The Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame has paid tribute to the late Allan Moffat OBE, one of its first inductees.
Moffat, alongside Peter Brock, built the foundation on which modern day Supercars is based.
For two decades, the pair, rivals, and ultimately close friends, raised public awareness of motorsport in the broader community and took starring roles in the sales battle between Holden and Ford at a time local car manufacturing was at its peak.
“Allan ’s death on Saturday, November 22, aged 86, closes the loop on their era, but is simply a waypoint on the continuing legacy he and Peter created,” John Smailes, chair of the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame said.
Moffat won the Australian Touring Car Championship and the Bathurst 500/1000 four times each, also claiming victories in the Australian Sports Sedan, Sports Car and Endurance National Championships.
His proudest claim was that his Trans Am Ford Mustang, gifted to him by the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, won 101 of its 156 starts. His greatest regret was never winning the Australian Touring Car title in the car.
“Allan was the most intense racing driver bar none,” Smailes, who in 2017 collaborated with Moffat on writing his autobiography ‘Climbing the Mountain’, added.
“He described himself simply as ‘dedicated.’”
Moffat helped develop the Ford Falcon GTHO, widely regarded as the greatest Australian muscle car of all time, then went on to race the controversial Mazda RX7 to Championship success after his time with Ford came to an end.
Remarkably he raced at Holden as Brock’s teammate at Brock’s request, and with John Harvey.
Moffat retired from active racing on his 50th birthday in November 1989 after winning the Fuji Intertec 500, the final round of Japan’s touring car title with Klaud Niedzwiedz in a Ford Sierra Cosworth.
He told no-one of his decision. The giveaway was his unusual race number – ‘39’ – the year of his birth.
Moffat was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1978, became an inductee of the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 1999 and was an inaugural member of the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2016 and a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 2004, the Canadian-born competitor became a citizen of Australia. His referee was none other than Peter Brock.