We'll have a look at 2 U.S. Muscle cars that made a big splash on the Aussie Racing scene.
The Bob Jane ZL1 Camaro and Allan Moffat Boss 302 Mustang.
I wont go into too much about the tech side of these cars as most of the guys on this forum will be only too familiar with these cars.
Bob Jane ZL1
After a couple of years of racing various early Trans Am Mustangs, Jane went to the US with a view to coming back with a Trans Am Camaro.
Once in the US he learnt of the ZL1 with the Aluminium 427 block. Only 69 total of these cars were ever built, the code being Copo 9567.
Jane purchased 2 from Jim Rathman, the hugger orange Manual and a blue Automatic.
Once shipped back to Australia, the orange car was built into a circuit racer (# 7 Scalextric car) and the Blue one into a Drag car.
Moffat Boss 302
The Moffat car was one of 3 built up by the Bud Moore team in 1969.
When it got to Australia Moffat had it painted Coke Red and immediately started to contest the Australian Touring Car Championship.
Despite some initial success the car failed to win the ATCC in either '69 or '70 due to a series of valve train and clutch problems but by 1971 he well and truly had the car sorted ready for an all out assault on the title.
1971
Unfortunately for Moffat, Jane had the ZL1 on the boil and despite the little Boss being able to hold it's own on the tighter tracks, the big 427 Camaro simply Outgunned it on the long straights of the fastest tracks.
Janes Camaro had a tendency to eat its gearboxes however (including winning at Sandown with only 4th Gear left). In the end Jane won 3 out of 7 rounds and beat Moffat to the title by 6 points.
1972
In 1972 the Confederation of Australian Motorsport set an Engine Limit of 6 litres and Jane was forced to fit a 350 in place of the beloved 427
The car was less prone to eating it's gearboxes however and Jane again beat Moffat to the title winning 5 out of 8 races.
1973
For 1973 Rule changes relegated these cars to the ranks of Sports sedans, not eligible for the ATCC. Jane sold the big Camaro which went through a series of hands and ended up as a bracket racer at the drags. The Original 427 Motor was sold to Frank Gardner who took it to England to race it in his 1970 Camaro.
Moffat (now with Brut 33 sponsorship) raced the Mustang in selected Sports Sedan events (when his Australian Touring Car commitments allowed it) and eventually retired the car in 1974 having ammassed an amazing 101 wins from 151 starts, but sadly not winning the title he so desperately wanted to with the Mustang. (Although he did win several of them later with Falcons).
Several Years ago the Mustang was Bought by the David Bowden Collection who faithfully restored the car back to it's original Trans Am Specification.
Bob Jane also eventually bought his Camaro Back, but the original 427 was long since dissapeared although he was able to restore the car back to it's original bigblock specs using the 427 from the blue drag car which was still around.
The cars can again seen keeping company at classic car events but have never been raced seriously since restoration.
Footnote - these cars have been made by scalextric in 2 version each - the Moffat Boss in Coke and Brut colours and the Jane Camaro in Bigblock and Smallblock versions.
