Hey Bonnar_Bloke you know more about that Commodore than I do mate. I would hope that the one at the Bathurst museum is the original one though. It's an awesome car that Holden VK Commodore. Last of the big banger group c touring cars and a bathurst winner!
Hi Mowerfreak nice looking Panelvan there mate, I guess these days that must be what those sorts of cars are going for even with some rust. I think even back when I bought my XC the panelvans weren't all that common and available for sale. I noticed the old A-shaped tread pattern Yokohama radial 352 tyres on this XC panelvan. I spotted them straight away as I had also fitted those exact same style tyres to my red XC sedan when I had it. I like how the writing is coloured white on the tyres makes them look more like race tyres I guess. Yokohama doesn't make those classic radial 352 tyres anymore with the raised white lettering on the outside.
Speaking of car history I just know a little bit about the history of that Allan Moffat Ford XC Hardtop that's at the museum. I have heard many years ago from a ford racing historian that this car that won bathurst in 1977 and also I think the number 2 XC Falcon Coupe car that Colin Bond drove at bathurst in 1977 were originally the XB race coupes. I'm not sure what exact year they originated but they were the cars that Allan and Colin won almost every touring car round in 1977 before the bathurst 1000. I was told that they updated the XB cars to look like the newer XC falcons just before bathurst 1977. So basically what they updated was the front sheetmetal and grill to the new XC model. They also updated the inside dash panel to the new XC falcon style. The interior door cards weren't touched and they are still the XB type. Also you can tell at the rear of the coupe on the quarter panels on the racecars at bathurst in 1977 they still have the little side marker lights pointing in the vertical direction which is how they were on the XB falcons.
I also heard that they took these 2 Moffat cars to bathurst that year fitted with the reverse bonnet scoops but they were told by cams to remove them as they weren't officially allowed at that time or some other reason. I think they were then fitted to these cars for the later touring car races in 1977 after bathurst. Also i've heard that these cars were then updated to the 2 XC Cobra race cars in 1978 also. I'm not sure if it was still updated after the Cobra to the 1979 Federation insurance XC though.
So anyway that's just some history I have come across over the years on these old Hardtops. So this XC coupe that's in the museum was donated by Allan Moffat to the museum and would most definitely be that original body shell that started out as the XB race car and was updated throughout the years. Now it has been returned back to the 1977 bathurst livery as this was it's most famous victory at bathurst. Also those rear quarter lights on the car at the museum now has the later XC style marker lights where they are fitted in the horizontal direction as they were updated to the later XC style.
Here are some photo's I took at the Bathurst motor racing museum back in 2006. Enjoy!
Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay, another trash picked Victa, hip hip Hooray!
