It was a lowkey debut for the second incarnation of the Group C regulations at Symmons Plains, but began the rise of the Australian Touring Car Championship in the 1980s.
CAMS realised during the 1979 season a change needed to be made due to the fact older model Holdens and Fords were still frontline warriors.
Ford had just released its XD Falcon and Holden had downsized to the Open-based VB Commodore, but these models were not racing leading to a lack of alignment between the showroom and track.
In response, CAMS revealed plans for an update to the Group C regulations, which allowed competitors to run the previous models at a restricted level.
Holden had pulled out of motorsport in response to its dominance in both results and entry representation, while Ford didn’t want a bar of being involved.
Peter Brock was thrust into leading the Holden Dealer Team through a push from showrooms including Adelaide’s Vin Kean to ensure the Commodore hit the track.
Ford’s Falcon was sneakily homologated through two efforts from privateers Garry Wilmington in Sydney and Murray Carter from Melbourne.
Another privateer Commodore effort was led by reigning champion Bob Morris and Frank Gardner, while General Motors was also represented by Kevin Bartlett in the Channel Nine Camaro.
Just 12 entries made the trip across Bass Strait to Tasmania led by Brock, who dominated the opening round of the season.
With Bartlett scoring second, it provided the story of the season as the Camaro proved quite the weapon against the factory opposition.
Allan Grice rounded out the podium in a detuned Holden LX Torana SS in what was field needing heavy development.
The two Falcons finished down in the field, but as the season wore on performances improved to a point a Queenslander asked to buy one of them at Lakeside. This didn’t happen, but it was only the beginning for Dick Johnson.