Foxy Model
Adelaide custom model-maker and livery re-creator Geoff Wood has done it again, presenting one of his F5000 heroes, John Walker, with a one-off 1:18 model that looks as good as John’s aviator sunnies!
Wood had previously created a model of the car that Walker drove to victory in Sandown’s 1975 Gold Star round. That orange Golden Breed-liveried Lola was a birthday present to the South Australian ace from his former mechanic and lifelong friend Rob Newman (Wood’s client), but Geoff wasn’t able to attend the handover.
This time Wood was keen to present his second Walker F5000 creation personally to the man himself, who was so impressed with his rst effort he commissioned Geoff to create mini replicas of his 1979 Australian Grand Prix- winning Magnum T332 for he and Newman.
“It’s appropriate that I met John for the rst time to hand over the Magnum Lola, for in 1979 the nine-year-old me stood only metres from the real car as JW, Rob and Don Halpin worked on the engine at a BP garage workshop on the Hume Highway at Crossroads in Sydney, which just happened to be my Dad’s fave servo to ll up the family VC Valiant station wagon!
“I told John and Rob the story and how in awe l was seeing a Formula 5000 up close for the rst time. They recalled the urgent dash from Oran Park that day to work on the motor.”
It’s a good-looking livery, especially from side on. AMC was curiously to learn how Wood recreated that obscure Fox Sportswear logo?
“I spotted the Fox logo in a photo in Tony Loxley’s F5000 book, although l couldn’t de ne the ‘Sportswear’ bit, so Rob con rmed its identity and from that l just created my take on it, with the help of a fox head graphic from Google images! It was an offshoot of the Golden Breed brand.”
Walker described the mini Magnum Lola custom model as “Bloody beautiful!” when the trio met at an Adelaide cafe. The cafe was specially chosen as it was located directly opposite the former site of Gilbert Motor Bodies, home to the Magnum Wheels Lola race headquarters.”
These days John Walker enjoys the quiet life cruising the South Australian gulfs in his shing boat, as reported in AMC #66’s Muscle Man section. Geoff Wood (wearing the Leyton House jacket) can be reached via email at geogra x21@hotmail.com