ONE of Perkins Engineering’s most iconic Holden Commodores is being prepared to tackle its first track laps in over 30 years.
Dubbed PE 010, this VL model was restored to its 1992 Bathurst 1000 colours in recent years under the ownership of collector Dave Gardner.
It’s now back in the Perkins workshop ahead of a planned run at Calder and features in the latest Perkins Engineering YouTube video.
The car has not been on track since it was crashed by privateer Don Watson at the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, after which its internals were swapped into a new VP.
Perkins Engineering had built the car ahead of the 1990 endurance races, where it was campaigned by Perkins and co-driver Tomas Mezera in a white PE livery.
It was sold and run by privateer Graham Moore at Bathurst in 1991 while Perkins focused on two new Mobil-backed VNs, before PE bought the car back for 1992.
That year included ATCC outings in plain red and then a switch to the distinctive blue and yellow Bob Jane T-Marts livery.
It won the 1992 Sandown 500 and scored a front-row start for the Bathurst 1000 in those colours, setting the fastest time for a Group A Commodore in Great Race history.
Perkins ran this car with Castrol backing in early 1993, before it spent a brief period with John Trimbole and was then sold to Watson.
The damaged shell passed through a number of hands and was purchased by current owner Gardner in 2016.
Jack Perkins talks through the car’s history and the details behind its restoration in the below video.
