THE Ford Tickford Racing AU Falcon driven by Glenn Seton and Neil Crompton in the 2000 Bathurst 1000 is set to be restored to its former glory.
Known as FTR 003, the car was debuted by Seton’s FTR squad at the Great Race, where it was famously taken out of victory contention in an incident with Brit Matt Neal and Mark Skaife.
The Hell Corner tangle proved a cruel blow for Seton and Crompton, both of whom ended their careers without a Bathurst 1000 win.
FTR 003 made a further 19 round starts over the next three seasons, acting as Seton’s primary car in 2001 (competing in all rounds other than Bathurst) and his spare in 2002 (used at six events).
Ford Performance Racing then fielded it for David Besnard in the opening rounds of 2003 as the new factory team worked on completing a full fleet of BA race cars.
Differences in the rear suspension of the respective road cars meant AU Falcon V8 Supercars could not be raced as BAs.
However, FTR 003 was among a handful of AU V8 Supercars to be converted to BA panels for ride duties.
This was done following the car’s sale to Brett Youlden’s ride car business in 2004 and it has remained in that configuration ever since.
The car is currently in the FPR-inspired livery in which it was run by Youlden’s business and then occasionally raced by its next owner, Darren Saillard, in AMRS and iRace events.
Having been inactive for over a decade, it’s now in line to be converted back to an AU by a Victorian-based collector, who has been detailing similar work on an ex-Steve Ellery AU via Facebook.
“The interesting thing with this car is it didn’t bash around in the Dunlop Series or Super2 as it’s known now,” said FTR 003’s current owner upon announcing the restoration plan.
“It did finish up in the main game and that was about it, so it hasn’t had a really hard life, it hasn’t been bent and bashed, it’s still fairly straight, which we’re really excited about.”
While the car has been well looked after, the restoration back to its 2000 specifications will require far more than simply changing the panels and livery.
“All the bar work on the inside, some of that’s changed, the cage has been painted, it’s the wrong colour… it was originally white, it’s now grey,” he added.
“There’s going to be a lot of work go into this car to get it back to what it used to be.
“But a factory Ford, Glenn Seton Racing or FTR, Seton/Crompton, Bathurst, it’s well worth it and we’re really looking forward to getting into this project.”
