Dick Johnson XE Red Roo Bathurst 1982

[M-Kart]

hi, i'm after any photos i can find of the car Dick Johnson raced at bathurst 82, the Red Roo, other than the picture Biante have on their website. any assistance would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[CooperS79]

RED ROO XE

Here is one.

AND ANOTHER

[M-Kart]

thanks alot for that Cooper. i've had trouble finding many pic of that car. there are a heap of the normal tru blue car (mainly the rock car), and the greenstuf car (especially the tree car), but not much of the roo. anyother pics anyone mite have would really help! thanks again

[Henry]

About the only place I've seen more than a handful was Bill Tuckey's "the Great Race 82/83". It had a fair degree of attention in that tome, being the defending Bathurst champ, reigning ATCC winner and all.... and seeing how it was (at least initally) such a damn pig.

I know that Modern Motor did a feature on it earlier in the year when it was unveiled, but IIRC there were (very) minor livery changes, right up until the race morning at Bathuest - mainly relocation of the Valvoline stickers on the front of it from memory.... as an aside, you can still see the "Tru Blu" paint on the inside of the destroyed door (from 1983 HH crash) at the DJR showroom (they could use it to properly colour-match the XD, which could use a resto!)

[SkaifeHRT]

[RotorFan]

The XE was one ugly car.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by RotorFan

The XE was one ugly car.

In that particular paint scheme, certainly... I thought the green one was a much nicer-looking piece of kit...

The Morris/Fitzpatrick 7-Seiko car from 1982 wasn't too bad-looking either... at least until the Saturday arvo....

[Conrod Kieron]

Agreed Henry, the Greens Tuf Falcon was one of the best looking touring cars from that era, it quite often comes up in the 'best looking touring car' threads

[RotorFan]

I'm a bit young to have seen it, do you have a pic?

Without wanting to change the topic, my favourite from '82 was Moffat's RX-7 (being a rotary fan ).

[SkaifeHRT]

Here you go:

[Driver]

looK at the size of those rear tyres! Awesome. And sheepskin seat covers.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by Driver

looK at the size of those rear tyres! Awesome. And sheepskin seat covers.

19X14" RIMS, and sponsorship by Skinny's (can't quite remember their slogan anymore... the infirmities of old age...) the 1983 shot is "Kermit Mk2", the repainted Harris/Cooke car... Dick's own car looked heaps better than that.

By comparison, the 1984 car (the lower shot) was almost bare of sponsors, but handsome nonetheless... for the trainspotters, note the different sized "XMO" logos on the headlights... she smashed a headlight on the Friday and the replacement was signwritten differently... and remains so 21 years later.

[RotorFan]

Its amazing how much the XE looks like a Volvo with the body kit.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by RotorFan

Its amazing how much the XE looks like a Volvo with the body kit.

If Volvos looked like THAT in the day, I'd have pestered the old man to wear a bowls hat! TO see it (and the Tru Blu XD) in the flesh is something special... they're slung low, and WIIIIIDE with those flares... and the 14" wide rears HAVE to be seen to be believed!

[Mattracer]

They are class cars to look at, even now they stir the soul. Just the stance they had/have, the times they raced in, the nostalgia of it all. The "primitive" nature of the cockpits and the alarmingly near-standard-ness of it all. Then look at Mt Panorama and how IT looked at the time these cars were racing. What a trip back...

[TSR]

Next to the XC COBRA it was the best looking touring car ever the green machine that is. I have brought the green machine in 1.18 scale and now I am waiting for the Red Roo to come out in 1.18. Also the Masterton XE was a class looking car.

[Driver]

Who drove the Army Falcon?

[TSR]

Bob Muir & Leo Geoghegan drove the Army XD

[Driver]

That's it. I loved the look of that one and Greens Tuf XE as a kid

[Henry]

Originally Posted by TSR

Bob Muir & Leo Geoghegan drove the Army XD

Initially Bob Muir and Kinsley Hibbard, and then for 1981, Muir & IAN Geoghegan - Pete's last Bathurst 1000 drive.

I remember first seeing it on the teev as an 8 yo and thinking that it looked like the duck's guts... pity it never showed that sort of on-track form

[Conrod Kieron]

Originally Posted by Henry

If Volvos looked like THAT in the day, I'd have pestered the old man to wear a bowls hat! TO see it (and the Tru Blu XD) in the flesh is something special... they're slung low, and WIIIIIDE with those flares... and the 14" wide rears HAVE to be seen to be believed!

Yep, those pictures don't do justice and without doubt, there's nothing like the sound of that 351 cubic incher hammering across the top of the mountain.
An all round top car, loked better with the Fairmont Ghia headlights though.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by Henry

Initially Bob Muir and Kinsley Hibbard, and then for 1981, Muir & IAN Geoghegan - Pete's last Bathurst 1000 drive.

I remember first seeing it on the teev as an 8 yo and thinking that it looked like the duck's guts... pity it never showed that sort of on-track form

The Army Reserve Falcon is the feature car in the current edition of Australian Muscle Car magazine.

[Henry]

...with non-original camo paint...

[Crowestar]

Wasn't the 1982 Johnson Red Roo car disqualified from the Bathurst 1000?

[TSR]

For memory I think it was DQ for cylinders gaskets were the wrong size and during the race it was chewing up a sh*t load of oil, I could be wrong but I think that this was the problem.