Three-time Bathurst 1000 winner Dick Johnson says he loves doing retro liveries because they invoke memories for older fans of the V8 Supercar series, and believes the Green’s-Tuf livery that was unveiled on Chaz Mostert’s Falcon yesterday looks sensational.
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This year marks the 30th anniversary of the debut of the Green’s-Tuf Falcon and to celebrate, Mostert and his co-driver Dale Wood will steer the distinctive car in Sunday’s great race.
It is the second year in a row that Dick Johnson Racing have honoured their history after James Moffat and Alex Davison drove a Tru Blu inspired Falcon for the 50th anniversary of the Bathurst 1000.
Johnson admits it will be hard to beat the two designs they have used.
“It brings back a lot of memories, not only for me personally but also a lot of the fans that come here year in, year out. There are people who have been coming here for 40 years and never missed a race,” he said.
And Johnson said it’s not just the old fans who like the link with history.
“With the advent of Youtube, the younger generation have seen some of the action from over the years,” he said.
“These are iconic cars, they were tough looking cars. They used to sound good and they are what people remember.”
The Green’s-Tuf XE Falcon is one of the most recognisable cars Johnson drove during his career, but one of the most infamous images of it was the crumpled wreck on the back of a recovery truck after Johnson clipped the wall on the exit from Forrest Elbow during the top 10 shootout and went flying into the trees.
The car was a write-off, but it goes down as one of the greatest feats at Bathurst that the team worked to build a new car overnight and get it on the grid for the race the next morning, with the paint still drying.
Johnson had a championship winner at the Mountain alongside Mostert’s entry.
“That car there is the 1984 championship winner. It gave me a lot of good memories and it was one of the toughest looking cars. For me it’s a nostalgic thing,” he said.
Johnson is cautiously optimistic that the pairing of Mostert and Wood, as well as the second car of Tim Blanchard and Ash Walsh, can provide good results on Sunday.
“They will be fast enough in a lot of ways but it’s a hell of a long day and they need to stay within their comfort zone, because this track can bite you if you step outside it,” he said.
“It’s a matter of being able to circulate and do the best job at the time. It’s a very tiring endurance event and it really takes it out of you.”
Mostert has already provided Johnson with a highlight this year, winning a race at Ipswich in July. It was a nice reward for a team that has struggled financially and for results in the last two seasons.
“That’s been a while coming. We won a championship in 2010 but we seem to be the people who do these things against the odds for whatever reason.
“It would be nice to have a trouble-free run at Bathurst to cement the fact that we are here for a long time and not a flash in the pan,” Johnson said.
