“Keep an eye on the road. Don’t look in the rear-view mirror,” is a phrase that car enthusiast Peter Champion is passionate about.
Important points:
- Peter Brock was killed in an accident during the Targa West Rally in Western Australia in 2006
- Friend Peter Champion once owned Australia’s largest collection of Brock cars before selling 26 to a private buyer in 2017
- Fifteen years after the racing legend’s death, Champion has only one racing car in his collection
The motto of legendary racing driver and friend Peter Brock is how Champion approaches life and his collection.
Brock was killed on September 8, 2006 when his car, a Daytona Coupe, crashed into a tree during the Targa West Rally in Western Australia.
Champion once held Australia’s largest collection of the nine-time Bathurst 1000 winning cars, racing suits and memorabilia in a museum in Yeppoon in central Queensland.
Fifteen years after Brock’s death, there is only one racing car left in his collection – the Daytona Coupé from that fateful day.
The Daytona dilemma
When Champion heard that parts of Brock’s last racing car were being sold, he paid Daytona to restore the vehicle.
While he was reluctant to restore the car, he said he was encouraged by Brock’s girlfriend Julie Bamford and his navigator Mick Hone.
This is the only Brock racing car left in Peter Champion’s collection.
ABC Capricornia: Guy Williams
)
“They asked me to buy the car and put it in their collection because they believed the Brocky spirit was in that car,” said Champion.
“I’ve been tormenting myself about it for a while. All the mechanics in the car were still fine and I just thought, maybe I don’t need someone to come to the museum and say, ‘I have Brocky’s last wheels, I have … his last engine [and] I have his last gear ‘.
“To protect it from that I agreed to pay for the restoration and at the moment the decision to improve it was the right one in my opinion.
“I know there are a lot of people who are not happy about it, but at least it is there and since he knows Peter as well as I do, he would not have wanted the car to be destroyed.”
Peter Brock replica cars and original Holden vehicles are in the Peter Champion collection. (
ABC Capricornia: Guy Williams
)
The last car in the collection
Champion sold 26 Brock cars from his collection to a private buyer in 2017, who auctioned them individually for about $ 10 million a year later.
He still owns a collection of Brock replicas and Holden Dealer Team cars that Brock built after purchasing the company in December 1979.
But it just remains a real racing car.
The collection includes racing suits and other memorabilia. (
ABC Capricornia: Guy Williams
)
“I’m approaching the part of my life where I have to make some decisions about what happens to a lot of them, but I wouldn’t sell this car,” said Champion.
“Some days you wander by and don’t want to look at it.
“Other days you look at it and say, ‘What if?’
“There were a few things that didn’t go right for him that day.”
When champion met Brock
A touring car fanatic, Champion was introduced to Brock at a charity dinner in 1994.
The two got along well, and when Champion suggested restoring a replica of Brock’s first car, the 1956 Austin A30, their friendship went into high gear.
Peter Champion has a collection of model cars with every racing car that Peter Brock has driven. (
ABC Capricornia: Guy Williams
)
It was this car that the two discussed in their last conversation the day before Brock’s death in 2006.
The couple prepared the car to take part in the Speed on Tweed event on the Tweed River a fortnight later.
“I asked what tire pressure he wanted and all that and he said, ‘Call me tomorrow night as I will be a bit busy tonight and tomorrow so we’ll discuss that then.’
“Unfortunately, it was the last conversation I had with Pete.
“I was in Brisbane at the time [of the crash] and we heard the news before they mentioned it was Peter. “
Champion dialed Brock’s number.
There was no answer.
“I called Julie, his girlfriend, a little later, and she had just found out when I called,” said Champion.
“I could tell by her voice that it was Peter.
“It was a sad day.”
The end of an era
The Brock – Holden – brand stopped production on Australian soil in 2017 after almost 70 years.
Peter Champion fondly remembers Brock. (
ABC Capricornia: Guy Williams
)
Champion bought three Holden vehicles that left the company’s final production line.
“I am as disappointed as the rest of our country,” he said.
“To put it mildly, I’m pissed off.”
For Champion, watching the supercars meander along the Mount Panorama course has lost its appeal.
“I have a little squiz every now and then, but I think I’ve lost that passion,” he said.
“It’s a bit sad, but I think it screwed up a little with the brands.”
Local news straight to your inbox
ABC Capricornia delivers a recap of the week’s news, stories and photos every Friday. Sign up here
