John Bowe will sport a bold livery featuring backing from Tony Quinn’s Local Legends for his farewell Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters season.
The legendary Tasmanian announced in recent days that the 2023 TCM season will be his last as a full-time driver, although he may yet make cameos in the series in addition to one-off starts in special events.
Now, a retro-style livery has been revealed for the Torana A9X sedan ahead of Bowe’s ‘testimonial tour’ in the retro category, with pop culture references befitting of the campaign.
“There’s a bit of a ‘The Partridge Family’ theme about the new livery, in that they travelled around, having fun and loving life,” he explained.
“That’s what we’re trying to do with this final TCM tour in 2023.
“I’ve got no artistic ability, so I handballed the job of the livery over to my partner Lesley. She and Aaron from Mint Signs in Bendigo came up with this design.
“I think it looks terrific, certainly not something that’s been done before in TCM. I’ve only seen the renders but I’m looking forward to seeing the finished article.”
Bowe’s Torana will sport backing from existing sponsors Apex Steel, Rare Spares, Motor Active, Mobil 1, Meguiar’s, and Astron Tech.
He will also be supported by Ranger Lifting, a sponsor of the Aaron McGill GT Falcon which they drive in the Bathurst 6 Hour, and Local Legends.
Speaking on the latter, the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner explained, “I’ve raced against Tony for years, hung out with him, talked to him, told jokes with him for more than 25 years.
“In that time, I’ve won a few races… and he’s made the money.
“I envy what he has achieved in many ways, not the least of which is how he has rebounded from his accident last year.
“To get through the season I reached out and asked for some help and he readily agreed. He and his partner, Kate, have been great.”
The 2023 TCM season starts with AWC Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains on February 24-26, an event which can be seen live and ad-free on Stan Sport.