Tru Blu
The long-awaited ‘Tru-Blu’ Falcon XD which Steven Johnson will race in this year’s TCM series
Dick Johnson wound the clock back to the 1980s when he hot-lapped his born-again Tru-Blu, a car that pays homage to Dick’s 1981 Bathurst winning XD Falcon, at Lakeside Raceway. The ve-time touring car champion might be turning 75 in 2020, but the years fell away as quickly as his lap times tumbled.
It took him only a couple of Lakeside laps to be pushing the car to its 7000 redline and punching out of the high-speed corners at the Brisbane circuit that has been his home track since the 1960s.
“A big smile today. Bloody oath,” Johnson said after he climbed from the car.
“I got in a groove. But I could never go through the stresses of being in battle with 30 others cars these days.”
DJ ran a series of demonstration laps for his fans and friends during the initial roll-out of the car, which will be campaigned by Steven Johnson when he defends his Touring Car Masters series crown this season.
Stevie J took the first turn at the wheel, and admitted he had been nervous as he lapped with DJR Team Penske boss Dr Ryan Story in the passenger seat, before handing the car to his father.
There was a minor hiccup with a power steering hose, which arrived from the supplier with a tiny leak, but otherwise the session ran trouble-free on a typically hot and steamy Brisbane summer day.
This car is not just another built-in-the-shed project. With Dr Story providing the motivation and backing for the project, Dick Johnson responsible for the heritage and Stevie J
“I was thinking about a lot while I was driving. I was just amazed about the difference between the two cars. Man, I tell you, it handles extremely well.” - Dick Johnson
focussed on speed and success, the car was conceived and created to win from the start.
Tru-Blu is a thoroughly modern recreation of the XD original with an estimated build cost of $500,000. Construction and the development work was led by Pace Engineering, under Paul Ceprnich, who has also been responsible for the Brabham BT63 supercar and the MARC sports/ racing cars campaigned successfully around the world and most recently with an invitational-class win in this year’s Bathurst 12-Hour.
The nal bodywork on the XD is not as per the early-‘80s Group C Falcon racer, with its monster ared guards and deeper front spoiler, but rather so that it complies with the TCM regulations. The rules are also responsible for things like the perspex windscreen and breglass body panels, but also mean the old-school carburettor 351 (fed through a large bonnet scoop, something also allowed under TCM regs) will be held back to 7000 revs – at least a rst – and the car will carry 170kg of ballast.
But the technical details were forgotten when DJ red up the lumpy, noisy, V8 and headed for the track – almost exactly 40 years since he debuted the original Group C XD at this very same track.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to get on with it.
“It brings back so many memories. The XD was really the start of my career. Although I had been racing as a driver since the 1960s, it had taken that long to break into the big time.
“I didn’t really know what to expect but what transpired really opened my eyes. And I’m still smiling.”
The idea for the XD homage was hatched a few years ago when the TCM rules were opened to newer cars. The series will likely now become a hotbed for Falcon versus Commodore action.
There are plenty of differences from the original XD, but DJ easily recalls something he will not forget. Especially as his Bathurst winning co-driver, John French, arrived at Lakeside to watch the shakedown.
“This one is a lot less like a road car. And it doesn’t have the deep centre console where Frenchie used to put his sandwiches for a Bathurst snack!” Johnson laughed.
“With the technology the way it is, being able to build a car on computer before you start makes an enormous difference. Everything is placed where it needs to go and you can rest assured that it is all going to work when you put it together.”
Fittingly, it was Dick Johnson who gave the new beast its Lakeside shakedown. Dick shows how it’s done (inset) at the same venue, back in the day.
With the steering repaired, and with me strapped into the passenger’s seat for DJ’s rst laps, it was timed to get going.
There is a thundering 5.7-litre Cleveland V8 soundtrack that drowns out the 5.0-litre V8 Supercars Shell Mustang also running at Lakeside for promotional rides (and to give new Bathurst co-driver Tim Slade some extra seat time). Heads swivel away from the current Supercars championship-winning machine to watch the old-school XD in action.
The feeling inside Tru-Blu is very different from an old-school touring car, or even a modern Supercars racer.
This is far more raw than an old-timer, with none of the original cabin materials and only a vestigial dashboard. It’s built to race.
Compared with a Supercar, there is more sensation of speed, more of a whack in the back, and less precision. It’s more of an axe than a sword.
DJ is clearly enjoying himself as he uses more revs on each lap, uncorking all those kilowatts with a shove that feels like a giant kick up the backside.
“I’ve probably done tens of thousands of laps at Lakeside,” Johnson says. “It’s very fast and very owing. It’s a ripper circuit. It seems to even everyone up.
“You have got to feel things. You have to make sure you don’t get caught out. The last thing you want is to dump something like that in the fence.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but what transpired really opened my eyes. I wasn’t expecting something that was so responsive.”
He gives Tru-Blu top marks from 10, but is tougher on himself and his driving “Score? About a two.You don’t lose any one thing, you just loose a little bit of everything.”
Even so, and even with plenty in reserve, he has identi ed a couple of problems and wants the car to be spot-on before it races.
“I wasn’t happy with a couple of little things on it. I’d like to x those things and make sure it feels right. It has a bit of a vibration, but I’m pretty sure I know what it is.”
But, now that it’s over, and with little chance of another Tru-Blu reunion, Johnson is happy and content.
“I’m really pleased with it. For the rst time out,
I was extremely impressed.
“I was thinking about a lot while I was driving. I was just amazed about the difference between the two cars. Man, I tell you, it handles extremely well.
“It’s got a lot more horsepower than the original XD. The one at Bathurst in 1981 had 413 horsepower, and this one is around the 700 mark, probably a bit more than a Supercar, but it has got the extra capacity.”
In the end, Johnson’s verdict on the car and the day was summed up in just a few words.
“I got a buzz,” he said.
“It’s got a lot more horsepower than the original XD. The one at Bathurst in 1981 had 413 horsepower, and this one is around the 700 mark” - Dick Johnson