Back then, racing heroes would take a car from the showroom, make a few minor modifications and hit the track.
These days, modern Supercars racing sees multimillion-dollar, purpose-built racing machines fretted over by teams of mechanics and engineers.
But a new series from Ford will turn back the clock and make racing a V8-powered Mustang cheaper and easier than before.
The Mustang Challenge is a new series in the US that will reach Australia next year..
Andrew, Birkic, President and chief executive of Ford Australia, says the Mustang 鈥渉olds a special place in the hearts of Australians, and a dedicated one-make series featuring the Dark Horse R is a natural and incredibly exciting fit for our market鈥.
鈥淭his new championship provides a clear pathway for aspiring drivers and adds another thrilling dimension to the Mustang鈥檚 legendary racing heritage down under,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait for 2026 to see these incredible cars battling it out on tracks all over Australia.鈥
The series will be run by Driving Solutions, a firm with decades of experience in motorsport and automotive events.
We are incredibly proud and excited to partner with Ford Performance to bring Mustang Cup
Australia to life,鈥 Driving Solutions director James Stewart said.
鈥淭he Mustang Dark Horse R is a spectacular race car, and we believe a one-make series
featuring this machine will be a huge drawcard for Australian drivers and fans.
鈥淥ur aim is to build a professional, competitive, and accessible series that provides a fantastic opportunity for young drivers to hone their skills, and for experience drivers to enjoy racing a high-performance and market-relevant race car.
鈥淲e look forward to working hard to make this series a roaring success.鈥
The series puts drivers in identical Mustang Dark Horse R racing cars, which are purpose-built by Ford Performance in the US but are nearly-identical to the road-legal Mustang except for the added safety features – just like what Brock, Moffat and co. raced in the 1970s.
One example of the Mustang Dark Horse R is already in the country to help drum up interest for the category, and six Australian drivers have signed up for June鈥檚 special race at Le Mans, France. Chris Ward, Ford鈥檚 global one-make category manager, is overseeing Mustang Challenge and is confident that the series will hit Aussie tracks next year.
While there are still a few fine details to get resolved, Ward is confidently planning for an Australian series and said he would be 鈥渢hrilled鈥 with a 20 car grid for the first season.
Australia already has plenty of racing categories, including the Porsche Carrera Cup and Toyota GR 86 Series, but Ward believes the unique appeal of the Mustang will make it a worthy addition to the local racing scene.
鈥淲e are not coming to the market to disrupt what鈥檚 already there,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e want to supplement that, if that鈥檚 the right word. We want to be supportive. We readily realise that there鈥檚 a finite number of people in the Australian market that have the wherewithal to go sports car racing. So we鈥檙e not looking to disrupt that.鈥
Ford鈥檚 goal, Ward explained, is to help introduce both young and older amateur drivers into the world of racing and hopefully have them progress up through its established pathway of other track-ready Mustangs that includes the GT4 and GT3 class cars.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to further the sports car market in Australia where people that are track day enthusiasts, not have such a giant leap to go from the track day warrior, let鈥檚 call them, to let鈥檚 say GT4 racing or GT3 racing. We want to fill that little niche in between people that have taken their street cars onto the racetrack to go GT4 racing,鈥 he said.
One example of this is reigning Mustang Challenge champion Robert Noaker. The 21-year-old is a throwback to the likes of a young Peter Brock, racing for his own family-run team with only his dad and a few friends to help work on his car. His success in the inaugural season has seen him signed up to be part of Ford鈥檚 鈥榡unior team鈥 of young drivers that it will groom for future sports car drives across its various activities. This allows him to dream of becoming a professional racing driver, something that was otherwise out of reach for him before Mustang Challenge.
鈥淚鈥檓 still keeping the mindset of 鈥榠t鈥檚 not going to happen鈥, so I鈥檓 gonna just keep focusing on the business side, with the team. But I鈥檓 still doing whatever I can to try to make something out of the program and to try to step up the ladder [into GT4 or GT3].鈥
Not surprisingly, like any racing driver, he has dreams of racing at Australia鈥檚 greatest track – Mt Panorama, Bathurst – having previously run a race there in a different category.
鈥淧ersonally, my favourite track is Bathurst. After I ran it, my first lap I鈥檓 like 鈥榯his has ruined everything else鈥. So I鈥檇 love to do the 12 hour or the 1000. And you know, being Ford is involved in the cars that race in that, I have the experience at the track already and maybe something could happen at some point. And that鈥檚 the beauty of the program. You know, if you鈥檙e the right fit for something, you鈥檙e already in the program and you鈥檙e able to go up their ladder.鈥
– with David McCowen