Check out this little beauty. It’s the Jim Morton-owned XB Falcon hardtop that Glenn Seton will debut at Eastern Creek. It’s one of at least three two-door Touring Car Masters machines to hit the track for the first time that weekend. The presence of the new coupes is quite a coup for the AMCM. If the Seton car’s colour scheme looks familiar, it’s because it uses Ford Performance Racing’s V8 Supercar colours, to highlight FPR’s assistance in the project. Another eagerly awaited debut is Jim Richards’ AMC Javelin, which has been over 12 months in the making. Jim’s Javelin will, of course, be presented in Shannons white and green livery. As outlined in the TCM pages, one or more of the new V8 Chargers will race for the first time at The Creek.

The 2011 Muscle Car Masters will feature a larger field of famous racecars on track during the ultra-popular Master Blasts sessions at Eastern Creek on Father’s Day.

Headlining the Blasts is the #17 Tru-Blu Falcon, the 1981 Bathurst 1000 winner of Dick Johnson and John French. It also won back-to-back ATCC titles, in 1981-82. Tru-Blu is making its AMCM debut (and having its first NSW outing in ages) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Johnson’s ’81 feats. Another John French-driven car, the factory XY GT-HO Falcon he drove at Bathurst 1971, will also turn laps in the ‘best of the best’ demo sessions, part of the Phase III’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

 The Fords will be joined on-track by Bob Jane’s 1971 ATCC-winning Camaro, in the hands of son Robert. As will the #05 Commodore VL in which Peter Brock started the dramatic 1987 Bathurst 1000. The Masters will be held a few days before the fifth anniversary of the great man’s passing.

The historic Group C and A Touring Car ranks continue to grow. Last year’s Masters saw no fewer than 46 of these machines rock up to race. Even more cars have surfaced since then.

This year’s Masters will again see standalone races for Group C (1973-1984) and A (1985-1992) respectively, before the two join together on the grid.

On top of the bumper race field, many more Group C and A cars will participate in the Heritage Hotlaps or will be on site as static displays.

The entire number of former Great Race cars at ECR will exceed 100.

AMC is looking forward to hearing Allan Grice’s and Colin Bond’s tales about ‘Elvis’, the STP-liveried Commodore now owned by Ed Singleton. Earlier this year Singleton won a race at Bathurst in the car. Why Elvis? Because it had so many hits.

The booming Touring Car Masters category has taken another big step forward in 2011 with three new models hitting the track.

Competing in NSW for the first time will be Ford XB Falcon coupes, at least one Holden Torana SL/R 5000 and Jim Richards’ long-awaited Javelin.

As AMC closed for press, Jim Morton’s new XB Hardtop for driver Glenn Seton was yet to make its debut. Seton has been a star at the event for the last few years and will no doubt take it to early series leader John Bowe (Mustang), judging by the speed of the first XB to hit the track, that of Eddie Abelnica. Eastern Creek’s round four marks a busy stretch for the TCM competitors, with five race meetings inside three months.

No one will be holding back though.

Saluting the often-overlooked muscle car category Sports Sedans will make their Australian Muscle Car Masters debut this September, with current-day machines competing for the Tony Edmondson Trophy.

The man himself will be on hand to present the prize named in his honour, 30 years after wrapping up his second Australian Sports Sedan Championship.

The Sports Sedan Spectacular is open to all CAMS log-booked Sports Sedans, with a bumper field of these fire-breathing beasts set to blast off the grid. The entry list will include some of the fastest and wildest machines competing on the national scene.

The AMCM’s salute to the category includes other activities on Father’s Day, with owners of historically significant Sports Sedans invited to participate in the Heritage Hotlaps and Master Blasts. The class has four decades of muscle car heritage under its belt.

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The semi-professional series this has now become is not really ‘historic’ any more, in the purest sense of the word. These cars now have various technical freedoms that let them live with their enormous power outputs and they have something at least resembling decent brakes now, but they’re still loud, fast and very cool.

John Bowe took the first two races, the second of them having started in eighth as the top eight finishing positions from the first race were reversed. Leanne Tander (XA Falcon) led race two briefly before fading with dramas.

A start-line incident destroyed Cameron Mason’s Datsun 1600 and damaged Steve Mason’s Camaro. Dinner at the Mason house that night may have been a bit awkward!

Bowe made it a perfect trifecta of wins in the final heat, as Jim Richards served a drive-through penalty for a jumped start. Mrs Tander was second (and a popular second at that) from Brad Tilley (XY GT-HO) in the third heat.

Photos courtesy of Australian Muscle Car Magazine
Photographers: Jon Van Daal, Danny Bourke and Chris Currie