In early October, Mount Panorama hosted the 60th anniversary of the Great Race with much fanfare

As part of the celebrations, a very special car adorned with the famous Brock and Moffat colours graced the Repco Bathurst Trackside store.
The Holden Commodore that two of the most famous Australian motorsport names drove was on display at the Repco Trackside Store at Mount Panorama for the Repco Bathurst 1000.
The Holden Dealer Team Commodore is a very important part of Holden’s history as the first winner for the marque in the Group A era. Legend Peter Brock gave the VK a win on its Australian debut in proper Group A specification at Sandown Raceway.
This HDT VK Commodore made a rare public appearance from its owner’s garage in the Repco Trackside Store located within the Harris Park precinct at the base of Mount Panorama at the 60th anniversary Repco Bathurst 1000.
The Australian governing body of motorsport, CAMS (as it was known at the time) elected to adopt the international Group A touring car regulations for the 1985 season, with this particular VK the first to leave the HDT workshop in this guise.
Debuting across the ditch at the inaugural Wellington 500 as the UDC Finance entry shared by Brock and then-HDT Team Manager Larry Perkins in January 1985. Finishing fourth, HDT missed the opening round of the Australian Touring Car Championship at Winton and returned for Sandown where Brock secured a maiden local victory for the Commodore.
Shared by Brock, Perkins, John Harvey and David Parsons throughout the season, this chassis then became the ‘T-car’ for Bathurst where Allan Moffat drove it in a feature for the Seven Network’s broadcast.
Of course, Moffat joined the HDT for Bathurst in 1986 where this particular VK Commodore was raced by touring car veteran Graham Moore and Belgian ace Michel Delcourt. The duo finished seventh, securing ‘Rookie of the Year’ honours for Delcourt.
Moore and Delcourt backed up their result in 1987 to finish eighth a year later in the World Touring Car Championship edition of the race.
Now the VK Commodore is in 1986 specification in matching HDT warpaint though it never raced in this guise as part of the factory squad.
While the Repco Bathurst 1000 marked its 60th anniversary, there were plenty of other milestones also celebrated at the event.
One of those was for one of Bathurst’s greats: Dick Johnson, with the 2023 Bathurst 1000 marking the 50th Bathurst for the famed co-owner of Dick Johnson Racing.
A three-time winner of the Great Race himself, Dick also attended the first Bathurst enduro in 1963, and has been a staple of the paddock ever since.
Perhaps best known for his 1980 crash and subsequent rebuild that was funded by the public and supported by Ford Australia that led to his win in 1981, Johnson’s DJR team – which last won the race in 2019 at the hands of Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat – fielded three cars at the 2023 Great Race.
Brothers Will and Alex Davison piloted the iconic #17 Shell V-Power Ford Mustang, while Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto shared the #11 Shell V-Power Ford, piloting it to the third step of the podium.
The team also entered a wildcard in the Bathurst 1000 for teenage phenom Kai Allen and international star Simona de Silvestro in the #98 Ford.
Like the Brock/Moffat car, Johnson’s 1985 Greens-Tuf Ford Mustang was one of several iconic cars taking part in special displays and demonstrations at Mount Panorama.

For more from Repco, visit www.repco.com.au