Restored DJR Falcon goes to Bathurst

An ex-Dick Johnson Racing EB Falcon that was driven to victory by John Bowe in the opening round of the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) has gone in display at the National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst following an extensive restoration.

The car, known as EB2, was one of three EB Falcon-based racers built by DJR to meet the new ATCC regulations that would replace Group A for 1993 and later became V8 Supercars. The first car, EB1, was rejected by CAMS for being too far removed from the roadgoing EB Falcon, but EB2 and EB3 were approved.

After one non-championship race at the end of 1992 with Johnson at the wheel, EB2 was driven by Bowe for the 1993 ATCC season, with Johnson driving EB3. That year’s opening round at Amaroo Park saw Johnson win the opening race and Bowe the round. Bowe would finish the ’93 season third in the championship, with Johnson fifth.

In 1994, the two cars were campaigned again, and while both finished well down the order in the ATCC, Johnson and Bowe partnered to win that year’s Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

EB2 would later be driven by Cameron McConville, Paul Radisich, Allan Grice and Steven Johnson at DJR, then several privateer drivers before its racing career ended following an accident at Phillip Island in 2000.

In 2013, EB2 was acquired by John Vergotis of JCV Automotive in NSW, with EB3 added later. More than 3,000 hours of work was put into the restoration of each car, including fabrication of parts no longer available or too badly damaged to restore. Vergotis’s connection with DJR saw him call on them to supply some rare engine parts. DJR also serviced the heads for both engines and ran them on their in-house dyno to confirm durability.

In a video on the project that’s viewable on supercars.com, Vergotis explains the process of bringing the two cars back to their 1993 spec, and while it was a long job, he describes it as a labour of love.

Last December, Johnson and Bowe were re-united with EB2 and EB3 at the Pheasant Wood Circuit in NSW, with Bowe cutting some laps in the car he last drove 30 years ago. The pair of cars next appeared at the Canberra Festival of Speed this past January.

At the start of June, EB2 took up residence at the National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst. The museum is open from 9:00am to 4:30pm every day, except Tuesdays. For more details on the museum, click HERE.