Bob Jane Racing Heritage - Photo Collection

[Steve Holmes]

First test session (and failure) for Allan Moffats Super Falcon. Things really didn't improve from here!

[Steve Holmes]

OK, who is driving the Plymouth?

[mid-year]

Is it Alan Caelli in the 63 Savoy which was bulit by the factory as a"Ramcharger" for drag racing doing the "roundy-roundy'' thing at Calder ?

Pete

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Pete. I knew about the Ramcharger drag cars, but didn't know one was ever used for road racing. Must have taken a fair amount of work switching it across to run at Calder. The pics I've seen of them they're sat quite tall on their suspension.

[mid-year]

Steve,I believe this car was imported by Ash Marshall for drag-racing and it did a short stint as a circuit racer and the only mod apparently was lowered suspension...By all accounts it was a rocket down the straight but hopeless in the twisty bits It was later sold to Bill Jane ( Bob,s brother ) and reverted back to a competition eliminator and saw further drag strip duty.

Pete.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Pete, great info! I had no idea about this. Just amazing!

[Steve Holmes]

History has made Allan Moffats Kar-Kraft Mustang to be one of the most significant and popular race cars in Aussie touring car history. It never did win that elusive ATCC title, but it did win 2/3rds of the races it started. Moffat debuted the Mustang in 1969, and finally retired it in early 1975, with a New Zealand tour being the last competitive outings he had in it. It was a draw-card wherever it went, and Moffat always drove it like he stole it. These days its one of the most instantly recognisable of all Australian touring cars.

Yet, imagine if the ill-fated Ford Australia backed Super Falcon's had done as intended, and become the race winners their massive budgets suggested they should have. These cars were built because of the success Norm Beechey enjoyed in his HK and HT Monaro's in 1969 and 1970, and the kudos Holden enjoyed from that success, in what was then the most significant of touring car racing categories, run under Improved Production rules.

The Super Falcon's were built for Moffat and Pete Geoghegan in 1970. The plan was that they replace both drivers Mustangs..... and win everything in sight. Of course, this never happened. Moffat debuted his Super Falcon at the final round of the 1970 ATCC, lapping fast enough to take pole, before the motor expired. The car was still in XW trim then.

By the time of Round 2 of the 1971 ATCC (both drivers chose to race their Mustangs at the opener) the Falcon's were outfitted in XY trim, but the problems they'd suffered from the first time they turned a wheel continued.

Pete Geoghegan persevered with his Falcon, perhaps because his Mustang was already long in the tooth and he saw potential in the Falcon. But Moffat eventually gave up on his, and returned full-time to his Mustang, which went on to gain legend status.

Photos of Moffats Super Falcon are rare. Had it done what it was supposed to, photos of his Mustang would be rare instead. Here is a great photo of the Moffat Super Falcon, in XY trim, taken by Perry Drury. In the background you can see Geoghegan's Mustang. This appears to be at Calder, where Moffat also had his Mustang. The Super Falcon spluttered around in qualifying with a fuel delivery problem, before Moffat jumped in the Mustang and went over 2sec faster to take pole. Obviously, the Mustang was the car he chose for the race!

Note what appears to be either a second spoiler beneath the GT chin spoiler, or a huge brake duct (or both).

[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic grid shot here, from, I believe, Sandown in 1970. Not sure if this is the Sandown ATCC event, but certainly most of the heavy hitters from that season are pictured. Moving forward, from the fourth row, as nearest the camera, are Bryan Thomson in the big block Camaro, Greg Ritter in the Escort, the Porsche 911s of Brian Foley and Jim McKeown, the Mustangs of Pete Geoghegan and Allan Moffat, and ahead of them is Norm Beechey in the Monaro at the front. I assume Bob Jane could be up on the front row next to him in the Mustang.

Wouldn't this make a great poster!

[GD66]

Greg Ritter's father, Graham. Who was the sneaky photographer, Steve ?

[Steve Holmes]

Ahh, of course, Graham Ritter, not Greg. Sorry for the confusion guys, not sure Greg was even born when this was taken. Not sure who the photographer is, its from the Bob Jane archives, which are filing cabinets full of photos, many of which are unidentified.

[Steve Holmes]

A brilliant shot this one, capturing the action from a Sports Sedan event in either late 1972 or early 1973. John Harvey in Bob Janes Repco V8 Torana leads the boss in his new HQ Monaro, while Allan Moffat and Pete Geoghegan chase. Geoghegan picked up Grace Bros sponsorship during 1972, and the car was repainted yellow part-way through the season.

[Steve Holmes]

What a great photo! Sometimes the best motor racing photos of all don't actually contain any racing at all. Here is the Norm Beechey EH Holden racing hauler and Mustang race car in either late 1965 or early 1966. This photo was taken by Peter Wright.

[Steve Holmes]

Hows this for high tech! The Beechey team make running repairs to Norm's EH while on the back of the team transporter. What a cool photo!

[mid-year]

Wow ,what a couple of fantastic Beechey shots,the transporters were very different to todays rigs.

Pete.

[Steve Holmes]

Pete, thats a great looking hauler. Must have been insanely slow, but wow it just has bags of character.

[Steve Holmes]

Great shot here of Bob Janes second Mustang, his '67. Sadly, this cars career ended as violently as Bobs first Mustang, which barrel-rolled at Catalina Park in 1965. This car, which he ran through to 1969, was destroyed at Lakeside, with new owner Chris Brauer at the wheel. This is John Harvey driving the car here.

[mid-year]

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, those are amazing Pete! Absolutely superb. These look to be quite early photos of the Mustang, its still has its steel wheels. I love the strap holding down the bonnet.

[Rod Grimwood]

It appears that Mustang drivers did not use a belt to stop there jeans falling down back then, instead used them to stop their bonnets flying up, Handy and appears normal practice when you look at photos from first Mustangs.

[Steve Holmes]

A couple of famous Dick Johnson Falcons. Johnson, in the Greens-Tuf XE in 1984, chases Alf Grant in his old car, the former Tru-Blu XD. This is the car Johnson built in 1981, which went on to net him ATCC titles in '81 and '82, plus Bathurst victory in '81. Johnson actually shared the XD with Grant in at Surfers Paradise in late 1983 after he'd destroyed his first XE in his spectacular Hardies Heroes crash at Bathurst that year.