Moffat: remembering an Australian muscle car legend

Allan Moffat was a man apart.

With his trademark Canadian drawl, his brooding intensity and seemingly unparalleled determination, Moffat was a racing driver unlike anyone motorsport in this country had ever seen before.

From almost that very moment at Sandown in 1969 when he burst onto the scene in his brand new Trans-Am Mustang, Moffat was an explosive figure with a polarising effect on the fans. They ether loved him or hated him – but no one could ignore him.

In this part of the world, he was the original Ford hero. Not only that, but he was also probably Australia's first professional racing driver. The allowance of advertising signage on cars in 1968 for the first time provided opportunities for talented and enterprising drivers to compete at the highest level, and Moffat was quick to embrace commercial sponsorship.

Moffat was Ford’s Bathurst king right through the 1970s – even in the years when Ford wasn’t even going racing. His battles with his opposite number at Holden, Peter Brock, defined the sport in that period and helped shape the Mountain classic. It would be hard to imagine the Bathurst 1000 today without that intense Moffat/Brock, Holden-versus-Ford rivalry.

The mystique of Moffat extended to the cars he raced. The Trans-Am Mustang and XW and XY Bathurst GTHOs remain among the most revered of Aussie racing muscle even more than 50 years on. Then there was the stunning Brut 33/Project B52 Hardtop, the later 1977 and ’78 Moffat Ford Dealers versions, and the black ’79 Federation/Camel Filters XC. Not to mention the Mustang's replacement, the quad-cam V6 Cologne Capri, and the wildly futuristic looking Chev Monza that followed the Capri.

The defining characteristic of all of Moffat’s cars was professional presentation. He made sure not only that he had the best machines prepared by the best possible people, but also that they looked the part.

Allan Moffat Racing in the 1970s brought a level of professionalism not seen before in Australian motorsport. This continued in the ’80s with Mazda and the RX7s he raced through to the end of the Group C era – where sadly a fifth Bathurst win proved elusive.

Moffat was one of the key early figures in the move by the teams to take control of their own destiny and reconfigure Australian touring car racing as a professional operation. It’s what we know today as Supercars Australia.

Moffat was a unique personality and one of our all-time touring car greats. Just as the cars he raced will never be forgotten, he was loved by a legion of fans – and his influence on the sport is still clear to see even 35 years after he hung up the helmet.

MOFFAT: Remembering An Australian Muscle Car Legend is on sale at newsagents now for $14.99, or can be ordered here.