THE 2024 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival has attracted one of the biggest collections of Bathurst-winning cars ever assembled away from Mount Panorama.
Machines on show at the Adelaide Parklands event – the majority of which are taking part in on-track sessions – span the 60-year history of the Great Race and its various rulesets.
The two oldest cars – the 1965 Seton/Bosworth Ford Cortina and 1976 Morris/Fitzpatrick Holden Torana – have been brought to Adelaide by Bathurst’s National Motor Racing Museum.
Sydney’s Muscle Car Warehouse has also provided a pair from its ever-growing collection; the 1993 Perkins/Hansford Commodore and 2006 Lowndes/Whincup Falcon.
Those cars are being driven by Jack Perkins and Craig Lowndes respectively, the latter swapping between the V8 and his duties in a Ferrari FXX and Arrows A10B Formula 1.
Other Supercars-era cars on track are the 2016 Davison/Webb VF and 2020 van Gisbergen/Tander ZB Commodores.
Jonathon Webb and owner Brad Host are sharing the Tekno car, while the latter – recently returned to its Bathurst colours – has its owner Peter Xiberras behind the wheel.
Another Xiberras car, the 1982 Brock/Perkins Commodore, is making its first public appearance since a restoration, having long sat in 1983 bodywork.
The Triple Eight ZB Supercar and Holden Dealer Team Group C machines both won the Great Race twice, two of just three cars ever to do so.
Group A is represented by the 1991 and 1992 winning Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, owned by Tony Alford. Only the 1992 car has taken to the track.
The 1997 Perkins/Ingall Commodore was a late addition to the line-up, although is also on static duties and is currently for sale.
To increase numbers in the Bathurst winners’ track sessions, Ben Eggleston’s 2006 championship-winning Rick Kelly Commodore has been added to the mix.
That car finished runner-up in the 2006 Bathurst 1000 to the Lowndes/Whincup Falcon before the pair collided in the Phillip Island championship decider.
Lowndes and Eggleston engaged in an entertaining dice during the morning session in Adelaide, rekindling memories of the battles between the cars in their heyday.
A further fleet of Project Blueprint-era V8 Supercars are on track during their own separate sessions as part of the two-day event.
Saturday’s action has taken place in hot and sunny conditions, although showers are predicted for Sunday morning.
