Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

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lsewherein thisissue,p14,you’llnda story

highlightingDavidClement’sentertaining

self-publishedbookAlongForTheRide:

FastCars& RockStars. It’sthestoryof his

motorracingadventuresandhisrelationship

withrockbandINXS.ClementmadeveBathurst

startsbetween 1973 and1988,alongwith

contestingcountlessotherracesovera 20-plus

yearcareerin touringcarsandproductioncars.

ClementshouldhavemadehisBathurstdebut

in 1972,co-drivinga ChargerE49,butthatplan

wasabandonedafterthecar’stroubleddebutat

OranParktwoweeksbeforetheMountainclassic.

ThescenewastheTobyLee 100 – a hundredlaps

of theoriginal(south)circuit– wherea bigeldof

toplineproductioncarsandstarshadgatheredto

racein frontof a sizeablecrowd.

TheE49wasenteredbyConcourseCars,

a second-handdealeronPittwatterRoadat

Brookvale,onSydney’sNorthernBeaches.

ConcourseCarswasoneof Clement’smotor

repairbusiness’scustomers.

“Themaincharactersrunningthiscaryardwere

managerRobbieMonkandRandyWarden.Monk

hada businessonthesiderunningfuelinterstate,

asit wasa lucrativetradeat thetime.Wardenon

theotherhandwasoneof thebestsalesmenon

thestripandcouldselliceto Eskimosandsand

to Arabs.Hewasalsoa handyracecardriverand

learnedthatcraftbydrivingcarsoffthelot.Hehad

racedanearlyLCToranaXU-1.

“WardenandMonkcombinedto workona plan

to purchasea brandnewValiantChargerE49,for

hesolepurposeof racingit. Thecararrived

andwassuitablyttedoutwitha roll-cage,

beltsandotherlimitedmodicationsforracing.

Theintentionwasto doa fewracesmid-1972

ndrunthecarat Bathurst.Theyapproached

meandaskedif I wasinterestedin co-driving

thecarat Bathurstlaterthatyear,to whichI

p omptlyagreed.

“Thereappearedto benoshortageto the

budgetandI rememberRobbieengaged

legendaryenginebuilderPeterMolloyto supplya

separatefullracespecengine.”

Davidsayshedrovethecarat a shakedown

testortwowiththeoriginalenginestillinstalled.

“ThethingthatI remember,wasstoppingthe

thingattheendof thestraight.It pulledupokay,

butreallyneededplentyof pedalpressure,so

muchsothatin theearlylapsI wasusingboth

feetfora shortperiod.”

Clementrememberstalkthatthebrandnew

engine,ttedfortheTobyLee100,costroughly

thesameasthepriceof thecar,circa$4000.

“Raceweekendarrivedandwewentoutfor

practiceandqualifyingontheSaturday.Randy

settledintothecarandlaiddowna fewquicklaps,

butthenewengineletgoin a bigway.

“Wewereallshattered,butnotbeaten.We

immediatelyturnedourattentiontothethree

second-handChargersonthelotbackatthe

yardandimmediatelyheadedbacktoBrookvale.

Welookedatthethreecarsthereandit was

decidedtousetheenginein anolderE38

Chargerwith30,000milesonthespeedo.After

workinglateintothenighttheenginechange

waseffected.

“Outto OranParkearlySundaymorningand

therewasa preliminaryracebeforethemain

event,theTobyLee100.Thecarperformedwell

andcompletedthebigrace.

“Thenextproblemwasto getbackto Brookvale

andswaptheenginebackfromtheracecarto the

usedcarandgetit backonthelotastherewasa

stocktakecheckconductedonMondays.It wasa

latenightbutthecarwasbackonthelotaround

2amandpassedmusterthatday.

“I remember[theracecar]wasputbackto a

standardroadcarandsoldoffthecarlot!I’ve

alwayswonderedwhathappenedto thatcar.It

wasplainwhitewithredandgreensignwriting

andstripes.Doanyof yourreadershave

recollectionsof thiscar?”

Let’sndout,Dave.Wewerepleasedto see

thatautopics.com.auhadseveralimagesof the

#18E49at thatracemeetingandOranPark’s

December9, 1972nightmeeting.Cananyone

elseshedlightonthiscar’spost-1972history?It’s

unlikelythatit survivestoday,butwewillbehappy

to beprovenwrong.SoWhaddayaknow?

Whaddayakn

Whaddayaknow? Contact AMC via [email protected] and please outline details in your email.

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