HTCAV PROFILE – GORDON COX - JUST CARS

HTCAV Profile – Gordon Cox

Words: Gordon Cox
Photos: Gordon Cox, unless indicated

If you’re in the parts business like I am, people seem to think you carry all the parts they’re desperate for, all the time, all in the boot of your tow car. Twenty plus years ago, a few weekends of this pestering flicked on a lightbulb – maybe there’s a need for a spare parts shop at the racetrack…

Back then, I had my own little parts shop (Diamond Valley Auto Parts in Bundoora), plus two young children. Although I’d stopped racing, I decided to start selling products at the track to pay the bills, help mates keep their cars on the track and get my motor racing fix at the same time! It wasn’t a new idea and I wasn’t the first to do it, but I was excited…

“Sorry mate, you can’t come in.”

It certainly wasn’t smooth sailing at first. Trying to get into the racetrack without the appropriate pass wasn’t that easy! Fortunately, a few promoters saw how my service would add value to their meeting and it wasn’t long before I was greeted at the gate with, “G’day, Coxy. You know where you should park.”

From simple beginnings, the Coxy’s Motorsport Spares truck would later carry just about everything the amateur racer needed when Revolution Racegear was added to the range.

For my first meeting at Phillip Island, I had an XF Falcon van loaded up with oils, brake fluids and pads, a few nuts and bolts, cable ties and gasket goo. I sold a couple of hundred dollars’ worth - it was a start. For the next meeting at Sandown, I borrowed a box trailer from a mate, painted it white, put some stickers on it and loaded it up with more gear.

From little vans, big vans grow…

Around 2004, I purchased a big display trailer that looked more like a horse float, but it kept everything out of the elements, including me. As time moved on, so did that trailer, making way for a small truck. It was pretty trick, with a flip up tailgate - and air conditioning!

Probably the most ‘normal’ race car I’ve had, this MkII Cortina debuted at Bathurst. Photo: Phil Wisewould

Then it was a bigger van and display trailer, forerunners to the current truck that, over the years, has become a bit of a meeting place and drop-in centre for elderly miscreants.

If it’s cold, they’ll come in to get warm and if it’s hot they’ll come in to get cool. Mostly they just come in for a bit of yarn. I’ve heard stories you wouldn’t share with your grandma - or the police!

Come the Revolution

From initially carrying consumable products, the range grew when I became a dealer for Revolution Racegear, adding seats, steering wheels and full race apparel - from helmets to Nomex socks. We were then a proper shop…at the track! The product range constantly evolved, as did the competitors and categories.

‘Double Duty’ with the Coxy’s Motorsport truck pulling my Austin A90 Westminster racer.

Once, at state-level race meetings, if you arrived with a tandem trailer and more than one Weber carburettor you were doing pretty well. Now it’s B-Double trucks with an engine guy, suspension guru and team manager – it’s “arrive and drive” for many entrants.

But the majority remain husband and wife teams, with kids in tow and lots of mates helping mates. For 20 years, my little one-man effort has proudly helped them, through a global financial crisis and global pandemic.

Something very ‘Cool’ comes along

After COVID, we were back at the track when I was approached by Mr. John Blanchard of CoolDrive Auto Parts. “We should do something together” was the start of the conversation. A few months later, Coxy’s Motorsport Spares became part of Racer Industries, which has been part of CoolDrive since 2021.

Blanchard Racing Team’s B-double dwarfs the Racer Industries truck.

Had someone else approached me, the outcome may have been different, but the Blanchard name is motor racing royalty and fully respected in the wider automotive industry. I was very happy to do a deal with JB and stay on as an employee - I knew that the passion the Blanchards have for racing would make it a perfect fit.

After a 20-year road trip, I’m home

I’m still doing what I know and love, but now I’m part of a larger, family-owned organisation - Racer Industries.

While they’re a pretty big deal (official race accessories partner of Motorsport Australia, the Shannon’s Motorsport Australia Championships and the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, etc.), Racer Industries remain dedicated to supporting those at the grassroots level who are so important to motorsport.

The name may have changed from Coxy’s Motorsport Spares to Racer Industries, but the commitment to supporting grassroots motorsport competitors remains.

You can now pre-order what you need from raceindustries.com.au to be delivered to your door, or picked up from me at the Racer Industries truck in the paddock.

Life as I love it will go on, helping and supplying competitors and even enjoying time on the track with my mates in the JUST CARS Historic Touring Cars.

If you’re in the paddock, drop into the Racer Industries truck to get warm, get cool or just say hello…