The six-time Bathurst 1000 podium finisher drove the stock car at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday for the first time since its restoration by Richard Petty Motorsports.
The shakedown came ahead of its first public appearance, which will take place at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival on March 8-9.
Speaking with Speedcafe, Luff said he was in awe of the car.
“It awesome to drive and awesome to finally see it out on track,” said Luff.
“It’s such a cool thing to drive. Like the sound of it and just how well it drove, it really blew my mind.
“It was a cool experience and I’ve never driven a NASCAR before. Awesome to have that bit of nostalgic memorabilia here in Australia and be able to have a drive of it.
“It made nearly 830 horsepower on the dyno. The four-speed gearbox, it’s very raw in the way that it goes about everything that it does.
“It surprised me. I didn’t push it anywhere near the limits, but it was surprising how responsive it actually was and how nice it was to drive.
“It actually did everything really well. I’m sure back in the day racing them with another 30 of them around would have been absolutely amazing and it gives me massive respect for not only what Marcos did back in the day, but obviously what SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) is doing now.
“They’re certainly a cool thing to drive and I was very lucky and very honoured to be able to get behind the wheel of it for, for a few laps.”
Luff’s first laps in the Ambrose machine came nearly 20 years since they paired up together at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 with Stone Brothers Racing.
Although nothing has been spoken about Ambrose driving the car in the future, Luff said there’s every chance they could be reunited.
“I saw Marcos the other week at Winton and he’s known for a while that the car’s been here in the country and that it was coming, so he was excited to hear that I was gonna get it out in a couple of weeks’ time,” said Luff.
“I’m sure if Marcus was keen to have a drive, I’m sure the owner would be more than happy to have him in the car and would love to see him out there in it, but that’s a conversation obviously they can have.
“I’m sure the door would always be open for Marcos to hop back in. It’s still his car, so yeah, I’m sure the owner would definitely love to see him in it.”
This year’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival will feature a NASCAR category, with several stock cars set to drive on the shortened street circuit.
As it stands, there are nine cars entered with a variety of machines from Chevrolet including the Monte Carlo, SS, Lumina, and a Silverado. One Pontiac ‘Monaro’ has also been entered.
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