Xiberras’ latest purchase is the last race car built by Brock’s Holden Dealer Team and run as the #05 entry in the 1987 Bathurst 1000.
The car suffered engine failure just over 30 laps into the Great Race, triggering Brock to move into the sister #10 entry that ultimately delivered the King of the Mountain his ninth crown.
It was an against-the-odds triumph after Brock had been cut loose by Holden in February of that year for launching his latest road car with a crystal-filled ‘Polarizer’ box fitted.
Brock’s belief in crystal energy brought about the downfall of his HDT road car business and left the cash-strapped race team to soldier through 1987 with backing from Mobil and Bridgestone.
Xiberras said the #05 car will undergo a restoration at Chad Parrish’s workshop in Sydney before being run in events such as the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
The mechanical restoration to be undertaken by Parrish, who also brokered the deal to buy the car, will include manufacturing new examples of the original Momo wheels.
“I’m a bit of a Brock nutter, I suppose. These cars don’t always come up and when they do you’ve got to jump on it,” Xiberras told Speedcafe.
“The car is not exactly 100 percent right at the moment, it needs work, but it’s ridgy-didge the right car.
“We’ll put it right and I’ll bring it to an historic event, the Adelaide festival, somewhere like that. The plan is to get the cars right and bring them out and show them.”
HDT built two new Commodores during 1987 after Brock had been forced to sell a new machine to raise funds at the start of the year in the wake of the Holden split.
The #05 Bathurst car was sold by Brock’s team at the end of 1987 to Englishman Mike O’Brien, who campaigned it in the following year’s British Touring Car Championship.
It was upgraded to ‘Walkinshaw’ VL specifications and remained overseas until being tracked down by Brock car collector Peter Champion at the turn of the century.
Champion returned it to Australia and had it restored ahead of a demo event at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix in which Peter and stepson James shared driving duties.
Displayed in Champion’s Brock collection, it was sold as part of a mass auction of those vehicles in 2016 and remained with a private owner until Xiberras’ purchase.
Xiberras, whose extensive collection includes the Commodore Brock won the 1982 and ’83 Bathurst 1000s in, says it’s important for the cars to be enjoyed.
“We all grew up watching these cars,” he said.
“I think everybody has got to remember that we wouldn’t be racing the cars of today if it wasn’t for an old VL or LJ [Torana] or XD [Falcon]. I think it’s important we don’t forget about them.
“I’m just an enthusiast who just wants to keep making them right and getting them out there.”
The #10 Commodore that won the 1987 Great Race is currently located in the United States following its purchase by US-based Australian Kenny Habul.
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