Torana time
The 1972 and ’73 events would see a diversion from Datsuns into a Torana GTR and then an XU-1. Don Smith had injured his back in early ’72 and Stewart took over the XU-1’s preparation and driving, netting a second outright behind Colin Bond’s XU-1 in the 250km race at Oran Park.
A Torana GTR would be Stewart’s weapon of choice for Bathurst 1973. Teamed with old sparring partner George Garth, the duo would become victims of their own choosing, as Stewart explains.
“George had something up his sleeve for Sunday – bigger tyres! However, the front rubbed on the top balljoint, blowing the front-right tyre and putting it in the wall at the rst corner. He said it was stuffed, but we pulled it out and I got it out there. It was going okay, but (John) Goss came into The Cutting (in his Falcon) too hot and hit my arse and spun me round. He was too impatient.”
The 1974 Hardie-Ferodo would be the last hurrah for the W.H Motors team, though not for Stewart, whose Datsun dalliances would continue for years to come.
“We asked the guys (at the dealership) what they had in the yard that we could race at Bathurst. They had a two-year old 180B SSS, so we ran that. It wasn’t really quick but we were doing alright. One of the mechanics had balanced the brakes incorrectly so I did about 50-60 laps using just the handbrake and gears. On our last lap I overevved it by going through the gears and it threw a rod going up the hill. I waited until chequered ag came out and got the boys in the crowd to give me a push up the crest and I was able to coast down the mountain and Conrod. So I crossed the line whilst the crowd assembled for the presentation. They said I was too long coming down the hill. I was over the maximum six minutes allowed. So they wouldn’t give us a nish despite completing 143 laps.”
Stewart, after so many years of being the thorn in factory Datsun team’s side, was nally bought into the fold for 1975. With ‘Wild’ Bill Evans sharing the driving duties, the duo had Class A shot to pieces in the very trick 1200 Coupe.
“That car was nothing like the 1200 sedan,” muses Stewart. “With a demon ‘Mexican’ cylinder head and ve-speed gearbox we should have won the class in 1975, but we broke the alternator and lost time changing the battery. We nished second to a Cooper S. It didn’t miss a beat in ’76 and we won easily. It was a brilliant little car and I was given the car to race in the following year’s BF Goodrich Radial Series, winning our class and coming third overall in the championship.”
With the factory Datsun team’s demise, Stewart was without a drive. Pickings were slim. In 1977 he co-drove Lynn Brown’s Mazda RX3 to a sixth in class and 22nd overall.
For 1978 he was teamed with Alan Cant in his Capri. Engine problems meant that they barely quali ed and in the race they had to remove a pushrod and nish the race on ve cylinders.
For 1979 the phone didn’t ring and Stewart found himself on the sidelines for the rst time in over a decade.