Real Brock HDT VL

As the final car built by HDT that they raced themselves, this VL Commodore known as Chassis 17 marks an important chapter in the history of Australian motorsport. Known more commonly as the #05 Mobil car, this Commodore saw the legendary Peter Brock through to end of the 1987 season before he crossed over to the darkside for a couple of years.

As race cars often do, Chassis 17 changed hands at the end of the season and left our shores headed for the motherland. The Alan Docking Racing team in the UK entered the VL into the 1988 BTCC, placing Mike O'Brien behind the wheel to put pressure on the Sierra's dominance at the time. As in Australia, the Commodore couldn't quite keep up with the featherweight Ford coupes although O'Brien managed an impressive second in the second round at Oulton Park.

From here the VL entered private ownership, bouncing around in a foreign land before finally returning home after almost two decades. Chassis 17 had made an impression on Peter Champion and as his collection of ex-Brock racing vehicles grew, he began to wonder what had ever become of it.

Sitting in a cafe with a mate, Chassis 17 casually came up in conversation with an interesting result. That mate called his mate in the UK and sure enough, the last of the HDTs was sitting in his shed simply collecting dust.

As he had done with many of the other cars in his collection, Peter maticulously checked details with the British owner and once the car's identity was confirmed, brought it on home. For its 1988 series the car had been converted to Walkinshaw specs but this didn't phase Peter one bit, undertaking a labour of love to restore this iconic race car back to it's original Brocky brilliance.

No stone was left unturned, with John Van Roosmalen ensuring total accuracy and quality of all parts installed. Those of you with a keen eye will notice that it is still running centre-lock wheels along with a couple of other leftovers from it's BTCC days but we still wouldn't mind watching it tear around Bathurst one more time.

This truly is a gem in Australian motorsport history and it is fantastic to have it home again. For a full race history of the famed Chassis 17 and a closer look, check out issue #2 of Real Race Cars on sale now!