Bryan Thomson was headed for a famous victory. It was the final round of the $100,000 Marlboro Sports Sedan Series at Calder on 7 December 1975, in front of a capacity crowd and nationwide TV audience. A showdown between the popular racer from country Victoria and track owner Bob Jane, one of the toughest competitors to ever pull on a helmet. The battler and the pro.
Having taken pole and the earlier heat, Thommo had everything under control as the series decider drew to a close. He’d seen off the best Sports Sedans in the country. Not only Jane’s Monaro, but also John McCormack’s Charger, Pete Geoghegan’s Monaro, Jim Richards’ Mustang, Ron Harrop’s EH Holden and Jim McKeown’s Porsche Turbo. This was close to the category’s peak era.
Thomson was heading for the biggest pay day of his career. A booty worth $20,000 awaited, and everyone was delighted for the charismatic Shepparton truck dealer. Even the gnarly Jane was happy for his old mate to enjoy such success after years of trying. He might have hated losing, but every promoter loves a fairytale ending.
Then, just as the chequered flag was being unfurled, the unthinkable happened. A puff of smoke. Thommo’s rear-engined Volkswagen-Chev – as unlikely a racing beast as ever existed – was in trouble.
On the final lap, the tantalising chequered flag visible just a few hundred metres away, Thomson coaxed the last bit of life from his five-litre Chevrolet V8. But the smoke was now thick and putrid. A rocker in one of the team’s ambitious four-valve heads had failed and the engine at his back was spent.
Jane thundered past to steal the series win and the booty. Thommo staggered to the line, then stopped and collapsed to the ground. Not only by emotion, but also a combination of oil fumes and extinguisher powder inside the Vee-Dub’s cockpit.
It was a racing tragedy, and the passionate Thomson was in tears as he caught his breath and walked away from the smoking machine. He had poured everything into the car, and everyone at the track and at home shared those tears. Thommo tried to sound positive when TV host Peter Landy shoved a microphone in front of him, and he shook Jane’s hand, but there was no hiding his distress.
He had already announced that this would be his last race. He had enormous financial commitments elsewhere and could no longer afford to play such an expensive game. Reality dictated that he quit racing. (Though he did return, a decade later.)
A year earlier, he had not been quite so magnanimous with Jane.
In the final round of the 1974 series, Jane ran into the back of Thommo’s VW-Chev – a regular occurrence it must be said, due to their cars’ wildly contrasting braking and handling characteristics – and they both spun off. Jane recovered first and claimed the win. Thomson gave him a spray, even though Bob was his sponsor (through tyre brand Kleber). Perhaps the money helped; Thommo got over it.
Fan favourite
The Volkswagen-Chev was a sensation even before it appeared at Calder in the January 1974 twilight meeting. But once it hit the track it became an immediate fan favourite, nicknamed the Volksrolet. Who would have thought to put a big Chevy V8 in the back of a Volkswagen Type 3 Fastback? And what sort of crazies would have built it in a little workshop in rural Victoria?
As underdog battlers went, Thomson and his self-confessed ‘country kid’ mechanic were an irresistible combination. They were the antithesis of the big-city teams
