HISTORIC MUSCLE & SALOON CARS
The late great Bob Jane is one of the most legendary, most successful Australasian racing drivers of the ’60s and ’70s. The successful business tycoon took to racing with much the same gusto as he did his Holden dealership (Southern Motors) and nationwide tyre franchise, Bob Jane T-Marts.
Jane’s business achievements afforded him the best equipment, and he owned and raced a long list of cars, from the Maserati 300S and lightweight Jaguar E-Type sports cars, through to humble ‘humpy’ Holdens.
He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1962 and 1963, in his beloved Mk2 Jaguar. He was also leading the 1964 event by a comfortable margin when his Jag suffered clutch failure.
Jane won the Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island in 1961 and 1962, and then did so again in 1963, the first time the event was held at the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst. His 1963 victory was aboard a Cortina GT. He did likewise in 1964, again driving a Cortina GT. He won the 1963 Australian GT with his E Type.
Jane was only the second driver in Australasia (behind Norm Beechey) to switch to the new Ford Mustang, and debuted his car at the 1965 ATCC at Sandown. He qualified on pole but retired from the race. In fact, Jane raced three Mustangs during the late 1960s, the last of which was a state-of-the-art 1968 Shelby Racing Co Trans-Am car, built by Kar-Kraft.
Touring car racing was his passion, and throughout the 1970s he raced a series of Holden Toranas, including XU-1, L34 and A9X. He was also a great protagonist of the monstrous Sports Sedan category during the ’70s, which at the time was the most popular form of racing in Australia. Initially, he campaigned his hugely powerful fuelinjected HQ Monaro, which evolved over several years, and he finally had a tube-frame Chevy Monza built. By 1982, Jane had hung up his helmet and the driving duties for the Monza were performed by Peter Brock.
Jane also owned two racing circuits: Calder Park and Adelaide International Raceway. He funded the massive and vastly expensive ‘Thunderdome’ superspeedway at Calder, and introduced NASCAR stock car racing to Australia.
Despite all his achievements, and all the cars he has raced, it’s his mighty 1969 Camaro ZL-1 that most people associate with him. The Camaro was one of just 69 genuine ZL-1s built, which were powered by a 427ci big-block, utilising an aluminium block and heads. They were built to homologate the model for drag racing. Jane purchased two examples in 1970 and had one of them converted, at huge expense, to the Improved Production regulations used for the ATCC. And it was a monster!
Jane contested all seven rounds of the 1971 ATCC. His closest rivals were Mustang drivers Allan Moffat and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan and, to a lesser extent, reigning champion Beechey, with his HT Monaro. The rivalry between Jane and Moffat was heated. The pair really didn’t like each other very much, and plenty of on-track contact took place. Both Jane and Moffat won three races each (Beechey won the other), and the title was decided in the final round at Oran Park, with the Camaro driver taking a narrow victory, and with it, the title.
CAMS (Confederation for Australian Motor Sport) introduced a new maximum 6000cc engine size for 1972, so the Camaro was fitted with a small block Chevy. It didn’t matter. Jane and Moffat continued their rivalry, but once again the Camaro driver came out ahead, scoring four victories from the eight races. In doing so, Jane became a four-time ATCC winner. Only Geoghegan surpassed this number at the time, with five ATCC titles, and to this day, other than Geoghegan, only Jamie Whincup, Dick Johnson and Mark Skaife have won more.
It is therefore no surprise that Historic Muscle & Saloon Cars has gained a tribute to Bob Jane’s mighty Camaro. David Hopper debuted his beautiful example, built by his father Ken, along with David, at the 2021 Taupo Historic Grand Prix. David’s Camaro is a stunning recreation and, interestingly, spans both years Jane raced his example to victory. David’s wears Bob’s 1971 colour scheme but runs a small block engine, as Jane did in 1972.
David plans to run all rounds of the upcoming 2021/22 HM&SC season and, just like Jane’s original, can be found towards the pointy end of the field, battling those pesky Mustangs. This is truly a beautiful addition to the HM&SC grid, and embraces the growing popularity for building and racing fun cars in an enjoyable environment.
More info on Historic Muscle Cars/Historic Saloon Cars can be found at the HMC website: www.historicmusclecars.co.nz or through the HMC online discussion forum at The Roaring Season: www.theroaringseason.com