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ShannonS SportS and Muscle car spectacular
Mullets and muscle
cars mixed with sleek Teutonic sixes in an
event that proved warring factions can
sometimes get along
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Queensland Raceway was abuzz with the
sound of music on the weekend of June 26-27.
Fortunately for the assembled crowd, the line-up
was filled with screaming V8s, sixes and fours
rather than the muted tones of jazz or the sickly
ear-candy of pop music.
This year’s Shannons Sports and Muscle Car
Spectacular was a festival of extreme machines
coming together in the tarmac moshpit better
known as Queensland Raceway.
From the Trans Am racers to the Group N
Historic Touring Cars and the Muscle Car
Sprint classes, there was enough energy to
make an AC/DC concert look like a Tupperware
party. Acca Dacca also had nothing on the
volume of some of the cars as they passed by.
The ear-piercing note of one particular Porsche
911 had more than a few spectators wincing in
pain as it screeched past.
The age-old pub/class argument of American/
Australian cubic-inch aggression versus German
efficiency often results in bloodied noses, but
today the assembled crowd’s passion for the
cars was the same, regardless of the underlying
mechanical theory.
The 911s howled down the main straight in
excess of 250km/h, leaving in their wake a
momentary absence of sound soon filled by the
contrasting burble of the Trans Am series cars
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ShannonS SportS and Muscle car spectacular
in the pits waiting for their turn to take to
the stage. If ever a festival encouraged peace
between automotive beliefs, this was it.
The headline act was a collection of Porsches
brought out from the Porsche Museum in
Zuffenhausen, along with Klaus Bischof,
Porsche race-engineer turned curator of the
‘rolling museum’.
The three Porches drew punters like a pub
with free beer whether the cars were stationary
or screaming down the main straight.
The two big bangers were the road-going
version of the 911 GT1 that was victorious in the
1998 Le Mans 24 Hour and the 935, replete in
Martini colours, that took the 1976 FIA Group 5
Special Production with famed F1 drivers Jacky
Ickx and Jochen Maas at the wheel.
The GT1 wasn’t competing, but to see this
700hp street-registered (in Germany) monster
take to the track at all was an act of greatcourage from Porsche, and one that motoring
enthusiasts will remember for quite a while.
The 935 was there for a few quick laps
though, and when it took to the track with
Bischof at the wheel all were treated to a rare
experience – the sight and sound of an all-time
great Porsche. This car was a very close relative
to the most famous road-based Porsche of all
time, the 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’.
Indeed, this particular 935 is very close to
Bischof, as he worked on it as a race mechanic.
It also helped cement the success of the brand.
The third Porsche on loan from the museum
was a 1963 356 B-based Carrera GS/GT, which
Bischof used in this year’s Targa Tasmania. Out
on the track, the 365B Carrera made all the right
noises and turned quite a few heads with its
ability to keep on the coat-tails of the more
muscular Germans, despite the lower power
output and the fact it was worth a cool $1 million.
The price tag didn’t seem to bother driver
Warwick McKensie – he kept his foot flat to the
boards in the little Porsche all the way around
Queensland Raceway.
While the Porsches were the top act, the
support acts were just as popular with punters.
The pit area carpark was rev-head nirvana,
with an incredible diversity of cars taking up
every inch of available tarmac in the ‘Shannons
Show and Shine’ event.
The depth of variety was staggering. There was
a swathe of V8 Falcons ranging from XR to XC –
a green Superbird was a stand-out – as well as
American muscle, more Holdens than you couldpoke a stick at, and even some more modern
machinery such as a brand-spanking new ZR-1
Corvette and an incredibly sinister matte-black
Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SV.
While the majority of cars on show were
Aussie and Yank muscle, odd contrasts existed
everywhere. Where else would you see an
original 1960s Lotus Elan sitting right next to
an imperious Ford Galaxie from the same era
that looks big enough to eat it?
A call from the stewards soon saw the carpark
erupt into an explosion of sound as the Show
and Shine spectators’ cars were ushered into pit
lane for a demonstration lap of the circuit.
GOING TOPLES
Porsche GT1 drawsa crowd – 935 goelooking for worms
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men anD theirmachineS
WayNE Park
POrSchE 956c
Former V8 Supercar driver Wayne Park was
there to pilot one of the most exciting cars
in the paddock: the 956 Porsche that VernSchuppan drove to victory in the 1983
Japanese National Sports Car Championship.
In period ‘ISEKI’ (tractors and farm
equipment) livery, the 956 looked silky smooth
as it traced the racing line around the track,
cornering flatly and blaring down the straight
with unassuming ease.
PhIL rOSS
1966 FOrd MuSTaNG
Classic Mustangs don’t get much better
than Phil Ross’ 1966 example. Phil has
owned the car for 12 years and regularly
competes in events like this, as well as
helping to organise them.Headline figures for the 289ci V8
’Stang are 420hp at the flywheel run
through a four-speed Toploader gearbox.
This was definitely one classic that drove
as beautifully as it looked.
JOE BauEr
harrISON cOBra rEPLIca
With almost 900hp available at the wheels, Joe
Bauer’s Cobra replica was one of the toughest
cars in the field. Motivated by a supercharged
Holden LS1 V8, stroked to 393ci, it certainly made
all the right noises and spat flame like its serpent
namesake spits venom.
Joe’s Cobra does tend to kill windscreens,though. “Just driving on the highway in third gear,
I hit the throttle and the screen cracked. It just
has too much torque,” said Joe.
TOdd raNSOM
drB GT40
Todd’s GT40 was a real stand-out, both for
the sound it made and the way he drove it.
Throughout the weekend Todd was consistently
at the pointy end of the field in the ‘GT40 &
Cobra Challenge’ class, showing the punters
what these cars are famous for.
The DRB cornered flatter than a pancake,
with just a hint of oversteer on the exit when
Todd’s right foot hit the loud pedal. In its unique
orange and blue colouring, along with a worked
Cleveland V8, it was one car you couldn’t missseeing or hearing.
JIM rIchardS
1964 FOrd SPrINT
Racing legend Jim Richards was at the ev
driving his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint. Jim to
us that it pumped out approximately 535h
It certainly sounded the part as the
pocket-bike/Goggomobile ‘challenge’
demonstrated. With historic racing becom
increasingly popular, it is great to see lege
like Jim joining the fray and giving the s
a boost in profile.
If disbelievers still insisted after the Show
and Shine that muscle cars don’t rule, the Trans
Am racers formed up on the grid to erase any
doubt. This class brought together classic
sledgehammers like the Mustang and Camaro
in an old-school battle where cubic-inches and
big carbs reigned.
Seriously, if you want to convert someone to
the ‘bent-eight’ religion, just get the heretic up
close to a Trans Am race car. Even the most
stoic believer in the merits of technical progress
will get a shiver down his/her spine upon
hearing the melodious push-rod symphony.
Highlight of the day was the race between a
pocket-bike, the Shannons Goggomobile Dart,
and Jim Richards in his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint.
Suffice to say a handicap was given to the
pocket-bike and Goggomobile; Jim’s Falcon
sounded every inch the angry V8 as it roared
away from the line two minutes and 20 seconds
after the pocket-bike had left the start/finish
line. As the Ford thundered around the circuit,
eyes strained to catch sight of either the pocket-
bike or Goggomobile.
On the wide expanse of Queensland Raceway,
both looked like mosquitoes being hunted down
by a roaring lion. Amazingly, all three vehicles
exited the last corner onto the main straight at
the same time, though the corner seemed to last
a lot longer for some.
Bringing rev-heads together under any sortof communal banner is a tough job. About the
only thing most of us agree on is that the vehicle
needs four wheels (and even then there are often
murmurings of dissent).
The fact the Shannons Sports & Muscle Car
Spectacular brought such an exciting array of
cars and people to one venue was a huge plus
for anyone with even a little petrol in their veins.
All that was needed to make this event truly
rock-tastic was for some bands to turn up and
start jamming.
Wonder if Shannons would spring for AC/DC
to play at next year’s event?
ShannonS SportS and Muscle car spectacular
Jim rih, i hiFo, v h
ok-bik miv wo-mi,
20-o !
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