Payne: Q&Auto: Australia’s Mustang maestro

Posted by hpayne on August 11, 2015

Moffat_2015-Mustang

Australia’s Richard Petty he may be, but Moffat is an unassuming man. No sideburns. No wrap-around sunglasses. No cowboy hat. Not even a “Crocodile Dundee” Australian drawl. Moffat was born in Saskatchewan, Canada before migrating with his father to Australia. As a teen he became obsessed with racing.

“My dad thought I was wasting my time chasing wild women and fast cars,” he smiles. “He thought I was wasting my life.”

But after getting his start in motor racing Down Under, Moffat’s big break would come in the U.S. at the dawn of the pony car era.

In 1965 Ford’s Mustang had taken the States by storm. With Chevrolet (Camaro), Pontiac (Firebird), and AMC (Javelin) following in its wake, America had a full-blown muscle car war on its hands. When the Saturday Night cruisers weren’t challenging each other at Woodward stoplights, their owners were banging fenders on the race track. By 1966, the country’s largest amateur racing organization, the Sports Car Club of America, created Trans Am to give Detroit’s Big Three a playground for their ponies.

It was a monster hit. Some of America’s biggest racing names – Shelby, Penske – cut their teeth on the Trans Am series. Monday-through-Friday, the storied Mustang vs. Camaro rivalry played out in the showroom. On weekends, the titans took the bout to the track. From racing’s kiln were forged legendary badges like the Camaro Z28 and the Boss Mustang 302.

Driving a Ford Lotus Cortina in the Trans Am under-2 liter division, Moffat’s take-no-prisoners driving style caught the eye of Ford’s racing brass.

“I got a call to drive a Mustang at Watkins Glen,” remembers Moffat. “I led it from start to finish. And the media realized — ah, he’s not just a Cortina driver after all.”

In 1969 Moffat was hired by Ford race shop, Kar Kraft in Dearborn, for car development with Ford ultimately rewarding the young Aussie with a Coca-Cola sponsored Boss 302 to conquer Australia. The 470-horsepower V-8 was a track-tuned variation of the street Boss 302 with 280 ponies. “Detroit winters were getting to me a bit,” cracks Moffat.

The Outback would never be the same.

With its ferocious, shark-like maw, crouched stance and screaming V-8 engine, fans had never seen an earth-pawing beast like Moffat’s Boss. His nimble, aerodynamic steed was unstoppable in taking the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) by storm — even though its 5-liter power plant had less grunt than big block Aussie competitors like 7.0 liter ZL-1 Camaros, 6.0-liter Holden Monaros and 5.8-liter Ford Super Falcons.

“Nobody knew what hit them,” says Moffat. “No one knew what a Trans Am car was. The opening race was in May, 1969. We walked all over everything.”

Moffat would go on to win four ATCC titles, then gain international acclaim with his victory at the 1975 Sebring 12-Hour in a BMW CSL, the 1982 24 Hours of Daytona GT class in a Mazda RX-7 and more.

But like Petty in the blue #43 Plymouth Superbird, Moffat will forever be associated with his the Coca-Cola Boss 302.

“That was my pride and joy,” he says wistfully.

The immortal car is now part of David Bowden’s Australian Touring Car Collection in Queensland, Australia. “The Moffat Mustang is the cornerstone of our muscle car collection,” says Bowden. “It’s just the best muscle car Australia has ever had.”

Sounds like a good car to headline for a Down Under Dream Cruise.

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