The Odd Couple

Peter Janson and Larry Perkins are not exactly two peas in a pod.
When they drove together in the Bathurst 1000 in the late seventies and early eighties, one was an entrepreneurial Melbourne socialite, who was prominent at equestrian events one weekend, before enjoying the many delights of motorsport the next. The other was a no-nonsense, engineering-focused bloke usually absorbed in solving all manner of mechanical problems.
Janson was English-born and lived a showy lifestyle supported by an occupation he described as being ‘a gentleman’. Perkins, in contrast, grew up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, and had doggedly forged a career in motorsport that took him all the way to Formula 1.
Yet, despite being motor racing’s odd couple, at least from the outside, their partnership produced a trio of Bathurst 1000 podiums in just four Mountain campaigns together for Janson’s part-time team.

The Janson/Perkins A9X was first Holden home at Bathurst in 1977, finishing third behind that year’s famous Moffat Ford Dealers one-two.

The duo finished best of the rest behind the Moffat team 1-2 of 1977 in their first drive together. Perkins didn’t contest the 1978 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, but returned to the Cadbury-Schweppes Torana A9X for 1979 as they finished runners-up to six-lap victors Peter Brock/Jim Richards. The unlikely combo’s finest moment came 12 months later, when their VC Commodore finished just a lap behind #05, which somehow held together after an early-race skirmish left it battered, bruised and seemingly out of the hunt.
The pair circulated in the top five again in 1981 until engine woes curtailed their day after 69 laps.
It was indeed a golden period for Janson’s privateer outfit, which was managed by former Holden Dealer Team lead mechanic Ian Tate. Podium results were not uncommon for the predominantly yellow machines, The Captain even scoring a win at Calder’s ManChamp round in late 1978. But it was in the high-profile October classic where Janson’s unconventional approach and pitlane antics, backed up by solid results, saw him attain Aussie motorsport cult status.

“The best thing I ever did was bring Larry back from England and I talked him into that,” The Captain explained. “It was Ian Tate who recommended him to me. He said, ‘If you could get him, he’d be perfect for you – fast and reliable.’ When I rang Larry, he said to me, ‘Okay, cock, you’re on!’ So I got a ticket for him and got him out here.
“A couple of times I flew Larry back from England and then he came home permanently. We worked together and produced what we did with what little money we had.”
If the relationship bore bountiful fruit for Janson, it proved equally beneficial for Perkins. It was the start of a new chapter in his racing life.