Picture this: You’re suddenly propelled decades ahead into the future, and one of the star cars of the new historic motor racing scene is a Camry; the very Uber that you travelled back home in from the pub last night. Nobody’s going to believe you when you wake up with a sore head in the morning.
Back in the early 1980s, privateer racer Mike Imrie sought to build a Group C car to share with Graeme Treasure in the Australian Touring Car Championship. Short of dollars, Imrie’s quest for a body shell took him to the Coburg wrecking yard of future F1 boss Paul Stoddart. There he found a badly crashed XD Ford Falcon taxi. Skilfully and patiently, Imrie transformed the cab into a weighty wannabe, taking its place on the grid alongside legends Allan Moffat, Peter Brock and Dick Johnson.
Sadly, the car had a mostly uneventful life in the big league, struggling with reliability and pace. That could have been the end of it, until years later, another touring car legend, Jim Richards, told historic racer Ian Ross about a car with no livery he’d seen advertised on a forum. Ross travelled with his son Fraser to view Imrie’s project, and though underwhelmed at the time, recognised the value in its rarity and backstory. It was also ready to race… just as it had been in 1983.
Some might have made the easy decision to put the car back on the market, but the Rosses committed the time and the cash that Imrie never had to transform the blank canvas racer into what has become one of the most loved cars on the heritage scene. Here it is at this year’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival, being driven with intent as it hold’s off the challenge of Dean How’s iconic 1981 JPS BMW 635.
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