John Goss may have won the Bathurst 1000 driving for Tom Walkinshaw Racing’s Jaguar onslaught of 1985, but this was after years of toiling with his own program during the Australian Touring Car Championship’s Group C era.
A Ford hero during the 1970s, Goss had contested the Barclays Triumph Pro Car Series during 1980 and this allowed him to build a considerable network within the Jaguar Rover Australia organisation.
Following the completion of the series, Goss contacted JRA about his new project involving the XJS and whether support could be afforded through sponsorship, parts or contacts in the UK to provide the go-fast components.
It was hard to knock back Goss due to his success within the last decade leaving him the only driver to win Bathurst and the Australian Grand Prix.
Although Goss received a little back door support from JRA, it was never a fully fledged factory entry and the results achieved demonstrated this.
Contact was made with Jaguar’s Head of Engineering, Jim Randle to source parts for the XJS, which included a lightweight XJS airfreighted to Australia, a specially constructed crankshaft and many more racing components.
The budget was tight for Goss, but he managed to complete the XJS just in time for Bathurst.
It only completed 14-laps and 1981 when the gearbox broke, then oil surge put the death knell on the 12-cylinder engine.
More had to be done and in 1982, Goss suggested bringing Jaguar star Bob Tullius from the US to lend a hand in developing the XJS.
The decision was justified when the XJS was six seconds faster at Bathurst, but suspension failure delivered another retirement for Goss at the Mountain.
Just as Tullius had helped in 1982, fast forward to two years later and Tom Walkinshaw was drafted in, but bought plenty of components in his luggage.
At the time, Walkinshaw was running Jaguar’s XJS in the European Touring Car Championship and won many races during the season.
It also acted as a fact finding mission after JRA Had committed to support Tom Walkinshaw Racing’s Bathurst campaign in 1985.
Alongside Walkinshaw’s drive alongside Goss, his team entered two Mobil-backed Rover Vitesses in the new Group A class.
The campaign ended early for Walkinshaw when clutch failure led to a pile-up at the start.
However, 1985 was vengeance for the team, but not with the right entry.
Three XJSs were entered by TWR and it was Goss alongside German Armin Hahne greeting the flag.
But, what happened to his Group C Jaguar?
Well, Goss raced it unsuccessfully in 1986 before turning it into a replica of his 1985 Bathurst winning XJS and still owns it to this day.