The sudden decision of General Motors to retire the Holden marque after 164 years leaves the great rivalry of Australian motor sport in limbo.
Since the early days of production car racing in Australia, the great Falcon versus Holden competition has been the most passionate and enduring.
And most of the great memories of this rivalry have been enacted at Australia’s most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000; with the two brands holding 50 out of 56 total championship wins at the circuit.
Peter Brock’s early successes in the Toranas; Allan Moffat’s one-two Falcon win in 1977; Dick Johnston’s wrecked Ford in 1980; Brock’s record nine Bathurst wins.
With the closure of local manufacturing by both brands three years ago, series organisers must have known that at some point this day was coming. But try as they might, other cars, marques, and models just haven’t been able to capture the imagination of the Australian public like Ford vs Holden.
Bathurst, for instance held pride of place when the world tried to run a production car international series in the late 1980s. German, French, Italian, and the mighty Ford Sierra’s from Britain dominated the race for a few years, but the punsters just weren’t interested; with crowds, media interest, and straight-up passion all declining dramatically.
It was only when the old Ford vs Holden rivalry was re-instituted that the crowds and interest returned. It seemed that although Australians were no longer prepared to buy Falcons and Commodore’s in the same numbers that they had in the past; they still wanted to watch these two iconic Australian muscle brands tear into each other around Mt Panorama.
But all this will soon be in the past.
While the Holden closure news has floored Australia, arguably nowhere has been more affected than the motorsport industry where it’s been synonymous with some of our winningest drivers, including Peter Brock, Mark Skaife and Jamie Whincup.
While it’s still not clear as yet what this will mean for the local motorsport industry, Supercars teams and officials set to hold urgent discussions with Holden to work out the future of the brand in the sport.
Supercars had expected to have Holden or GM as an operational factory beyond the 2021 season with Holden and Triple Eight Racing’s program in place until the end of 2021.
A further seven Supercars teams are set to run Holden Commodores in the 2020 championship with Red Bull Holden racing team also in place for 2020.
The Holden decision saw an outpouring of sadness and even grief from the Australian production racing car community, with Ford, which intends to continue its brand in Australia, lamenting the end of an era.
