Holden’s lost Group A Commodore and an Ambulance ride
Once upon a time, back in the days when thirsty big V8s guzzled gas and farted out noxious fumes, Holden Motorsport boss John Lindell had a company car that he simply adored, a car Commodore that on todays market could fetch north of $200,000 for a good example.
It was a special car and Lindell had plans to purchase it for his personal use at the end of its GMH working life.
But someone in the ‘Marketing World’ at GMH convinced him it was a good idea to allow it to be used in the first ever-1992 Targa Tasmania.
Tall Tales but true… It seemed like a good idea at the time, put a young and upcoming-Holden backed Brad Jones behind the wheel and see what it could do in the wilds of Tassie…
I say it seemed like a good idea at the time, but Lindell never got to see his beloved red VN Commodore Group A again, as it ended its days buried into a tree stump much to his despair, but there was far more to this story…
If it wasn’t true few would believe the story… In a ripping yarn by Wayne Webster who recalls his first ride in an Ambulance as part of his participation in the first ever Targa Tasmania. Webster goes on to tell the story of how, why and then what happened…
“But then he loaned it to Brad Jones for a week of high-speed sightseeing in Tasmania and he totalled the thing. Smashed it to bits did Bradley. Beat the burgundy beauty into a pile of tortured and twisted metal did (then) young Bradley Jones.
“I know this because, rather unfortunately, I was there – really there! In the passenger seat to be more precise.
Webster recalls some of the funnier moments.
“So it was that Jones, Webster and the SS Group A Commodore turned up for the start of Targa Tasmania in Launceston, which is kind of like going to Goulburn in NSW but without the advantage of being able to drive up the road to Sydney for a taste of civilisation.
“I quickly realised that there was a big advantage to being with Bradley, for while autograph hunters besieged the likes of Brabham, Moss and Hulme, they regarded us with the casual disregard normally reserved for a couple of bottles of low-alcohol beer sitting in the slush at the bottom of the esky at a New Year’s Eve party.
“Of course, back in those days, Brad Jones wasn’t a big thing like he … umm …”
Webster outlines the crash, his first time in an Ambulance, the ride to the hospital and an exchange with a very tired nurse, who had to be convinced Brad Jones was in fact a racing car driver…
It a great yearn and this story and many others are published in the latest issue of Auto Action Premium magazine, on sale now at over 2,200 outlets Australia wide.
It’s 132-page bumper issue that is fill of wonderful motorsport content.
And of course it is illustrated with a wonderful John ‘Stonie’ Stoneham cartoon.
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