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Pete Geoghegans Craven Mild Monaro
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History has produced a number of burley racing cars, just as it has a number of burley racing drivers. But big Aussie Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, and his booming HJ Monaro sports sedan were an effective, memorable combination, that combined both. For two spectacular seasons, in 1975 and ’76, Geoghegan and his Monaro were a formidable combination and crowd favorite.
Geoghegan had taken a step back in his motor racing efforts following the conclusion of the 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship. Having won the ATCC five times by that stage, he sold his powerful but often ill-handling XY GT Falcon, the last car he’d contested the old outgoing Improved Production category with, and would spend the rest of an erratic racing career driving other peoples cars.
With the rapid emergence in Australia of Sports Sedan racing in the early 1970s, and the rich prize purses on offer, teams scrambled to build ever-more radical machinery to take advantage of the relaxed rules, and steal a share of the rewards. Oran Park, near Sydney, was the first race track in Australia to fully embrace the wild Sports Sedan machines, and in 1972 they announced a 5 round series at the track, with menswear brand Toby Lee and the Grace Bros department store chain tipping in A$15,000 prize money. The following year, they doubled their investment to $30,000.
Geoghegan entered the Toby Lee series in 1973, driving a Porsche 911 owned by wealthy businessman Laurie O’Neil. The sophisticated little Porsche’s were formidable on the challenging Oran Park layout against the V8 competition, and 911 pilot Bill Brown almost won the series. But O’Neil knew he’d have to invest heavily for 1974, to give Geoghegan any chance against opposition that was both more purposeful, and expensive, and set about having John Sheppard build him a new Holden HQ Monaro coupe. Sheppard had already built a number of very successful racing sedans, including Geoghegans ATCC winning (1966, 67, 68, 69) Mustangs, and Bob Janes HQ Monaro and ATCC winning (1971, 72) ZL1 Camaro.
