ALLAN MOFFATALLAN MOFFATALLAN MOFFATrace, I put him in the plane to Sydney, he flew back to
his European headquarters and that was that!”THE AFTERMATH
Moffat’s 1977 successes and those of the previous
season had come with the help of backdoor factory
assistance from Ford. But the post-race reaction from
the Blue Oval, which had yanked its factory team out
of the sport at the end of 1973 and would cut factory
funding to Allan Moffat Racing at the end of 1978,
didn’t fill Moffat with confidence for the future of the
relationship.
“The race finished on the Sunday and on the Wednes-
day I was having lunch with Ford’s head man, Sir Brian
Ingliss, and his top brass,” says Moffat.
“We’re all eating and all of sudden there’s a glass being
tapped, ‘Gentleman, I just want to bring it to your atten-
tion the tremendous race we’ve just had, Allan’s pulled
it off, we’ve got something for him’.
“Then Brian hands me an envelope. As he’s handed me
the envelope, as I’ve seen it coming across, I’ve already
decided, ‘Whatever you do, don’t open that envelope’.
That’s how fast it happened and I took it and put it in
my pocket.“Well, I got down into that carpark, ripped it open
and – you’ve got to bear in mind that we were working
in hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve what did
with the two cars – how much would you expect to be in
it? Would you expect a bit of a pat on the back? It was
$1000. I just thought, ‘If this is what we’re up against.’”
Today, though, such feelings are all in the past and
Moffat – after more than a little prodding, according to
his manager Phil Grant – is having a grand old time get-
ting out and about in the motorsport world, re-engaging
with the people and cars that defined his career.
At last year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsport Festival,
Ickx was so surprised to see his former co-driver he
hugged Moffat up on stage in front of a select group of
motorsport luminaries gathered for a reunion of Ford’s
1966 Le Mans-winning effort with its GT40.
“Jacky couldn’t believe Allan was there,” says Grant.
“He kept saying, ‘What are you doing here?’”
And just to illustrate how far and wide Moffat’s star
shone in its day, Ickx wasn’t the only global motorsport
icon who enjoyed a catch-up with his former teammate
at Monterey. For Moffat, it was a chance to say thanks
for some of the best advice he ever got.
“In 1967 Dan Gurney and I were getting ready for
a Trans-Am event in Ford Cougars for Bud Moore
Racing,” he says.
“We were on the pitlane and the two cars are parked
there, jacked up, they’re changing the diff, checking
something. And I’m me and he’s, well, he’s Dan Gurney.
And I said something to Dan in the manner of, ‘How do
you think I should get going?’ and he said, ‘Whatever
you do Allan, don’t wait for the phone to ring, get out
there, I don’t care if it’s a dune buggy, don’t sit at home
waiting for the phone to ring’.
“A lot of people do that – ‘I’m waiting for the phone
call’ – and how many years do you want to do that? He
was absolutely fantastic and it was such great advice.
“That night at the GT40 reunion, he whispered to me
and said, ‘Do you remember what I said to you? Just get
on with it and do it?’ I whispered back to him, ‘Thanks
for everything you did for me.’”GET YOUR OWN ’77
What would be the next best thing to driving Moffat’s 1977-slaying
Falcon Hardtop? Well, it would have to be Tickford’s Bathurst ’77
special.
This pack, designed for the current Mustang, has the 1977
Bathurst winner’s fingerprints all over it. Upgrades over the standard
car include a whopping big supercharger (“The biggest one that
goes on,” says manager Phil Grant), uprated suspension and rolling
stock, all tied together with the Tickford’s engineering nous.
A red, blue and white exterior theme that evokes Moffat’s iconic
winning two-door and unique cabin treatment seal the deal.
The Bathurst ’77 won’t be cheap – about $120,000, or about
double a bog-stock Mustang GT V8 – but owners are in for all
kinds of exclusive treats and experiences, from Moffat presenting
each car and handing over the keys to special drives and events.
Sound like your kind of trip? Well, don’t hang around. Just 77 are
set to be built.FORMATION
FINISH
Scan to relive Ford’s
one-two formation
finish from 1977.ABOVE: Moffat nursed his
Falcon home to what would
be Ford’s most celebrated
win at Mount Panorama.