The car has landed in the hands of GT World Challenge Australia competitor and Bathurst resident Brad Schumacher, who acquired it with assistance from Chad Parish.
The Commodore is chassis WGR3 – one of the most historically significant in the team’s short history. It was the third – and final – built by the Sydney-based touring car team.
The car used a Dencar body shell (Dencar-27) and a Rob Benson-prepared 5.0-litre Chevrolet V8.
Gardner drove the car full-time in 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship and was joined by Crompton for the endurance races.
They finished seventh at the Sandown 500 before claiming fourth at the Bathurst 1000.
Between 1996 and 1997, the car was updated from VR to VS specification, which effectively was just a new front bumper assembly.
The motorcycle racing legend went on to race the car in 1997 and famously won the opening round at Calder Park under lights at the beginning of the V8 Supercars era.
Gardner and Crompton campaigned WGR3 in the 1997 editions of the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, and was leading the latter when the engine expired.
Wayne Gardner Racing shut down at the end of 1997 and WGR3 was sold to Rod Nash, who raced it in 1998 with an all-white livery sporting #55 and Highlift sponsorship.
Nash raced it again in 1999 before selling it to Lansvale Smash Repairs where it was driven by Trevor Ashby and carried #3 for the new millennium.
The car raced under #23 in the 2000 Bathurst 1000 with Phil Scifleet and Geoff Full at the helm.
It went through a few hands after it stopped racing, and there were intentions for the car to be restored to its famous Coca-Cola scheme, which ultimately never eventuated.
In its current guise, the Commodore is dressed in its yellow, red, and blue Optus colours that it last raced in at the Bathurst 1000. The car hasn’t seen a race track in more than 25 years.
Now, Schumacher has the car and is motivated to return it to its former glory.
Speaking with Speedcafe, the Bathurst resident said he was inspired by the Heritage Revival at last year’s Bathurst 1000, where hero cars of his childhood took to Mount Panorama in anger.
“Growing up, V8 Supercars were what I watched and the drivers within it were what I idolised,” Schumacher told Speedcafe.
“The cars and the drivers from the ‘90s era were the pinups on my bedroom wall. I was heavily invested as a kid growing up.
“In our family we always loved motorsport, but in particular my dad was a huge motorbike fan. Not only did he ride, but he also was a big fan of Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.
“[During the 2024 Bathurst 1000] I watched these guys having a hell of a time and the cars that were there just brought back so many childhood memories,” he added.
“I just got FOMO, and I knew from that moment I needed to be a part of it next time.
“Pretty much from that weekend onwards, I was on the lookout to buy a car that would give me the opportunity to join that heritage class the next time it comes back to Bathurst.
“It was important to get the right car, because naturally I’m a pretty competitive person.
“I needed to have a car which was going to be capable of running at the front of the field, but also one which has the right history as well to appreciate the ownership of it at the same time.”
Schumacher had a shortlist of cars in mind. It needed to be from the mid-1990s and be an “A-grade” car in his mind with historical significance.
“You can find some privateer cars floating around, but you want to have one of those cars that people can remember clearly when they see it,” said Schumacher.
“It just made absolute sense to have the Coca-Cola car because it was a massive deal to have Coke on a Supercar and join Wayne Gardner and his team from Sydney
“It was also important to have a car that had good results at Sandown and Bathurst. This particular car had four Bathurst 1000 starts from 1996 to 2000.”
Schumacher will have Parish complete the restoration, which will mean changing the front bar back from VS to VR.
“Everything will be period correct, everything will be absolutely perfect,” said Schumacher of the restoration.
“The most fortunate part about acquiring this car in particular was that it has come with all of the genuine components that were with the car based back in the Wayne Gardner Racing days, such as the engine, gearbox, drivetrain, even the actual driver’s seat is with the car.
“It’s really cool to have a car that’s 30 years old and still has with it all of the original componentry that was with that car when it was running in its traditional Coca-Cola colors.
“I think the reason why a lot of its original parts are still available for this car is because it actually has not been on a track since the year 2000 in its final campaign at the Bathurst 1000.
“I just think it’s awesome to see these old cars getting restored back to their former glory and then getting brought out in public for the public to witness them and bring back the nostalgia of the 90s.
“What was so awesome about these cars – because current Supercars, they’re all very generic – these cars really had their own identities and they were very individualised. They used to do some really cool things and the development of the cars had a lot more.
“This particular car was revolutionising braking. It actually ran a dual calliper on the front, so you had a trailing and a leading calliper, which was pretty cool. Obviously, that’s something they don’t do any longer, but they did some pretty cool stuff with these things.”
Schumacher hopes to have the car fully restored in time for the 2026 Bathurst 1000 where he plans to compete in the Heritage Revival class.
All going to plan, he also hopes to reunite Gardner with the car and have him drive it at some point, and he hopes Crompton will also get to get up close and personal.
Coincidentally, Schumacher’s GT World Challenge Australia co-driver Broc Feeney has a connection to the car via his father Paul Feeney, who was teammates to Gardner in Australia.
“Throughout the year, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Broc’s parents,” Schumacher explained.
“His dad, as we know, was a great Superbike rider in Australia and he was actually teammates with Wayne Gardner.
“There’s a cool little link there, and who knows? Once the car’s restored, maybe we might be able to link up some type of a thing there. It would be cool to see Wayne Gardner drive the car again. “
The car will eventually reside at the foot of Mount Panorama where Schumacher lives, which he thought would be a fitting resting place for it.
Schumacher’s efforts follow Eggleston Motorsport’s restoration on the Anthony Poloni-owned WGR2 (Dencar 21), which made its debut in 1995.
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