The last time Camaro and Mustang went head-to-head in the ATCC

History is ready to repeat itself.

The 2023 Supercars Championship will be a head-to-head battle between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. This is a major departure from the last 29 seasons, when it was strictly a Holden v Ford affair, but with Holden gone times need to change.

But this isn’t the first time the two American muscle cars have competed for Australia’s top touring car title. The last time was 1972, when Bob Jane drove his Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 against Allan Moffat in his Ford Mustang Boss 302 - along with some other famous names and memorable cars.

Team Chevy

Not even a downsized engine could slow Bob Jane's Chevy Camaro in '72.

Bob Jane entered the ‘72 season with the same Camaro ZL-1 but with one major change - an entirely different engine. After his 427ci V8 powered him to the ‘71 title, CAMS cracked down and forced him to run a 350ci motor for ‘72.

It didn’t matter.

Jane still won four of the eight rounds and claimed the title by 11-points; and finished 23 points clear of Moffat. In fact, Jane’s Camaro was so competitive he finished on the podium in every race he finished. 

Click here to read our 'Top 10: Australian racing Chevrolet Camaros'

Blue Crew

Moffat was quick but two non-scores hurt his title chase.

As we’ve previously written, Moffat’s Mustang Boss 302 was one the best-looking race cars to ever grace the tracks of Australia. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite quick enough or reliable enough to keep up with Jane’s Camaro.

Moffat won the opening race at Symmons Plains and scored two more wins, at Sandown and Oran Park, but a retirement at Calder and a disqualification at Warwick Farm dashed his title hopes.

The others 

Geoghegan muscle his Falcon GTHO past Peter Brown's Alfa Romeo.

While the American machines were the cars to beat - winning seven of the eight races - there were some big names in some great cars competing against Jane and Moffat in selected races.

Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, Fred Gibson, John French and John Goss were all racing the locally-made Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III. Geoghegan was the best of that lot, claiming equal fourth in the standings and winning at Bathurst in April.

Holden was represented by a diverse group. John Harvey raced his HQ Monaro GTS350, while Norm Beechey was still campaigning his HT Monaro GTS350. Meanwhile, the Holden Dealer Team had switched to the Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1, running Colin Bond while also giving a young Peter Brock his ATCC debut. There was another young driver campaigning a Torana too, a Queenslander by the name, Dick Johnson. 

Johnson only ran the final three races (at Warwick Farm, Surfers Paradise and Oran Park) but finished third twice and fourth at Oran Park to finish seventh in the championship.

Mixed company

Consistency helped Mike Stillwell to an impressive runner-up spot in the championship.

Unlike 2023 which will be restricted to just the Camaro and Mustang and their 5.0-litre V8 engines, the ‘72 season featured an ‘Up to 2000cc’ class for smaller cars. This meant there were Ford Escorts, Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV and even Mini Coopers running against the bigger cars.

Mike Stillwell was one of those Escort drivers and his consistency throughout the year - he never finished lower than seventh - meant he ended up Jane’s closest rival in the championship, splitting the Camaro and Mustang.