Australian Frank Gardner reached the heights of Formula 1 and Le Mans, but also during his overseas career dominated the British Saloon Car Championship during the late-1960s into the early-1970s.
A winner of the British Saloon Car Championship on three occasions, the first two with Ford and the last using a Chevrolet Camaro.
Developing two Camaros in pursuit of his third title using the first generation during 1971 and mid-1972, before the updated model was introduced leading to the title in 1973.
Built by the same person responsible for Penske’s Trans Am Camaros, this version proved vastly different.
Powered by a 5.7-litre V8, the first Camaro was sourced by SCA Freight owner Adrian Chambers and backed by Castrol.
Gardner finished fourth in the first generation Camaro and raced it in New Zealand before ending its career in Australia after it was sold to Bob Jane than John Pollard.
It has since returned to the UK and been fully restored back to its 1971 specification.
The later model was much more advanced compared to the previous iteration.
Sponsored by SCA Freight, Gardner’s second Camaro is regarded as better developed than its Trans Am counterparts due in part to the freedom of the British regulations allowing wider wheels and tyres in addition to revised suspension.
Gardner’s engineering smarts are well known and his Camaro featured plenty of impressive details. The rear suspension on the Camaro featured coil springs, single spring leafs and other refinements more akin to a Formula 1 chassis than a touring car.
In fact the engine out of Jane’s 427ci model was used in the newer Gardner Camaro to power him to the title after dominating Class D.
Gardner also completed a part-European Touring Car Championship season in 1974 before beginning his journey back to Australia and the Chevrolet program marked the end of his successful relationship with Ford.