The single race Australian Touring Car Championship at Bathurst in 1966, saw reigning ATCC champion Norm Beechey debut his brand new Chevy Nova II, freshly imported from the US. It was a heck of a place for a race car to make its debut, particularly as the big Nova was fitted with 4-wheel drum brakes. To hedge his bets, Beechey also trucked his Mustang out to Bathurst, the car that won him the ATCC in 1965, at Sandown Raceway.
In qualifying, the Mustang circulated 2.2sec faster than the Nova, but, crucially, the Mustang was a full 2.8sec slower than pole man Pete Geoghegans Mustang. So Beechey decided to race the Nova. The new car would almost certainly run out of brakes long before the the end of the 20 lap ATCC encounter, but he figured its bigger 327ci motor with its extra horsepower over Geoghegans 289, would allow him to build enough of a buffer while the brakes lasted, to still be in front at the end. Good idea, in theory. By mid-point, Beechey had a 10sec lead, and if the race had only been 15 laps long, he would have won the title. But he didn't.
But the big Chevy had proven itself real contender, and the old Mustang was sold off, to Bryan Thomson. Thomson raced the Mustang throughout the remainder of 1966, then took the car to the UK in 1967. By 1968, having returned to Australia, the Mustang was showing its age. Thomson competed in the ATCC at Warwick Farm, qualifying 20th, 8sec off pole. So he started looking for a replacement.
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