Bob Jane Monaro

[Nadz44]

This was an article in todays daily tele called trackback. Good to see the sports sedans gettin some mainstream advertising

Motor racing, like all sports, is a numbers deal-the most championship points, the biggest cheque, the narrowest winning margin and so on.
And motor sport also contains its "magic" numbers, which dont always define events but survive in the memories of petrol tragics. Just as cricket obsessives know that sir Donald Bradman required only 4 runs in his final test innings to achieve an average of 100, fans who followed sports sedan racing in the mid-1970s will recall this number: 44.4.
That was the long held sports sedan lap record at victorias 1.6km calder park track, achieved by circuit owner Bob Jane.
Calder was a hotbed of sports sedan action in the 70s, driven by large winners payments and packed crowds. Jane, a former boxer turned tyre magnate, claimed more than his fair share of those winnings. The cash securing device he used was beautifully presentes HQ Holden Monaro.
The smoothly contoured Monaro first appeared on Australian tracks in 1972 and was still winning races several years later-remarkable to consider in our current era, when cars even one year old are at a disadvantage to new machines.
A sequence of theoretically faster and more sophisticated racers appeared during that time, but the gradually updated Monaro coped with most of them.
Janes driving wasnt exactly a model of sophistication either. His hunched-forward style at the wheel did, however, hint at his determination and lust for combat. The Monaro-strong, straightforward and smartly engineered-was his ideal weapon.
In its day, the Jane Monaro (like all sports sedans, which werent subject to the stricter rules governing other classes) was considered an extreme piece of work. Looking back, it is surprising to note just how close was the Monaro to road going examples. Modern v8 supercars are massively more removed from standard vehicles.
But in one area the Monaro still crushes modern racers. Those old sports sedans ran in the pre-noise limit era. They were practically unmuffled, and could make the grandstands at Calder and sydneys ORAN PARK tremble beneath excited fans. A grid full of these machines sounded like a v8 apocalypse.
The good news: after 30 or so years, the Monaro will shortly make a comeback. A sydney-based crew is almost finished rebuilding Janes iconic coupe. One thing is certain: when it runs again, youll be certain to hear all about it.

[Dasnowman]

Good to hear about stuff like this. It is always great to hear about the older cars. Would Love to see it in the flesh. :D :D :D

[jd yort]

It was at the Muscle Car masters this year. Des bought it off Tino Leo a few years back but has rebuilt it back into what at the time was called Improved Production specs. Looked good. I only got one pic of it and it is not that clear but will post it up.