Sydney siders, Tru Blu, DJR sierra,Moffat 77 coupes on display this week at Top Gear

Dan289 · 07-02-2010, 01:10 PM

For those not yet aware, next week we have a few cars heading down to Sydney for the Shannons display at Top Gear live.

Cars in the display will be
Tru Blu - Dick Johnsons great XD, Bathurst and ATCC championship winner.

Shell RS 500 Sierra - Dicks pocket rocket, fastest Sierra's in the world.

Moffat 1977 hardtops, first time in a long time the two have been seen together. We have put a solid effort into getting the Bond Car finished for this event. Won't be 100%, but will be 90% closer than it has been for 30 years.

Some of our non fords will be there as well;
KB's Channel 9 Camaro,
Brock/ Richards 79 A9X Torana
Brock/ Parsons /McLeod -1987 Bathurst winning VL

Plus some cars that are not ours, or Fords, but historically pretty special.

1992 Richards/ Skaife -Nissan GTR bathurst winner.. or did it, ask D.J. about this one!
1980 Brock/Richards -VC
1984 Brock/Perkins -VK Dayglo
1982/83 Brock/Perkins/Harvey -VH

More details of the event are on our site; just click away here.

Hope to meet a few of you there, both myself and Chris will be around the cars each evening, so if your going to be there please come and say hello!

Cheers,
Dan

**DJM83** · 07-02-2010, 03:55 PM

For those that havnt seen these cars in person, do yourself a favour go and have a look

Chopped · 09-02-2010, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJM83

For those that havnt seen these cars in person, do yourself a favour go and have a look

X 100 (definitely worth the drool)

bathurst77 · 07-02-2010, 06:51 PM

Do you have to have tickets for the show to see the shannons display or is it outside in a "passersby" area? i dont want to see top gear but i would love to see that display

Dan289 · 07-02-2010, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Do you have to have tickets for the show to see the shannons display or is it outside in a "passersby" area? i dont want to see top gear but i would love to see that display

I have been told by Shannons that we are inside the main area, for people to visit before seeing the show. So I am thinking you will need a ticket... Having not been there however, I am still not 100% for sure. If you have facebook add Bowden's Own there, I will put something more up on our live profile once we are set up and in the display ok.

Cheers,
Dan

Zed7fiddy · 07-02-2010, 09:04 PM

also anyone that hasent been to bowdens, talk to dan about the a9x, in fact talk to himself about any car, the stories this guy has for these cars is amazing! full of amazing knowledge and crazy detail! wish i was going to top gear this year, sounds heaps better with the shannons display and matt mingay performing in the main show!

Dan289 · 08-02-2010, 08:03 PM

A couple of pics from the loading today, lots of fun driving them out to the truck. Just click this link; hosted on our Facebook site.

Cheers,
Dan

PS. Did I didn't mention the competition Shannons are running there? A trip to the Sunshine Coast, picked up at the local airport in the Shelby Cobra, tour of the collection, then taken back in the Gullwing Benz to catch the Sydney flight back home that afternoon. Nice hey.

bathurst77 · 09-02-2010, 03:23 PM

HI Dan
Your pics have me absolutely drooling. Im fanatical about Moffats xb/xc coupes.

Sadly i wont be going to Top Gear show so I wont get to see my 2 fave cars together agian.

BE interested to know the history of the two MoFoCo coupes.
Understand 1 was the phoenix built after the red gold car burned, and the second was built late 76 for Bond's joining.

After that it gets murky, I think car 1 in 77 was in fact the latter built car and bond had moffs 76 ride.. Also not sure if there was a nother new car built in 78 or did they just repaint the two 77 cars as cobras? (which i think they did) Ive noticed in some pics one car has horizontal indicator repeaters in the rear wing and sometimes they are vertical.

Also what happend to both cars between 78 and about 10 yeas ago when one appeared at bathurst museum (which one was it) and another at Ford discovery centre. Did Allan Moffat get both (3?) or only one car?

I had a pic a while back of a federation painted coupe on a heap at wreckers yard in melbourne getting crushed, and was told that it was genuine. Do you know anything about this?

I would love to know the full history and story behind the Moffat 2 doors.

Dan289 · 09-02-2010, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathurst77

HI Dan
Your pics have me absolutely drooling. Im fanatical about Moffats xb/xc coupes.

Sadly i wont be going to Top Gear show so I wont get to see my 2 fave cars together agian.

BE interested to know the history of the two MoFoCo coupes.
Understand 1 was the phoenix built after the red gold car burned, and the second was built late 76 for Bond's joining.

After that it gets murky, I think car 1 in 77 was in fact the latter built car and bond had moffs 76 ride.. Also not sure if there was a nother new car built in 78 or did they just repaint the two 77 cars as cobras? (which i think they did) Ive noticed in some pics one car has horizontal indicator repeaters in the rear wing and sometimes they are vertical.

Also what happend to both cars between 78 and about 10 yeas ago when one appeared at bathurst museum (which one was it) and another at Ford discovery centre. Did Allan Moffat get both (3?) or only one car?

I had a pic a while back of a federation painted coupe on a heap at wreckers yard in melbourne getting crushed, and was told that it was genuine. Do you know anything about this?

I would love to know the full history and story behind the Moffat 2 doors.

G'day Bathurst 77, with a user name like that I would guess your a little bit fanatical about the hardtops!

The history is not really that murky on the two cars. Moffat kept the phoenix # 1 car as his own racer the entire time, he never once raced our # 2 Bond car. Unlike the first Moffat car, the Bond #2 was a lightweight shell, one of two delivered to Moffat, built up in late 76 as you mentioned. Moffat sold the second hardtop to Bill Obrien, it was the Everlast liveried car. that car still lives in another great Qld collection with a host of other famous group C racers.

The horizontal and vertical rear reflectors were just moved when the cars got painted. They are not a good indicator of which car was which, or that there was a change of cars! Log book and race notes show Bond always in his own chassis numbered car.

In late 1978 the two cars were painted in the new Cobra colours, becoming XC's. Bond left the team in 79 that and his #2 car sat there unused while Moffat resprayed his own in Federation the colours. he advertised the #2 car for sale quite a bit that year, but there were no takers for it.

Bond's hardtop was sold by Moffat around early 1980 and it went through a few different hands in the Cobra colours (which you can still see the stripes over the roof, boot, bonnet and "Moffat Ford Dealers" down the side, under the current paint.) Until it was bought by Adelaide racing historian/ collector John Blanden. He put it back to the 77/78 livery. We bought it from John's estate a few years ago after he sadly passed away.

The Federation car in the wreckers was obviously not the original race car as it now lives in the Bathurst Museum, after Moffat donated it to them in a very sad state in the early eighties. They have since put it back to looking like it was in 1977. There is zero chance that it is not the real deal. Did you actually see it get crushed? I never saw any promo cars in Federation colours, so I am not sure about that car you saw. I would really like to see that pic of yours tho!

All this info is off the top of my head, I will be heading back to the files to get exact dates etc, for a complete and bigger story of the car in the near future, we really need featured on our website with the other cars.

On a sentimental note, when we pulled the hardtop out of the shed for the first time yesterday, we gave it a good and much needed clean. Dad, Chris and myself just sat there for about an hour admiring it. It is an absolute honey of a car, something really special. Cannot wait to get it back here so we can finish it off and then get it to the track, with Bondy at the wheel! Only then will the restoration be truly finished.

Cheers,
Dan

bathurst77 · 09-02-2010, 06:49 PM

THanks for that fabulous info Dan. That clears up heaps. I had no idea the everlast car was an ex Moffat shell

I wont get to see you at Top Gear but I feel honoured anyhow. When you had the car at Eastern Creek a couple years ago for Muscle Car Masters I helped push the car a little bit, It was my brush with fame!

As to the car in the wrecking yard story.. hmm i gone thru my photo collection and i dont have the pic it seems, so i guess with no proof i might consign that to "a mate knows a bloke who met a man in the pub who said...." status. Mind you i will keep looking, but its undoubtably wrong.

BTW do you know who was responsible for the paint designs on Moffat's cars. From the Brut33 days to Federation, Allan's cars always had the best paint schemes.

The worst thing is, given it was the same car all the time, you can only show the cars in 1 livery. BE great to see it in Federation paint as well. (See, there is room for replicars!)

bathurst77 · 09-02-2010, 07:19 PM

I think the crushed car story is an amalgam from two other stories. 1 the Federation shell may have been stored in wreckers shed for safe keeping as Mr Moffat had no space for it, before being donated to Bathurst.
And murray Carters 2 door got crushed.

Dan289 · 15-02-2010, 04:29 PM

They sound like the two stories I know Bathurst.

I do not know who did Moffats design's for his cars, but i agree, his livery over the years was quite striking!

Likewise I agree there is place in the world for good replicas of cars that are no longer with us.

Hope a few of you got to come along to Top Gear show, it was pretty hectic, over 25 000 people there each day over the weekend, lots of wide eyes from young and old over the grouping of cars there. Loved it.

Some images of the event display are here, on our facebook page

Cheers,
Dan

bathurst77 · 15-02-2010, 05:01 PM

Boy what a lineup to miss.

I like how you positioned car 1 with its nose just in front of car 2.

Did Clarkson or May come have a look do you know?

Also interested to know what you still have to do to Bonds car? (I note it has the post Bathurst reverse bonnet scoop)

Thanks for being so open with your info and answers for a "A sweaty fan boy"

Dan289 · 15-02-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Boy what a lineup to miss.

I like how you positioned car 1 with its nose just in front of car 2.

Did Clarkson or May come have a look do you know?

Also interested to know what you still have to do to Bonds car? (I note it has the post Bathurst reverse bonnet scoop)

Thanks for being so open with your info and answers for a "A sweaty fan boy"

We have LOT to do on the number 2 car still... The bonnet that is one thing, but remember at qualifying that year that both cars turned up for the first time with the bonnet scoop and told to remove it for the race. We will be removing it, to show how they were when crossing the line that year. We just plainly ran out of time before the show. Wheels are another thing that is currently being done and front brakes as well. Plus things on the interior like the binnacle fitted etc (Anyone have an interior shot of the number 2 car, please send it to me!). Also we think the colour of the red stripes on our car is not right, it was not done by us, but we are going to look into it a lot more closely.

Clarkson and May come and look at the cars? No, but all the team working there on the show certainly did, ,met a lot of the stunt drivers, including the "stig". I don't think the shows presenters are huge car fans like we all expect.