THE Holden VP Commodore which was driven to a runner-up finish in the 1993 Sandown 500 has resurfaced.
The ex-Bob Jones car was entered by Matthew Hornby in the expanded Group A and C Touring Cars class at the weekend’s HSRCA Sydney Classic.
Jones made his ATCC debut at Amaroo Park in 1990, three years before he rolled out his newly built Holden at the same venue, in Ampol Max 3 colours.
It was in late ’93 that Jones’ career peaked in that very car, combining with Greg Crick to finish second at Sandown – only behind Geoff Brabham/David Parsons – and then seventh in the Bathurst 1000.
Jones continued in the car throughout 1994 before selling it to Queensland-based privateer Kevin Heffernan.
It turned red in Heffernan’s hands, sporting a Price Attack livery.
The car was sold in 1997 to Tasmanian Gary Cannan, who completed a restoration in the early to mid 2010s before it changed hands again.
It was one of three five-litre V8 touring cars at the Sydney Motorsport Park event on the weekend, along with an EF Falcon and another VP Commodore, driven by Bathurst 1000 winner Jonathon Webb and Australian Racing Drivers’ Club vice-president Jamie McDonald respectively.
Webb and Chris Stillwell (1988 Ford Sierra) shared the wins at SMP, two apiece.
McDonald meanwhile was aboard the Perkins Engineering-built Holden originally raced by Bob Pearson in 1993-95.
It returned to the racetrack via McDonald at the SMP rounds of the Kumho Series in 2017 and 2018.
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The Sydney Classic marked the first historics event where invited five-litre touring cars joined the Group A and C class.
The same will apply at The Bend Classic on October 27-29.
