Sound Tour # 1 2009

It was a full house at Bowden's Own HQ on the first Sunday in October and the crowd was very eager to experience this unique tour of our collection.
 
The day started with the Johnson Sierra and JPS BMW - two cars we had not heard running for the best part of a decade. Group A was brought back to life.

Graeme “Mort” Brown was our special guest. He captivated everyone with his story of racing the #10 VL Commodore when Brock, Parsons and McLeod won Bathurst in 1987. Mort was the team leader for Brock in the hey days of the Marlboro team, then came back in 1987 for the VL’s assault against world.

Having thoroughly fumigated the downstairs shed in carbon monoxide, we went around the side for the Group C run - Tru Blu, KB’s Camaro, Greens Tuf, Mulvihill RX7 and Brocks legendary 1979 Bathurst winning A9X sat there waiting. Most of these cars had not been heard for decades, if at all, for the majority of most attending the day, let alone all our neighbours who were unwittingly to share it kilometres away!

Then it was time to move indoors... I could write for hours about the experience of the Geoghegan Mustang, Beechey Nova, Trans Am Mustang, GTHO Phase 1,2,3,4, GT40, Shelby Cobra, DJR V8 supercar, works Lotus Cortina, raspy Hamilton 911 TR and the current model 911 RSR Porsche (not to mention the accounts of 911 RSR owner driver Shaun Juniper racing this technological masterpiece at Nürburgring last year).

 
We then hit the turning point for the day -The Moffat XY GTHO #9 was summoned to life. Up until this point everything seemed all nice and fluffy when compared to it. The day became serious as the walls rumbled and the crowd once again put their ear plugs in place. We all shared a time of joy for something that most other responsible community members would look at with shock - never being able to understand how something so raucous and angry could bring so much happiness to a group like ours this day.  

The lunch break had some of the more civilised and cultural pieces on show - the 300SL Gullwing, 356 Carrera Porsche, J2 Allard, D Type Jaguar and the latest and greatest F430 Scuderia Ferrari to listen and savour to, while the very pompous sausages and bread were eagerly chomped down.

After lunch, we moved to the big hitters of the day - The Moffat Mustang, Geoghegan Super Falcon and Beechey Monaro. Sitting menacingly dormant at the front part of the shed, these three giants of Australian touring car racing were one by one crankily brought to life. Due to the noise levels they pump out, special measures had to be taken to ensure the local community did not get too alarmed. So, the shed doors came down and ear plugs went on as each one fired up. Each car has it's own unique note; the crisp and raspy Mustang is quite different to the deep resonating pounding of the Super Falcon. Then finally, the 350 Chevy of the Monaro is a hard, chest pumping bellow that was the loudest car to ever run on a track back in the era. My father David and brother Chris were there for the day giving talks on their experiences with the different cars. When we kicked the Monaro over, it was the first time they had heard it running right since we restored it many years ago. It was just as emotional for them as it was for me the night before (when we spent hours working away at it), not to mention all the guests on the day. All I saw was a group of happy and awe inspired faces.  

Most thought this was the end of the day but we had so much more in store. Without spoiling it for the next group who come through for the secind Sound Tour scheduled for November 15th 2009, let’s just say the starting grid for 1981 to 1984 came alive and was followed by a recreation of the improved production grid for 1971/72. A brilliant way to end the day; an amazing symphony of combined muscle which even we had never heard in our sheds.

The Sound Tour is all about bringing the legends to life - all the cars you have seen race, heard, and read about over the many years, and collectively brings the greatest experience ever offered for the Australian racing and muscle car era fans. We own a living car collection, this tour is a celebration of that. I personally cannot wait till we do the next one this coming November and I hope you can come and share the experience with us then.

 

Full details on coming to the next Sound Tour can be found by clicking HERE

 
We have included some images to share the day with you. Please let us know what you think, and if you were lucky enough to have come along, please feel free to also share your stories with your fellow Chrome Club members.
 
Love your car,
 
Dan Bowden