Group A – Brock’s Introduction of Mobil
1985 was the first year of the new international Group A rules and the local Holdens were up against the proven Jaguars and BMWs from Europe.
Brock welcomed oil giant Mobil as the new naming rights sponsor for HDT, a relationship that would last for the rest of his racing career.
But little did anyone know back then that the amazingly successful Brock and HDT collaboration would come to an abrupt halt in 1987. This was also the year where Brock would have his ninth and final victory at Bathurst, a record that still stands today.
In 1989, Brock sourced two Ford Sierras, that brought four podium finishes in the 1989 Australian Touring Car Championship, including victory in the season finale at Oran Park in Sydney.
He headed back to racing Holdens in 1991 in partnership with former HDT partner Larry Perkins – Commodore V8 fans across the country all breathed a sigh of relief! 1992 also saw the start of a new era of Australian touring car racing, known today as V8 Supercars.
1985 Mobil HDT Commodore VK Group A
Here we have a tribute car of the very first Group A car to run at Bathurst for Holden, which was an HDT built car.
As a lot of people would be aware, this car here would have been the car that they knocked the windscreens out of at Bathurst. After getting a cracked windscreen part way through the race, Brock was forced to remove it altogether and wear a visored helmet.
It is rumoured that he was being sprinkled with bits of glass and was holding the glass in place with one hand as he raced down the Conrod Straight! The rear windscreen also had to be removed by a crew member kicking it out from inside the car later in the race.
After all of that, this Commodore was going hard with Peter Brock and David Oxton sharing the driver’s seat and they were sitting in second place with three laps to go. But unfortunately, the timing chain broke, meaning they went from second place to retiring from the race!
1987 Holden VL Group A “Race Car”
This 1987 Holden VL Group A car was last race car built by HDT and Peter Brock.
This is one of the cars that Peter got himself into trouble with according to his mate, Peter Champion.
This is one of the cars that had a DB Polarizer, a device that Peter Brock developed and tested that he claimed, “altered the behaviour and characteristics of material and components in the vehicle”. Something that Holden never quite understood.
When he took this and the #10 car to Bathurst in 1987, he had no Holden backing. Ironically Brock went on to win his final Bathurst 1000 title in #10 with David Parsons and Peter McLeod after the two leading Sierras were disqualified for bodywork irregularities!
Peter Champion found this car in England with the help of Brocky’s long-time manager and her husband. He was able to do a deal and bought the car back into the country. It came back with the Walkinshaw kit on it and all the HDT fittings inside it. Apparently, they used this VL Commodore in England to do the test for the Walkinshaw!
The restoration was finished on this car in 2001 and Brock and his son, James, raced it at the 2002 Melbourne Grand Prix against Dick and Steven Johnson, in their Sierra. This car certainly has had an eventful life!
1989 Mobil 1 Racing Ford Sierra RS500
Here we have a tribute car of the very first Group A car to run at Bathurst for Holden, which was an HDT built car.
As a lot of people would be aware, this car here would have been the car that they knocked the windscreens out of at Bathurst. After getting a cracked windscreen part way through the race, Brock was forced to remove it altogether and wear a visored helmet.
It is rumoured that he was being sprinkled with bits of glass and was holding the glass in place with one hand as he raced down the Conrod Straight! The rear windscreen also had to be removed by a crew member kicking it out from inside the car later in the race.
After all of that, this Commodore was going hard with Peter Brock and David Oxton sharing the driver’s seat and they were sitting in second place with three laps to go. But unfortunately, the timing chain broke, meaning they went from second place to retiring from the race!
1992 Mobil 1 Racing Commodore VP
The 1992 Mobil 1 Racing Commodore was Peter Brock’s entry into the new era of Australian Motorsport where new racing rules based on five-litre V8 touring car Commodores and Falcons were introduced.
Only Brock and the factory Holden Racing Team used these new VP specification Commodores for Bathurst that year.
This is a tribute car to the VP Commodore that gave Peter Brock had his most difficult ever start at the Bathurst 1000 when the tail shaft broke on the starting line! But the ever resilient Brocky still went on to finish the race, coming in 27th place!
A VP Commodore is the car that also cleaned up the fence in a huge fireball at the top of the mountain in ’94. After being asked what happened, Brock said “driver error”, owning up to his mistake!
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