That included the appearance of several race cars and drivers, begging the question; who is Ford Australia’s ultimate motorsport legend?
It’s a question we want you to answer in this week’s Pirtek Poll. We’ve nominated eight contenders to choose from, focused on the Blue Oval’s flagship touring car exploits.
Ian Geoghegan
While there were numerous examples of Ford and Ford-powered machines in local motor racing during earlier decades, the rise of touring cars in the 1960s brought the Blue Oval to the forefront.
Its main man for much of the ’60s was Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, who scored Ford’s first ATCC title aboard a Cortina GT in 1964 and added four more crowns by the end of the decade, driving Mustangs with a famously flamboyant and sideways style.
While an eventual move to a ‘Super Falcon’ did not bring another ATCC triumph, Geoghegan finally cracked it for a Bathurst win co-driving a factory Falcon with Allan Moffat in 1973, avenging a succession of Great Race defeats during the 1960s while paired with brother Leo.
Allan Moffat
Canadian-born Moffat took charge as Ford Australia’s on track flag bearer in the 1970s, winning four Bathurst 1000s and three ATCC titles during the decade.
Those triumphs came in a succession of legendary Falcons, from the XW and XY GT-HOs to the XA, XB and XC Hardtops.
A lack of ongoing Ford support eventually led to Moffat switching to Mazda in the early 1980s, and there was a brief period with Holden too, before the legend returned to the Ford fold for his final campaigns as a driver and team owner.
Dick Johnson
Dick Johnson, whose laconic and laid-back Queensland style was in stark contrast to that of the ultra-professional Moffat, proved Ford’s man in the 1980s.
Having started in Holdens before moving to Ford in the late 1970s thanks to the backing of dealer Bryan Burt, Johnson’s career took off after starting his own team as the new decade dawned.
He won five ATCC titles in the 1980s with his eponymous squad, which raced to subsequent success with other drivers and still flies the Ford flag today, approaching fifty years on.
John Bowe
No list of Ford legends is complete without Johnson’s long-time running mate John Bowe.
Bowe’s early touring car starts came in Volvos and Nissans, but all 20 of his full-time ATCC/Supercars seasons were aboard Fords, highlighted by the 11-year stint at DJR that netted two Bathurst 1000 wins and a championship crown.
The Tasmanian’s Ford association transcended the track too, helping tune the marque’s performance cars in the 1990s – including the 30th anniversary Falcon GT.
Glenn Seton
Glenn Seton’s blue blood runs deep thanks to the earlier racing exploits of father Barry, a factory Ford driver in the late 1960s and early 70s.
Seton Jr started his career aboard his father’s Capri and, after breaking into the professional ranks with Nissan, returned to the Blue Oval upon starting his own team in 1989.
The owner/driver scooped two ATCC titles in the early years of the V8 formula and earned factory team status. Although finishing his career co-driving Holdens, Seto remains a Ford favourite.
Marcos Ambrose
Ford fans were crying out for a saviour in the early 2000s following a painful period of Holden Racing Team domination.
While Craig Lowndes’ signing for 2001 stole the headlines, that year also marked the Supercars debut of Marcos Ambrose, whose union with Stone Brothers Racing netted two championship victories in just five seasons.
Ford then helped Ambrose achieve his dream of switching to NASCAR. He later played a pivotal role in bringing Team Penske to DJR and, while his own time with the team was short, he paved the way for a new wave of Ford Supercars success.
Mark Winterbottom
Winterbottom’s return to the Ford fold this year as a Tickford Racing co-driver rekindles a relationship that had already cemented the driver as one of the Blue Oval’s best.
He was a blue blood in his junior career, progressing from the Ford Kart Stars program to Formula Ford, the Development Series and the Supercars Championship all under the Ford banner.
Winterbottom became Ford’s poster boy when he joined what is now Tickford in 2006, winning a title and a Bathurst 1000 during a 13-year stint there.
Reaction to his Tickford return suggests his six-year tenure driving GM products has not dampened the Ford faithful’s love for Frosty.
Scott McLaughlin
McLaughlin’s eight years in Supercars spanned multiple manufacturer shifts, starting in Holdens before shooting to national prominence in Volvos. And he now sits in the GM camp thanks to his 2021 switch to IndyCar.
But none of that diminishes what he did for Ford. McLaughlin was the brand’s leading light from the moment he joined DJR Team Penske in 2017, avenging a heartbreaking defeat in that year’s championship with a subsequent hat-trick and a Bathurst crown too.
McLaughlin’s milestones included being the last to win the title aboard a Falcon, somewhat remarkably doing so against a newer and more potent ZB Commodore, and spearheading the return of Mustang to the local racing scene with two dominant campaigns.
Other
There have been many other notable contributors to Ford Australia’s motorsport story that aren’t shortlisted here.
Among them are modern era drivers such as Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, who achieved significant Supercars success in Fords but have spent the bulk of their careers with GM.
Then there’s the privateers of yesteryear who are legends in their own right, such as John Goss, who was among those in attendance on Friday.
What do you think? Who is Ford Australia’s ultimate motorsport legend? Vote on this week’s Pirtek Poll below.
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