ONE of the Falcon EF touring cars built using a special lightweight Ford body shell, the ex-Kevin Waldock Komatsu-backed racer remains one of the most memorable privateer entries of the five-litre V8 era that morphed into V8 Supercars.
A veteran of four starts in the Bathurst 1000 between 1995 and 1998, the Falcon made its racing debut at the 1995 Sandown 500 in the hands of owner Waldock and co-driver/engine builder Mark McLaughlin.
It’s unique in that it was never – like so many others – upgraded from EF to EL specification.
This car – restored to its 1995 Bathurst livery – is one of a multitude of unique race and road cars part of the ‘UnReil Collection’ being auctioned by Lloyds Auctions this weekend.
The Falcon is one of a handful of V8 touring cars built using one of the Ford-produced ‘lightweight body shells,’ which was a major controversy of the ’95 V8 racing season after it was discovered that Ford had been building its race cars with lighter gauge steel bodies and lighter panels.
This particular car was only lightly raced during the period. Waldock and McLaughlin finished ninth at Sandown in 1995 and eighth at Bathurst before Waldock made four appearances in the car in 1996 – Gold Coast Indy, two ATCC rounds (at Barbagallo and Mallala) and Bathurst, where Wayne Park co-drove, though the car retired.
Waldock appeared in the opening round of the AMSCAR Series at Eastern Creek in 1997 and again at Bathurst, this time with John Smith as co-driver.
However the car owner wasn’t among the driver line-up for its last trip to the Mountain, the 1998 FAI 1000 Classic at Bathurst. The late Kiwi, Ashley Stichbury, came across to Australia to drive with McLaughlin after Waldock was required to have open heart surgery.
The Waldock Falcon was eventually sold to V8 Supercar privateer David Thexton in 2003, who ran it as a Sports Sedan in a bid to further build his racing experience to help him with his efforts in the main V8 Supercars Championship in his rookie season.
It later appeared in Queensland Sports Sedan racing and the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series with Damien and Nathan Assailit at the wheel before being sold in 2017 to former V8 Supercar privateer Neil Schembri.
Returned to its Komatsu livery, the car ran on-track at the Muscle Car Masters at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2017 with Gary Quartly behind the wheel.
