This year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 features a special tribute to nine-time race winner Peter Brock, including a range of cars from his incredible career set to be on-hand at the track in ‘Peter’s Pitlane’ for fans to enjoy.
Two of Brock’s record nine Bathurst Great Race wins came at the wheel of the Holden Dealer Team’s mighty A9X Torana touring cars.
In fact, he also drove HDT A9X Toranas to win the 1978 Australian Touring Car Championship and the Hang Ten 400 enduro at Sandown in 1978 and 1979.
Brock also gave the A9X Torana its debut Bathurst 1000 pole position; he drove his Bill Patterson Racing Hatchback to pole on the Mountain in 1977 just a matter of weeks after giving it a race-winning debut at Sandown.
A car for an American hero
The car appearing at Bathurst this year to represent Brock’s HDT A9X era is no stranger to Mount Panorama.
The first A9X Torana Hatchback built by the Holden Dealer Team in 1977, it was also the last Harry Firth-built HDT car given he departed the Holden fold at the end of the season.
Featuring a unique black roll cage with extra quarter bracing visible in period photos through the rear quarter windows, the car was given its race debut in the 1977 Hang Ten 400 at Sandown in John Harvey’s hands but retired with engine issues – Brock won the race in his Bill Patterson A9X.
Harvey and West Aussie Wayne Negus raced the HDT car at Bathurst that year; however there had originally been a plan for American IndyCar ace – and that year’s Indianapolis 500 winner – AJ Foyt to travel to Australia and co-drive the car with Harvey.
The car was retained for Harvey to drive in 1978 when John Sheppard took over running the HDT and Brock returned to the HDT fold.
However, it soon became the team’s #05 car via a practice mishap at Amaroo Park in Sydney.
A move to #05
John Harvey had taken this Torana to third place (behind Brock and Bob Morris) in the opening Australian Touring Car Championship round at Symmons Plains and come home unplaced in the next round at Oran Park.
Amaroo Park hosted Round 3 on April 9, 1978, however only one HDT Torana made it to race day – it had started practice as Harvey’s but raced in Brock’s hands.
The former had been at the wheel of Brock’s regular #05 Torana in Friday unofficial practice, however crashed it when he reportedly got his foot stuck under the brake pedal and he ploughed into an embankment.
The team re-numbered his regular #76 Torana to #05 and Brock took it to third place behind winner Allan Grice and runner-up Allan Moffat.
Brock stayed in the ex-Harvey Torana (distinguishable by its white grill and windscreen banner) for Sandown, where he took pole and finished fourth on the road, only to be excluded after a protest from Moffat's team. The Torana was found to have an illegally fitted front sway bar.
There were no such dramas for the #05 Torana in the next round at Wanneroo in Western Australia. Brock took both heat wins to win the round overall and led home a HDT 1-2-3 clear of Harvey and local racer Negus.
A new A9X Torana was completed for Brock – and new co-driver Jim Richards – for the non-championship Rothmans 500 at Oran Park at the beginning of June and the car that will be on display at Bathurst this year was returned to Harvey’s hands.
He and co-driver Charlie O’Brien used it to win that race, despite running out of fuel partway through the 222-lap race!
The time spent in this car helped Brock seal the 1978 ATCC, his second of his eventual three Australian Touring Car Championship wins (1974, 1978 and 1980).
A dominant win
If ever there was a dominant performance at Bathurst it was undoubtedly that turned in by Brock, Richards and the HDT Torana A9X they drove at Mount Panorama in 1979.
The combination won by a whopping six laps and, just to really underline the strength of their V8-powered hatch, Brock pumped out a new lap record on the very last lap.
“That was a perfect weekend, just one of those races where everything goes like clockwork,” Brock said years later.
"Normally I’d play it cool over the last laps, but the Torana was in such fantastic condition I thought I’d prove it to everyone with an extra-fast lap.
"I knew if I had any trouble I could coast down to the finish from there. I just didn’t want anyone saying I was nursing the car because it really was perfect."
The Repco Bathurst 1000 will be held at Mount Panorama on October 8-11.
In collaboration with V8 Sleuth, Supercars.com is highlighting Peter Brock, who will be honoured at the 2026 Repco Bathurst 1000. The nine-time Bathurst winner will be celebrated via a series of tributes, with several of his famous cars on display at the Mountain. The Peter's Pitlane exhibition is outside the National Motor Racing Museum between Thursday October 8 and Sunday October 11.
