did we get it right?" I asked. "Actually, you were about $200,000 light," he said laughing.LUCKUntil last Friday, Brock had barely stubbed a toe during his race career. He walked away from some big hits and was only really injured twice, once while driving Bob Jane's Chevrolet Monza sports sedan in Adelaide and more recently when he raced a go-kart in a fun run in Darwin.But there was much more to his luck."Brock never made a mistake," says his friend and rally co-driver, journalist Wayne Webster. "He never took the wrong road, it was always my fault."He never crashed when we competed in the Australian Safari. I had told him the wrong thing."LIFE ADVICEYou could always rely on Brock for an inspiring note alongside his signature. Something along the lines of "Live your dream". But, privately, he could deliver amazing insights.There were many times when Brock was involved in a difficult story, from his troubles with the Tax Department to his Bathurst comebacks and even the split from Beverley.His attitude was simple, like the time I called to ask about that Bathurst comeback. "Please don't ask me today. I don't want to have to lie to you," Brock said.And when things got messy with his life partner? "You have to do what you have to do. I understand," he said.CO-DRIVERSOne-time Bathurst winner Tomas Mezera shared a Commodore with Peter Perfect at Mount Panorama and learned all about the legend."Brock ruined my career," Mezera jokes. "He came in at Bathurst and gave me the car and it was like a pachinko parlour in Japan. All the lights were on and flashing. It was stuffed."But Brock told everyone on TV that 'Tomas broke the car' and they believed him. The bugger. But no one thought that Peter Brock could do anything wrong."THE POLARIZERA tiny device cost Brock his Holden Dealer Team business and drove a wedge into his relationship with Holden.It was called the Energy Polarizer and was developed in partnership with his friend Ric Dowker to align the energy fields in a car. The theory was that it would make any car drive better.I sampled a car in 1986 and agreed. I even wrote in a story that I thought the Polarizer worked.Most people though it was bunk and Brock was driven into the wilderness, while Dowker was branded as "Doctor Feelgood" and the man who brought Brock down.But Brock bounced back, he and Dowker remained best friends, and he privately stayed committed to the Polarizer."How do we prove it works? They haven't invented the machine yet to prove it works," Brock said, just last year.SAFETY Brock knew that motor racing was dangerous. He also believed he could not be hurt in a car, and had no real fear of death.Which is perhaps why his ideas on an upgrade for Mount Panorama were not what the officials were expecting when they called to consult him."I told them to get big billets of aluminium, then sharpen them like pencils," he said."Then I told them to install them in the wall where you come over Skyline. That would get people thinking. You have to have consequences in motor racing."NICKNAMESIn Brock's world, all the significant people had some sort of nickname. Beverley became "Bevo" and his public relations man Tim Pemberton became "Plastic" (something to do with his ability to withstand heat).Neil Burns was "Part" because of he was prematurely bald and had the world's lowest hair parting.John Harvey was "Slug" because he was from Sydney, which Brock called "slug city", and Grant Steers was "The Spear" because he had a pointed head but also because he was the Mister Fixit for Brock at Holden.THE LAST STARTWhen Brock went to Bathurst in 2004 to drive for the Holden Racing Team he was past it. He had not driven a V8 Supercar for too long, he was getting old, and his heart was not in the racing.No one said it, no one wanted to believe it, but the stopwatch does not lie. Still, Brocky was as popular as ever and in huge demand from his fans, who were dreaming of a miracle 10th win at the Mountain.HRT had imported crack British racer Jason Plato and he was chosen to start the race, to keep Brock out of the early rough-house racing. But he hit the wall and then was hit by John Cleland, who upended his Falcon over the top of the 05 Commodore.Brock was still in the pits, wearing his fireproof suit and looking like the legend. Now he did not have to race, or have his incredible reputation tarnished by a sub-Brock result."It's amazing how the universe looks after these things, isn't it," Brock told me, with just the touch of a smile.