TCM TORANA RACER’S ALLAN GRICE TRIBUTE

A MUCH-LOVED livery returned to Mount Panorama for the 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000.

Touring Car Masters Pro-Am driver Danny Buzadzic and his #3 Holden Torana A9X hatchback are paying homage to Allan Grice’s Craven Mild white, black and gold Holden Torana, a livery that endured for six years in the mid to late 1970s.

Buzadzic, who is a panel beater himself for his Western General Body Works company, said that it was a real team effort getting this car looking awesome for this week’s event.

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“We fix a lot of cars and we went through the process of looking at colour schemes that we wanted on the car,” Buzadzic told V8 Sleuth.

“Obviously retro is the way to go, the retro colours were fantastic; on paper this car didn’t look too good but in real life it looks mad, it looks absolutely fabulous and I absolutely love it.

“We actually painted it ourselves at the shop and my own workers, I’ve got 170 workers and some of the guys in the paint shop did it out of love.

“Then we did the stickers, we got the local sticker guy and it came out sparkling.”

Over the week Buzadzic had a few issues with the Torana, such as a spectacular fire on track caused by an oil filter coming loose during Practice 1, along with an alternator issue in Race 1 of the week ending the race for the car entirely.

Asides from this DNF, he finished 14th in the Trophy Race and 10th in Race 2.

Despite the issues, Buzadzic is finding more speed in the car and more confidence in the car as well, and says that he is really enjoying the week.

“I’m loving it actually, I’ve been really stress free and enjoying it, and have been very comfortable.”

Grice first raced in Craven Mild colours in 1974 and told the story of how the sponsorship came about to the V8 Sleuth Podcast in 2020.

While the colours were memorable, the livery didn’t see the finish of a Bathurst 1000 until 1978 when Grice and co-driver John Leffler finished in second place.

The Craven Mild livery lived on until 1980 after which it was replaced by John Player & Sons branding.

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