THIS year marks the 20th anniversary of the group that began its life as Ford Performance Racing and the V8 Sleuth group is hard at work putting together a hardbound, minimal edition book on the history of each of the group’s Falcon and Mustang Supercars.
By the method, this 400-page, separately numbered book will be available in time for Christmas and you can pre-order it here now via the V8 Sleuth SuperStore – copies will be restricted so don’t lose out!
There is, however, one Craig Lowndes-driven CAT FPR Falcon V8 Supercar that won’t be including in the eagerly-awaited publication for good factor – due to the fact that it wasn’t an FPR Falcon in spite of having all the looks (bar one sticker label!) of being one.
Lowndes and fellow Ford ace of the time, then-V8 Supercars Champion Marcos Ambrose, shot a Ford industrial at Eastern Creek in mid-April 2004, with a CAT FPR Falcon BACHELOR’S DEGREE and Ambrose’s Pirtek Stone Brothers Racing Falcon bachelor’s degree on hand.
But Lowndes’ car wasn’t among the Prodrive-run group’s Falcons, rather it was a Brad Jones Racing Falcon substituting the day!
The factory Ford group didn’t have any of its 3 bachelor’s degree race vehicles all set for the day that the shoot was scheduled, on April 14, simply over a week after the V8 Supercars had actually raced at the exact same circuit and Rick Kelly had actually won a rain-shortened race.
So, after a fast ring around of Ford groups, BJR presented its 3rd, extra OzEmail bachelor’s degree Falcon (the car John Bowe certified on the front row of the grid at Bathurst in 2003) and it was transformed to CAT/FPR colours and trucked to Sydney for the recording day.
The free gift regarding the car’s real identity can be found in images from the Sydney recording day, now part of the AN1 Images archive and shot on the day by Scott Wensley.
Rather than the Prodrive logo design sitting below the Castrol signs on the front bumper car, a ‘BJR’ sticker label showed up in its location rather!
ENJOY THE TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING THE CAR HERE:
