Supercars: The Holden Vs Ford Era

With huge crowds, multi-million-dollar TV rights deals and generations of household megastars the V8 Supercars have been a huge local motorsport success story for over a quarter of a century, turning it also into a globally recognised phenomenon. In this edited extract from his new book, LUKE WEST gives us a taste of the comprehensive and absorbing history he’s compiled about this uniquely Aussie sport…

- Luke West

2020: A SEASON LIKE NO OTHER

General Motors’ announcement on February 19, 2020 that it would retire the Holden brand from the Australian market by year’s end came just two days before the Supercars hit the track at the season-opening Adelaide 500. Although Holden’s sales had plummeted since local manufacturing had wound down in late 2017, the news still seemed to take many by surprise. Especially those unaware that Holden had been wholly American-owned since 1931! The company’s ‘football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars’ advertising campaigns had obviously been successful, effectively brain-washing generations of Australians. If only they knew that GM had previously used the same campaign in its home country with catchy ‘baseball, hotdogs, applepie and Chevrolet’ theming. The decision by Detroit’s angels of death meant season 2020 would be the last featuring Commodores officially supported by Holden and representing the brand.

By necessity, some very big changes were coming to Supercars competition in the near future, quite apart from the regular off-season moves that were in evidence in the Adelaide parklands. Kelly Racing parked their four-strong fleet of Nissan Altimas for 2020 in favour of running a pair of Ford Mustangs. Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner stayed on to drive them, while Simona de Silvestro and Garry Jacobson departed. The ‘Swiss Miss’ left the series, while Jacobson moved into a Commodore at the expanded Matt Stone Racing.