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Mustangs |
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Lesser-known DJR Mustangs
The decision by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) to introduce the Group A category for the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship brought about a number of changes in Australian motorsport. Once such change saw a number of competitors requiring a change of vehicle to comply with the new regulations, and this was no different for Dick Johnson and the DJR team. With the Ford Falcon XE, which had been so successful for the past two-and-a-half years, no longer eligible Dick had to look outside Australia to remain in a (Group A Homologated) Ford.
There were two options available at the time – The Ford Sierra XR4i (known as the Mercury Merkur XR4Ti in the US), or the 1983-homologated Ford Mustang. Dick felt the XR4i was somewhat out of the team’s price range, especially as the car was only to be a stop-gap measure for a couple of seasons until the arrival of the Ford Sierra Cosworth. During the first half of 1984, Dick traveled to Germany and met with the Zakspeed race team, who had been preparing mustangs for use in the German Touring Car and American (IMSA) GT championships. This trip led to the purchase of two Mustangs, which Dick would use throughout the 1985 and 1986 Australian Touring Car Championships. The team’s original FIA Group A Homologation Papers for the Mustang are currently on display in the DJR Raceshop & Museum.
The general performance of the #17 Greens Palmer Tube Mills DJR Mustangs is fairly well documented. The car was a consistent & reliable performer; however it struggled for outright speed. Dick placed second in the 1985 ATCC (behind a dominant Jim Richards in a JPS BMW 635CSi), and 6th in the 1986 series. Dick & Larry Perkins finished 7th at Bathurst 1985, and paired with Gregg Hansford, Dick finished Bathurst 1986 in 4th place. The car did take one race win – at the 1985 Australian Grand Prix support event in Adelaide.
What isn’t as well known is the three ‘variants’ of the DJR Mustang, which ran on occasions between the cars delivery in late 1984 until their last race with the team in 1986. A brief outline of each version of the car is given here, and more information on each can be found in the DJR Raceshop & Museum.
Bathurst 1984 - #71 ‘White’ Palmer Tube Mills DJR Mustang
Whilst #71 has more recently been associated with DJR as a Development Series car, it made its first appearance on a DJR car at Bathurst 1984.
The first of the two Mustangs delivered to DJR by Zakspeed arrived in Australia in late 1984, just a few weeks before Bathurst. Upon delivery, the car was painted white, with a black grille.
At Bathurst in the 1980’s, teams were allowed to enter spare cars, but they had to have an individual race number. DJR arrived at the Mountain with the Greens Tuf XE (for the race) and also the brand new Mustang to test in practice. With so little time to prepare the car for Bathurst, the team added the Palmer sponsorship over the white paint, along with the cars individual number, #71.
By the time the Mustang was Dick’s main car (for the start of the 1985 season), the car had been re-painted in the infamous Greens-Tuf green, and wore Dick’s traditional #17 on the door.
Bathurst 1985 - #18 Palmer Tube Mills DJR Mustang
By Bathurst 1985, DJR had both of its Mustangs race-ready, and once again took advantage of the rules allowing drivers to be cross-entered in multiple cars. Consequently, Dick and co-driver Larry Perkins were entered in two green DJR Palmer Tube Mills Mustangs – Cars #17 and #18. The advantage of running both cars through practice gave both Dick and Larry extra seat time than would otherwise have occurred if only one car was used. Car #18 appeared similar to car #17, in ‘Greens-Tuf’ green, with Palmer Tube Mills signage.
Both cars were also qualified inside the top ten, and both ran in the Top Ten Shootout (Then called Hardies Heroes). As it was unclear to race organizers which, if either, of the DJR cars would be withdrawn from the race, eleven cars ran in the 1985 shootout. Later on the Saturday afternoon, the second of the team’s cars (#18) was withdrawn from the race, leaving Dick & Larry to take the start in car #17, from third on the grid.
New Zealand 1986 - #17 John Player Special (JPS) DJR Mustang
In late 1986, after the ATCC and Endurance Races, the ‘Nissan-Mobil Series’ was held in New Zealand for Group A touring cars comprising of two 500km endurance races – the first on the streets of Wellington, the second at Pukekohe (where V8 Supercars would later return).
Dick organized a deal with JPS sponsored New Zealand racer Neville Crichton to pair for both NZ races, whereby Dick’s original Mustang (the car that started as the white Mustang in 1984) would be run in the world-famous black & gold JPS colours.
The team had mixed results at these races; finishing second behind Peter Brock & Allan Moffat in race one at Wellington, but completing the Pukekohe round outside the top 10.
After the series in New Zealand, the car was returned to Australia (still in JPS colours) and was sold, allowing the team to make way for the Shell Sierra Cosworths to be used from the start of the 1987 season.
About the Dick Johnson Racing Museum...
