The man who owns the largest collection of Brock Commodores in Australia plans to revive the famous HDT nameplates in honour of the racing legend.
Queensland mining contractor Peter Champion, 53, who owns more than 40 Brock Commodores, including some rare race cars and immaculate replicas, bought the HDT business last month and plans to introduce a range of new HDT models based on the latest Commodore SS.
"This is about keeping the spirit of Peter Brock alive," says Champion, who also plans to open a Brock museum near Rockhampton later this year. "We want to build cars that Peter Brock would have built today."
Champion says he and Brock spoke about these plans in the months before Brock died in a car crash in September last year. "Brock was very keen to get back into the road car business and we spoke about these plans on many occasions."
Champion knew Brock for more than a decade and over that time the pair formed a strong friendship, which saw Champion restore some of Brock's most famous race cars - and build a replica of Brock's first race car, an Austin A30.
The new HDT models are not yet for sale but Champion and his team at HDT, which is based in Revesby in Sydney's south-west, are putting the finishing touches on the first car.
"We want to stay true to the original Brock cars as much as possible," Champion says.
Initially, HDT plans to add body enhancements and wheels and leave the cars standard mechanically so they are covered by Holden warranty. "The plan is for people to buy the cars from a Holden dealer and then bring them to HDT for modifications," he says. "We're not selling cars, we're selling aftermarket enhancements built to the HDT formula."
Having made his fortune in the mining industry, Champion has entered semi-retirement and is using his spare time to focus on his biggest passion in life: cars.
Originally from Tasmania, Champion lived in Sydney for 10 years before heading to Queensland in 1981 to work as a contractor in the mining business. He drove coal trucks day and night to build his business and - ultimately - to buy the cars he loved.
Drive caught up with the new owner of HDT on the first anniversary of Brock's death three weeks ago, to discuss his plans and his passion for Brock's road- and race-cars.
How long have you been a Brock fan?
Surprisingly enough, I wasn't really a Brock fan. I was a Commodore fan. I bought my first Brock car in 1994 which was a VL Brock Plus Pack, second-hand. When they were new I couldn't afford one. And just like all the enthusiasts, I saved up to buy just one.
Are you still in the mining business?
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