The real thing
Tickford’s Moffat Coca-Cola Mustang Trans-Am tribute
Allan Moffat’s Trans-Am Boss Mustang 302 might just be the most signi cant touring car Australia has ever seen. Not only was this a state-of-the-art, brand new Trans-Am racer purpose built for Ford by Kar Kraft in Detroit, it would also be the car that launched the career of Allan Moffat.
The battles between Moffat’s Coca-Colabacked Mustang (bottom) and rivals like Bob Jane and his 7.0-litre Camaro ZL1, the Mustang GTA of Ian Geoghegan and ‘Stormin’ Norm Beechey’s HT Monaro GTS 350 are the stuff of legends. It was an era of heavy metal touring car muscle which, while short lived, remains for many the highwater mark of touring car racing in Australia even 50 years on.
From his exploits in the Mustang (including his earlier testing work with Kar Kraft), Moffat springboarded into a Ford factory drive at Bathurst later that year. He nished fourth behind a Holden Monaro crewed by fellow debutant Peter Brock. The rest is history.
To celebrate the occasion of the 50th year since Moffat’s Mustang landed on Australian shores, Tickford has released a special limited edition Moffat/Coca-Cola themed Mustang road car package, the Tickford Trans-Am Mustang.
Fittingly, Moffat himself unveiled the machine at Sandown, the very venue where the original ’69 Trans-Am machine (inset below) was rst shown off to an astonished Australian motoring press.
“The Tickford Trans-Am is probably the most exciting car project I have ever been part of,” Moffat says. “It has made an old racer like me feel proud of my racing history and what I have been involved with. My original ‘69 Trans-Am Mustang was an incredible race car and I have so many great memories of the battles I won on track. I think Tickford have done a tremendous job in designing a new interpretation of the original with some of the Coca-Cola car features that I loved including those wheels. I just wish I could race it!”
The Tickford Trans-Am Mustang, which will be limited to a production run of 100, will be offered in two variations, the Performance Edition and Performance Plus Edition, both in naturally aspirated form and, in the manual version, tuned to 400kw.
The package includes ‘69 Trans-Am replica features such as external sponsor decals and rear spoiler, replica eight-spoke 20-inch Minilite wheels designed speci cally for the Tickford Trans-Am, replica driving lights integrated into the front grille and an under-bonnet chassis strut bar. The package also includes Wilwood six and fourpot brake caliper packages.
Purchasers will also have the chance to participate in a number of unique Allan Moffat experiences and hear rst-hand from the man himself via various events and activities around the country.
“The Tickford Trans-Am represents not only our tribute to an iconic Mustang,” Tickford CEO Rod Nash says, “but also our commitment in developing new and exciting engineering-led projects. Building on the success of recent projects such as the Bathurst ‘77 Special, the Trans-Am has been a close collaboration with Allan Moffat, using resources from Tickford Racing to deliver a truly remarkable Mustang.”
Customers will be able to use a ‘Race Red’ colour MY18/MY19/MY20 Mustang GT as donor car for the Tickford Trans-Am. Tickford is now taking deposits, with early customers able to choose their build plate number (299). The Performance Edition is $32,995; the Performance Plus Edition is $52,995 (both excluding donor car). Production is set to commence in October 2019.