Image: Supplied/Daniel Kalisz Photographer
The Holden Torana SL/R 5000 that helped John Bowe become the most successful Touring Car Master driver in the category’s history is on the market.
Having decided to move on from TCM at the end of the season, the six-time TCM title winner has begun the search for a new owner for the 1977 LX Torana sedan with three rounds of the 2023 Championship left to run.
Bowe first raced the #18 Holden, built by Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars, in 2015, scoring pole position and victory on debut, the first Torana in TCM to achieve either feat.
That was the first of 58 TCM wins and counting, having won the most recent race at Winton in June, heading off the Ford Mustang of Steven Johnson.
“It’s a turn-key race car, you could jump in it tomorrow and win TCM races,” the two-time Bathurst winner and 1995 Australian Touring Car Champion said. “It’s a special car and I hope it goes to a great home.
“The Torana has served me brilliantly since I first got behind the wheel in 2015. It’s a fantastic little car to drive. It does everything right and has always been looked after to the highest possible standard.
“Some of the details in it still impress me to this day, and it’s as enjoyable to drive and to race as it was when we rolled it out as a brand-new car in 2015.”
The Torana’s 58 wins make up more than 50 percent of Bowe’s record 106 TCM race wins, 74 podiums and 53 pole positions.
In January, Bowe announced that the 2023 TCM season would be his last full-time campaign in the series. The 69-year-old insisted that he is not retiring but instead looking at other motorsport activities, which saw him dub this year’s farewell season as ‘Ciao for Now’.
“Ideally it will go at the end of the year, though if someone wants to snap it up before then, then I’m happy to lease it back so I can complete the ‘Ciao for Now’ tour.
“All my sponsors and supporters are on board for the year so we are going to complete the year and try to get a few more wins in the old girl before she goes to a new home.
“And I’m more than happy to help the new owner in any way required.”
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