The two cars are today sitting side-by-side in the National Motor Racing Museum at Bathurst, putting a final full-stop on a lengthy saga involving their provenance.
Dubbed ‘the last of the Big Bangers’ by Holden’s PR team, they were built by the HDT ahead of the 1984 endurance season and contested just four events before the Group C era ended.
Peter Brock and Larry Perkins drove car #05 to victory at Bathurst, leading home the #25 entry of John Harvey/David Parsons in a form finish that avenged Ford’s effort of seven years earlier.
With international Group A regulations introduced to Australia in 1985, the two stunning dayglo Commodores were surplus to the HDT’s racing requirements.
The #05 car went to the Bathurst museum, while #25 was raced by subsequent owners in Western Australia and the United Kingdom.
Car #25 eventually returned to Australia and was restored as #05, triggering a lengthy debate over which car was indeed the Great Race winner.
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That raged until 2022 when the Harvey/Parsons car was purchased by the Bowden family and renumbered to #25 as part of a restoration.
The car was this week brought down from Bowden’s base on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, arriving in the museum today ahead of next weekend’s Bathurst 1000.
There is no track running planned for the pair, meaning fans will have to attend the museum to see them.
They will be displayed together until the #25 machine returns home in February after the Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Commodores are just part of the National Motor Racing Museum’s special Group C exhibit, featuring a variety of cars from the 1973-84 era.
Located outside the circuit at Murray’s Corner, the museum will be open every day next week as part of extended trading hours for the Great Race.
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