Looking Back is a new regular feature by Will Dale, telling the stories, the successes, the trials and the tribulations of a racing life now in its seventh decade and a team deep into its fifth. Dick Johnson might never look back. Lucky for all of us, Will does.
WHEN Dick Johnson’s infamous Top 10 Shootout crash at the 1983 Bathurst 1000 left him without a car for the next race at the Gold Coast, he didn’t have to look to far to find a temporary replacement.
He only had to look next door.
Johnson’s iconic Tru Blu II Ford Falcon XD established his eponymous team with a pair of championships and the first of five Mount Panorama enduro triumphs. But by mid-1982, Johnson was looking towards the future - the XE Falcon had long ago replaced the XD in Ford showrooms, so he set to building a race version.
Parking the successful but superseded XD in the garage wasn’t an option - to build his new racecar, the old one had to be sold.
Fortunately, Johnson had a keen buyer in the form of his next-door neighbour in Daisy Hill, who just happened to be a racer too.
Alf Grant had campaigned a variety of cars in lower level classes and categories, but acquired the iconic XD to go racing in an top-class touring car and campaigned it in selected championship rounds and enduros through the rest of the Group C era.
One of those starts came with its original owner back aboard, after its XE replacement had been destroyed.
Johnson’s infamous 1983 Hardie’s Heroes crash into the trees left him without a car for the upcoming 300km enduro at Surfers Paradise International Raceway.
He did a deal with Grant to be reunited with his old XD, albeit slightly modified from the last time he’d raced it in mid-1982. The most visually obvious difference was the livery; it still said Tru Blu, but it was promoting the real estate business under the same name that was a joint venture between Grant and Johnson. Its once bold blue flanks had also turned white below the XD's sharp hipline.
A host of upgrades had been granted to all marques during 1983, including enormous 19-inch wheels for Falcons of all models. So Johnson fitted Tru Blu II with the bigger rear wheels and larger front brakes from his dearly-departed XE, along with his usual seat.
One thing he didn’t change was the engine, as Grant had been raced at Bathurst with a fresh unit built up by Johnson. It was a good one, too; so good that it had gone through the Conrod Straight speed trap as the fastest car – 1km/h quicker even than Car 17!
“It was still a really good car to drive,” Johnson recalls.
He qualified the car fourth and drove the opening stint among the lead group on a muggy late-October day, his pace dictated by the engine temperature gauge while running in heavy traffic.
By the 95-lap race’s midpoint Johnson sat in second place behind Allan Grice, and led for a handful of laps during the pitstop cycle before pointing the blue-and-white Falcon towards the pits.
However, it ended up staying there for longer than planned. While period reports suggest a slow pit stop, Johnson recalls the tyres were changed in rapid fire – it was the driver change that dragged the chain. Grant, of stouter build than his co-driver, had moved the seat forward when he got in, which left he and Johnson struggling to do up the belts.
Johnson’s solution was not one you’re likely to see used at The Bend 500 or Repco Bathurst 1000 any time soon.
“I punched him in the stomach so he had to pull it in a bit!” he laughs.
It was all for naught, as Grant was no sooner on his way than he was back in the pits again with a broken gearbox, ending Johnson’s cameo early.
Grant raced the XD into 1984 and retained it for several years after as it had finished its last race, before Johnson reacquired the car in the early 1990s.
The car now is part of the iconic Bowden Family Collection and has since had its 1981 Bathurst 1000-winning livery reapplied.
Got a story you’d like to hear? A topic you’d like explored? A race or car you want to know more about? Email will@djr.com.au and it might just become a future feature story on Looking Back.
