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James Moffat’s Mustang – In the flesh
A lot of fanfare surrounds the retro livery, which James Moffat will debut at the Sandown round of the National Trans Am Series marking Garry Rogers Motorsport’s formal entry into the class.
Replicating the same appearance father Allan raced with on his popular and ultra-successful 1969 Ford Mustang Trans Am at the same venue 52 years earlier, it holds a special place in Australian touring car history.
Sourced from Bud Moore after some assistance from Ford, the Boss 302 Trans Am debuted at the 1969 Southern 60 and duly went on to win all three races in the Canadian’s hands, starting a string of success not witnessed in Australian motor racing.
The partnership between Moffat and Mustang spawned 101 race wins from 151 starts, albeit no titles. Its iconic Coca Cola livery still remains striking to this day, while it launched Moffat as a certified touring car star, if he wasn’t already.
It also sparked rivalries with Bob Jane, Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan and Norm Beechey in what some consider the golden era of touring car racing.
Highlighting the affection he held for it, Moffat owned the Mustang long after it was retired from the race track.
It forms part of the Bowden collection up in Queensland and was held in such revere that Tickford released a limited run of special edition road cars to mark 50 years since its debut.
Moffat’s modern interpretation may feature different sponsors, but the original style and placements pay tribute to companies such as Ford, BP and Coca-Cola.
GRM’s Barry Rogers holds fond memories of the original as he describes while providing a guided tour of its modern equivalent.
The next round of the National Trans Am Series will be held at Sandown International Raceway on September 17-19.