Vintage Racing In Australia Is Loud And Door-To-Door

Story by Stewart Perry // Photography by Ross Perry

You’re looking at cars from Australia’s marvellously eclectic Heritage Touring Car Series, which travels the country during the year, bringing a diverse and nostalgic field to race tracks.

There is something for almost everyone here: large and small, Aussie, European and Japanese. Throaty V8 Ford Falcons, Holden Toranas and Commodores slug it out against a plethora of BMWs, Jags, Sierra Cosworths, Mazda RX7s, Nissan Skylines and more. All participating cars have genuine historical significance, too—the series is limited to those with a period race history in their class, and maintained faithfully in period livery.

One of the most spectacular classes has to be the “Big Bangers”. Australia’s Group C category gained its nickname from the promotional campaign for the 1984 James Hardie 1000 “The Last of the Big Bangers”—heralding the final Bathurst race for a division that had been a staple since 1973.

Here at the recent Phillip Island Classic, the Big Bangers shared the spotlight with their Group A successors, whose heyday spanned the years 1985-1992. For fans of these machines, it was like having all of their favorites on-track at the same time.