A FORMER Paul Morris Motorsports Commodore V8 Supercar has made a return to the track – but not in its PMM Sirromet Wines colours.
The car, originally built by PMM in 2002 as a VX Commodore, was later updated to Project Blueprint specifications as a VY model and raced by the Smiths Trucks team of Ballarat transport business operator Robert Smith.
In fact, the car also gave current Supercars racer – and 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 winner – Lee Holdsworth, his first Bathurst 1000 start.
It’s been returned to the track by a private collector in Melbourne who would like to maintain a low profile. He’s had the car put back to its 2004 Bathurst 1000 livery as raced by Holdsworth and Mark Noske.
He ran the car for the first time at a Tampered Motorsport track day at Sandown last month, the same day Super3 racer Kai Allen spent time on the track in his Eggelston Motorsport-run, ex-Triple Eight Commodore VE II.
The new owner also ran the car on track last weekend at Phillip Island at the AROCA (Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia) Sprints day.
“I’ll run it at some more track days and some club level days here and there,” he told V8 Sleuth this week.
“If there’s a SuperSprint type of event for these cars or some parade laps somewhere, I’d be keen to do those as well where possible.”
The ex-Smiths Trucks Commodore last was owned by Paul Pennisi and raced in the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series in a black livery, though it’s been brought back to its red, white and blue Smiths colours by signage experts, Pan Signs, who have also worked with Jack Perkins on the restoration of the 1993 Bathurst-winning Castrol Commodore VP.
“We got the car painted and then wrapped by Peter Pan as per how it was originally done by Smiths Trucks,” says the new owner.
“All of the panels were individually painted and then Pete came back and put all the right decals on it.
“B&A Motor Body Repairs in Clayton did all of the bodywork on it, I’m really happy with how it’s all come together.”
Bam Bam was the second V8 Supercar built by Paul Morris Motorsports on the Gold Coast.
The team famously named its individual chassis, rather than applying ‘traditional’ chassis numbers to them. The sequence of the names was determined by the first letter of each name following the alphabet: ‘A’ for Astro, ‘B’ for Bam Bam, ‘C’ for Colin and so on.
It made its racing debut at the 2002 Canberra 400, though only raced for the second half of that year’s V8 Supercar Championship Series in the hands of Paul Morris before becoming a Smiths Trucks car in 2003.
It’s also the very same car that recent V8 Sleuth Podcast guest Nathan Pretty drove in the 2005 HPDC (Super2) Series with Mack Trucks sponsorship, his only full-time season in a V8 Supercar.
