Grp C/Grp A/V8SC 'Where are they now?' continued...

[brown dog]

Hello GTR,

as the obvious master of picures of obscure cars, would you happen to have any picures of the 1993 Paul Morris Diet Coke M3? I only have three very grainy very low res shots, and some video footage from 1993.

cheers BD

[David Towe]

I think that's the car that Jervis Ward in Melbourne now owns. By the way, I've bought the sister car, the one that Brock drove in the ATCC and Crompton shared with Parsons at Bathurst. I don't pick it up till Bathurst and I can't wait to get it.

[brown dog]

Well done David, cats out of the bag finally!
What state is it in?

Conrad

[David Towe]

NSW

[brown dog]

Sorry, I meant what condition is it in?

[David Towe]

I know, just my sense of humour coming out again. It's in JPS colours at the moment, it's owned by Nick Rahimtulla at the moment. I'll get it at Bathurst in April.

[brown dog]

Nice! So a two car transporter will be next then? Pity you can't hit Philip Morris up for a few dollars!

edit. I see John Player Special is now owned by Imperial Tobacco. (who will probably assist you just as much as Philip Morris would have anyway!)

[David Towe]

I know it sounds strange when you look at the cars I love and own, but I'm such an anti smoker I probably wouldn't take any money if it was offered anyway.
Nick's car will be parked untill I can pay off the loan I'm taking to buy it (or until the wife's sense of humour returns) then it will be freshened up and set up to our liking then we'll give it a run. I might just bring it out at Muscle Car in the Heritage Hot Laps just to say I've driven it. I'll still race the current car till then.

[mtpanorama]

Originally Posted by David Towe

I know it sounds strange when you look at the cars I love and own, but I'm such an anti smoker I probably wouldn't take any money if it was offered anyway.
Nick's car will be parked untill I can pay off the loan I'm taking to buy it (or until the wife's sense of humour returns) then it will be freshened up and set up to our liking then we'll give it a run. I might just bring it out at Muscle Car in the Heritage Hot Laps just to say I've driven it. I'll still race the current car till then.

Bring it to MCM, I can help you out with the driving if you cant manage it.

[David Towe]

Originally Posted by mtpanorama

Bring it to MCM, I can help you out with the driving if you cant manage it.

Offer number 17 today Mt.P Thanks anyway.

[mtpanorama]

DrBob's M3 in its correct colours for the 2.5lt package.

[drbob]

Thanks mtpanorama for the excellent livery/signwriting job.

[Chubby1]

I saw the 97 Bathurst winner being loaded/unloaded on a tilt tray at North Sydney yesterday. It was outside the classic car dealer on the Pacific Hwy.

[GTRMagic]

SBR AU04

[Mr Walker]

Originally Posted by anthony81901

Notice that the GIO VL was built in 88, so presumably it is the car built by Perkins Engineering as PE007 to shell and engine stage and then finished by Ron Missen for John Harvey and Kevin Bartlett to race at Bathurst. It was heavily damaged at an Amscar round at Amaroo in 89 and I thought written off but perhaps it was actually rebuilt to become the 2nd car for Bathurst in 90?

Agree $330k does seem high, bearing in mind the 97 Bathurst winner recently sold for $285k.

Gentlemen, comments below are those of David Holc that I have posted on his behalf;

All,

It is a bit disappointing and quite hurtful to be told that certain individuals in this forum have posted their un-researched and presumed views on the history of my ex- GIO Walkinshaw which is now for sale.

As a CAMS Group C eligibility officer, I always hear second and third hand stories about most of the cars we have racing with us in Historic racing and basically, most of the stories are based on Zero, originating from individuals who are to lazy to ring the owners of the cars to obtain the correct information prior to wasting ever ones time.

Please read on if you are interested in an accurate, but breif GIO / Bob Forbes racing history with the Group A Walkinshaw. ( Brief as I am running out of time only ! )
I have researched and contacted all relevant parties to obtain this information over a 15 year period, which is how long I have owned my car.

Firstly Bob Forbes owned 5 Walkinshaws in total, 3 of them being race cars and the other 2 being road cars only, with the last road car being build # 750.
Bob Forbes in conjunction with Ron Missen and John Harvey built a VL Walkinshaw in 1988 and competed at Bathurst in 1988, driven by John Harvey and Kevin Bartlett.
This car was severely damaged in Amaroo Park early in 1989 with Mark Gibbs at the wheel. ( Please note that this car did not race with GIO sponsorship at all ).
It was at this point of time that the team received GIO backing, so the decision was made to scrap the old car as it was deemed to be not worth repairing and a deal was done to buy a new race prepared shell from Holden motor sport, which was basically Perkins Engineering. Please note the original VL as listed above was cut up and taken to the scrap metal dealer.
So to get the record straight, my car is the new car that was purchased ( Chassis ID # PE007 ) and not the original car, which was cut up and scraped.
This new shell was taken back to Bob’s workshops, had the roll cage modified slightly to suit their beliefs and lessons learnt from the first car, painted red, assembled and raced.
This new car ( my car ) was raced right through the remaining 1989 season including Bathurst and the majority of the 1990 season.
For Bathurst 1990, the GIO team raced 2 cars, being a new car which was totally built in house being raced as the number 21 car and my car being car # 13 and driven by the new boy, Russell Ingall and Kevin Bartlett, which was to be his last Bathurst start.
The GIO team sold the newer # 21 car, early in 1991 and retained my car which was sold to Stuart McColl late 1991.

So basically the GIO team raced the VL Walkinshaws from 1988 – 1991 with both cars finally making way for the completed VN Group A and the Godzilla.

And to dispel any other myths, I can confirm that my car was never damaged at all when racing in GIO colours, and in it’s competition history including historic racing ( 1989 – 2009 ) has never had any major panels replaced except for the radiator support panel, which I had replaced when I purchased the car in 1994, as it was a little knocked around.

As a notable and knowledgeable individual suggested at Historic Sandown this year, was that this car has had a “Charmed life” in regards to the lack of damage sustained over the years !

This is probably one of the reasons why the car has received trophies for, and voted best presented touring car at various historic races over the past 8 years.

And in regards to the asking price, there has not been a VL Walkinshaw sold in the last 3 years, and for those who are aware, a car that has historic recognition and a stable class to race in is far more valuable at this point of time than a Bathurst winner that is basically a museum piece, unless you want to hand in the log book and race as a sports sedan !

Cheers.

David Holc

[anthony81901]

Mr Walker please thank David for this, he has provided a great rundown of the BFR cars. I presume PE007 was built by Perkins in 1988 as a spare hence why advertised as a 1988 build on My105.com.

[CooperS79]

Great write up David, thank you!

I wonder what became of the #21 car mentioned in Davids write up? Maybe when he has some more time he may be able to fill us in?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by CooperS79

I wonder what became of the #21 car mentioned in Davids write up? Maybe when he has some more time he may be able to fill us in?

Does Mick Donaher still have it?

[anthony81901]

Laurie Donaher sold it to Peter McLeod in 1994.

[Mr Walker]

I spoke with David today and on reflection he wondered if his comments were a little harsh regarding some of the posts here.

I think most people here enjoy trying to put the pieces of the puzzle that is our touring car history back together - and we do it as best we can with the information we can get our hands on. I don't think any one means to offend. But it's great when those 'gaps' are filled with info such as that provided by David.

I don't think many people would have thought there were 3 VLs raced by BFR and assumed that the first one was PE007 rather than the second.

I believe the third car (#21) still exists.

[Mr Walker]

While I'm at it, can anyone tell me who owns the Gibson Motor Sport #001 Commodore that is currently for sale in VR guise? I thought that Peter Champion still owned it but have been told this is not the case. Can anyone confirm?

[anthony81901]

Agree Mr Walker, lots of us have snippets of information it’s just a case of trying to put it all together. Sometimes assumptions are made and on digging deeper prove to be misguided.

I think there was a general assumption that the original BFR car was PE007 with The Great Race stating it was a Perkins shell but as revealed by David not so, even the experts can get it wrong!

Interesting you should mention GMS001. There was some chat on page 148 of this thread with some conjecture to the identity of a Gibson Commodore advertised for sale and as a result Chris Bowden withdrew it from sale pending investigating further.

[jd yort]

Originally Posted by anthony81901

There was some chat on page 148 of this thread with some conjecture to the identity of a Gibson Commodore advertised for sale and as a result Chris Bowden withdrew it from sale pending investigating further.

It has been back up for sale for a while here:
http://australianmusclecarsales.com....odore-race-car

[anthony81901]

Mentions that Steven Richards raced it, however he first appeared for Gibson at Bathurst 95 by which time it had passed to Scotty Taylor...so much for a full race history.

[sebringimsa]

Which VL chassis was the one Chris Smerdon started his ATCC racing in?? Are there any photos out there in the PROTECH colours he ran it in?