Famous Commodore Found!

NSW rally driver Barry Ferguson discovered the famous Commodore in which he, Wayne Bell and Dave Boddy finished second in the 18,885km, 14-day event, just 30 minutes from his NSW home.
"It was incredible," said Ferguson, who is now totally rebuilding the car for the 2008 Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial from September 8-20.
"It was if we had just stepped out of it after the Repco. All the spare parts were still in place; the brand new spare tyre behind the driver's seat still had the nibs on it; even the car's special 'high-tech' external bonnet release - a piece of bent wire - was still there!"
"The grapevine had been running hot for years wondering where the car was," said Ferguson. "It's probably the only prominent car from the 1979 Repco of the 13 that completed the whole course that is still in its original condition."
Back in '79, Ferguson, Bell and Boddy led the event a number of times, but ultimately it was Peter Brock, Matt Phillip and Noel Richards who headed the 1-2-3 finish, with team mates Shekhar Mehta, Rauno Aaltonen and Barry Lake third in an identical George Shepheard-prepared Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Commodore.
"That was the toughest of all the Round Australia trials and most of the cars that finished were just scrap metal," said Ferguson. "However we kept our car in very good shape so that we could challenge for the lead near the end, but that wasn't to be."
The three Commodores were specially built for the Repco event and featured alloy boot lids & bonnets, XU-1 spec six cylinder engines, M21 (V8-spec) 'boxes and 200 litre fuel tanks.
Barry Ferguson said that despite being out in the open for many years, the Commodore had very little rust and the rebuild to its Repco Trial form would be relatively straight forward.
The Ferguson/Johnson Commodore is one of more than 80 confirmed entries in the 2008 Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial, which commences in Alice Springs and takes in Mt. Isa, Normanton, Cairns, Birdsville and Bourke. For event info visit www.redcentretogoldcoasttrial.com.au