THERE were plenty of stunning liveries on display at the Darwin Triple Crown but one which flew under the radar was a fan-favourite flashback.
South Australian racer Adam Currie’s Hyundai Excel ran at Hidden Valley in a Big Kev-inspired scheme.
The famous Big Kev colours featured in the 2000 and 2001 Supercars Championship seasons on the Holden Racing Team-built Commodores of Paul Morris.
It was in that livery that Morris had two particularly major moments in his career.
‘The Dude’ was involved in a frightening startline incident that erupted into a fireball at the 2000 Oran Park round. That VS Commodore never raced again.
Morris moved into a VT Commodore from Sandown that year, a car which powered him to the 2001 Calder Park round win.
More than two decades on, Currie adopted the Big Kev livery on his Excel at the start of this year, with his participation in the Combined Sedans category in Darwin marking its third outing (following state rounds at Mallala and The Bend).
“The Excel, it actually lends itself to be able to do a lot of throwback liveries so I have just picked my favourite touring car of all time, which was this one, and obviously the Diet Coke one the year before,” Currie told V8 Sleuth.
“They are probably my two standout best liveries I think in touring cars.
“We’re here to have a bit of fun so why not make the car fun?”
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Currie, 43, had run his Excel in Morris/Diet Coke throwback colours in his two seasons of circuit racing, 2021-22.
“At the end of the season we had to replace a couple of panels and all that sort of stuff so it was easier just to wrap the whole car again, so we took the opportunity to do this one,” he explained.
The former speedway racer didn’t set the world on fire at Hidden Valley – although he was third in class in Race 3 – but he sure grabbed the attention of many.
“Even just driving back from the grid, you get people yelling out ‘I’m excited’ or ‘Big Kev’,” said Currie.
“That’s the good thing, it’s a real distinct livery that everyone who was around in that era knows what it is.
“The only thing is it’s a shame it’s a different Big Kev picture, we hunted for the actual one but even Paul Morris didn’t know who would have it.
“But everyone knows what it is and everyone loves it, people come up and get photos with it.”
The #59 Excel, which features Devil Race Karts branding (which also supports Tickford Racing Super2 driver Brad Vaughan), is next due to be in action in July at Mallala.
