The Jaguar that showed signs of Panthers
AMC issue #104’s feature reviewing the AMSCAR Series’ Group A years included some surprise race victors and eeting cameo appearances. Good examples were, respectively, Garry Willmington’s popular win in a ve-lap Amaroo Park screamer in his red Jaguar and an XJS entrant from the... world of entertainment.
Our AMSCAR story outlined that, “Willmington was not the only Group A Jaguar runner to make an AMSCAR appearance in ’86, with the elusive white cat of John Clinton brie y sighted at bushy Annangrove one weekend before disappearing off the scene again.”
This sentence prompted racing historian Scott Mackay to send us an image he had of the impressively-bearded Clinton standing beside his V12 beast that year. Scott received the photo from Clinton in late 1986 after writing to him to request information about his future racing plans. John’s distinctive facial hair in this shot helped us make the link to the drummer of country rock band, The Wolverines.
More on Wolverine member Clinton in a moment, but rst let’s review his slow-slung and slinky cat’s very brief racing history, as we know it.
Sadly, race outings were few and far between for car #69. It was entered for Oran Park’s July 1986 ATCC round but did not arrive. It lobbed for Amaroo Park’s Better Brakes 300 enduro in August, but did not take the grid on raceday. Channel Seven recorded a colour piece on the car and driver on the Saturday, which still aired during Sunday’s telecast despite the car’s non appearance.
The team took a step closer to a race start later that month during Surfers Paradise’s BP 300 meeting, with Clinton or nominated co-driver Ron Gillard setting a qualifying time that was good enough for 28th on the grid. But the Jag experienced mechanical issues in the morning warm-up and did not take its place on the grid on Sunday.
It was a similar story at Sandown’s Castrol 500 in September, when Willmington took Gillard’s place. The car quali ed 31st but, again, did not start the race.
The car does not appear on any 1986 James Hardie 1000 entry lists we’ve seen, but fronted for Oran Park’s Pepsi 250 in November, qualifying 29th. Not only did the white cat start the race, it actually made it to the nish, too, coming home 20th, completing 79 of the 100-lap distance despite several pitstops due to fuel surge problems. This was the car’s last known Group A outing, which is a shame on several fronts given both the car’s and driver’s charisma and presence. The black signage on white livery was simple but effective.
Panthers’s Grand Prix Room was the massive Penrith Panthers Leagues Club’s night spot. We believe Clinton operated night clubs – the Group A era’s equivalent of Group C racer Clive BensonBrown, aka the ‘Disco Duck’.
Clinton had raced in the Ford Laser Series and, when he pushed the ‘go button’ on the Jaguar’s build, in cohorts with Sydney Jaguar dealer Roley Walker, made some bold claims in the motor racing press about his hopes of putting the Jaguar on pole at Bathurst.
We didn’t have any luck contacting John Clinton, despite emails to him via the band’s address found on its website, so we reached out to Ron Gillard, who lled in some blanks.
Gillard said he got involved after the car was built. He believed Clinton and Roley Walker soon realised they had bitten off more than the small team could chew. Enthusiasm for sinking money into the project soon evaporated and the dealership and driver parted ways. Gillard also stepped aside.
Gillard couldn’t, however, shed light on what became of the white sparsely raced XJS.
So Whaddayaknow? Does this car live on today? While sightings of giant black cats are not unusual on Sydney’s western outskirts, this is one white feline that has escaped attention for the last three decades.