convinced otherwise by marketing types trying to pry
us from our hard-earned dollar.
Group A broke from that brand-based, almost foot-
ball-like rivalry. The Holden versus Ford battle gave way
to more universal regulations throughout the 1980s and
the early part of the 1990s, but that wasn’t without its
problems. Having been dominated by Ford Sierras, it
was the mighty Nissan GT-R which took over as the class
of the field, but that came with a hefty price tag that
ultimately sunk the regulations.
“To run one of our cars, that was a half-million-dollar
motor car back in those days,” admits Fred Gibson, the
man behind the successful GT-R project in Australia.
“That’s why we had to get Winfield on as a sponsor,
because Nissan couldn’t afford it. Nissan couldn’t afford
for us to go racing with the GT-R without a major spon-
sor, no way. That’s why Group A eventually folded in
Australia.”
And so, in 1992, Group A died. In its place two fac-
tions looked to establish prominence. One was a niche,
local product which attempted to hark back a generation
and the other imported from Europe, boasting some of
the biggest names in the automotive world.
Super Touring benefitted from the fact that a host of
the world’s automotive brands were onboard with the
concept, building and selling cars to customer outfits.
It was that very point which attracted Brad Jones, who
went on to win Super Touring titles in Australia with
Audi.
“Because V8 racing was pretty much a lock out
between Holden and Ford, there wasn’t that much
opportunity for any other manufacturer to compete at
a really high level, so Super Touring became somewhat
of a phenomenon around the world,” Jones recalls.
“At the time that my brother and I looked at it, I was
racing for HRT in the enduros and just trying to find the
money to break in was difficult – impossible for us. And
then with Super Touring you could get a deal going with
a manufacturer and end up with really good equipment
straight from the factory and be competitive straight
away. So, for us, it was really I’d say a no-brainer. We
found a manufacturer and we ended up with the right
equipment from the factory.”
On paper, Super Touring was a great idea. There were
fixed costs and a diversity which made for some iconic
race cars. Think of the Volvo 850 Estate, or the BMW 3
Series, two of the most unlikely bedfellows racing door
to door on track. And the parity system made them all,
more or less, equal.
Contrast that with the V8 Supercars model, which
allowed teams to build their own cars and fettle their
own engines, all within stringent regulations of course.
The initial dollar investment to be competitive was far
higher, while the regulations locked out manufacturers
beyond Ford and Holden. It was unashamedly Austral-
ian; designed here, made here and raced here.
It was a formula more reminiscent of the 1970s and
the marketing reflected that. It linked in names like
Peter Brock and Dick Johnson with familiar brands likeBELOW: Greg Murphy and
Russell Ingall ran a Holden-
branded Vectra in 1998.ABOVE: General Motors’ Super
Touring line-up included
Peter Brock in his farewell
tour in 1997.