primotipo…

Allan Moffat’s Mustang on Warwick Farms ‘Northern Crossing’, 30 April 1972…

In a country obsessed with touring cars this is one of, if not the most revered of all, even though it never won the Australian Touring Car Championship.

A rare beast, it is one of only seven ‘factory’ Kar-Kraft built cars for the 1969 Trans-Am Championship Moffat commenced racing in Australia at Sandown on 5 May 1969.

I am not a ‘taxi racing’ guy but this car is on my ‘ten racing cars I would love to own’ list, its still in Australia thank goodness, in the tender loving hands of David Bowden. This excellent article was written for ‘Australian Muscle Car’ magazine by Mark Oastler and is ‘definitive’, the best i have read on this great car.

Allan Moffat’s 1969 Trans-Am Mustang

Moffat in search of an apex, one he has well and truly nailed! Warwick Farm, Sydney, 9 July 1972.

Etcetera…

One of the more significant days in Australian touring car racing was the first race appearance of the machine which was at the Sandown Park ‘Southern 60’ meeting, Melbourne on 4 May 1969.

The first photograph is on the main straight as I suspect is the second.

 

Here is the car ‘mid-career’, again at Sandown and ahead of arch-rival Bob Jane’s 7 litre Chev Camaro ZL1, very much as trick a device complete with aluminium big-block V8 as Moffat’s 1969 Kar-Kraft/Bud Moore 5 litre Trans-Am. Dandenong Road corner during the 1971 February Tasman Series meeting.

The cars twilight years were raced in 1973-1975 as a Sports Sedan, to Allan’s eternal credit he didn’t butcher the thing but rather replaced it in 1976 with the Ford ‘Cologne Capri’ RS3100 Cosworth when the years finally caught up with her.

The shot below is of Moff tickling the car into a beautiful third-gear slide through Sandown’s Shell Corner on the entry to the old Pit Straight, 1974, marvellous, even in Brut-33 livery!

Credits…

wirra, lyntonh both via The Nostalgia Forum, Stephen Dalton Collection, SS Memorabilia, Neville Starr Collection, Allan Moffat Collection, Ian Smith

Tailpiece…

That gorgeous red paint must have been ‘Dulon’- the Trans-Am even made the cover of a panel beating industry journal, the photo was taken at that initial meeting in May 1969.

Finito…