THE latest car restored by Perkins Engineering will go on display to the public later this week.
Holden Commodore VP chassis PE 019 is the car Larry Perkins raced during the 1994 season.
Highlights include the first ATCC/SC race and round win of Perkins’ career at Lakeside, a memorable scrap for the win with John Bowe in the wet at the Australian Grand Prix, and claiming third place at Bathurst with Gregg Hansford.
The car raced on with the M3 Motorsport outfit of John Cotter and Peter Doulman for the next few seasons, and was eventually used as a spare and then ride car for a Konica Series outfit before being sold to a collector in the late 2000s.
Perkins Engineering reacquired the car in 2016 and effectively swapped it for the 1993 Bathurst-winning VP, with both cars becoming the subject of meticulous restorations led by Jack Perkins in the years since.
While the 1993 car was completed last year in time for the 30th anniversary of its Mount Panorama triumph, work continued on PE 019 to restore it back to how it raced in the 1994 Tooheys 1000.
Fans will get to see the nearly-completed car in the flesh this weekend in Melbourne at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo, where it will be at the Unifilter Australia stand.
Those that attended PE’s garage sale back in 2022 had the chance to see the car mid-restoration, but this will mark the chassis’ first public appearance as the project nears the finish line.
“Not many jobs to go now until this rocket is completed and on track,” read a post on Perkins Engineering’s Facebook page on Sunday.
“Jobs like setting up the pedals correctly, including installing the throttle cable, setting clutch pedal, then bleeding brake and clutch system, proper setup and wheel alignment and a few little odds and ends.”
The Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo is on at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on April 11-13.
