The Repco-backed Chevrolet Monte Carlo that won the last NASCAR race held in Australia in 2000 has been returned to its former racing livery as part of Repco’s 100^th anniversary celebrations.

Driven by Kim Jane and prepared by John Sidney Racing in the period, the car has been returned to the Repco livery in which it raced at the 2000 Australian Grand Prix in the NASCAR support races.

Jane won all three races in the #27 Repco Monte Carlo on the Melbourne road/street course at that round – they proved to be the last local NASCAR races before the pin was pulled by Bob Jane on local competition.

The car will feature as part of a special display beginning in October at the National Motor Racing Museum at Mount Panorama that will include a range of significant Repco-connected cars from Australian motorsport history.

The remaining cars that will be featured in the ‘Repco Racing, 100 Years In The Making’ display at the museum will be revealed in upcoming weeks.

Jane, who won the local NASCAR crown four times in the car (1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/2000), will slip behind the wheel of the car on race morning at the Repco Bathurst 1000 next month as part of a special parade of cars in the lead-up to the ‘Great Race’.

He was reunited with the car recently at Australia’s home of super speedway racing – the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne.

“It’s a wonderful car, it’s got a lot of great history,” says Jane.

“The Repco sponsorship started in the 1990s with David Tennant, who was the marketing manager at the time. Repco started as a small sponsor when the car ran in Bob Jane T-Marts colours, and we had an opportunity to sell the whole sponsorship to Repco for what turned out to be the last season of NASCAR racing.

“To see it now back in that look as it raced for the last time is a wonderful feeling.”

Mitch Wiley, Head of Sponsorship for Repco, says the opportunity to help bring back a winning piece of Repco’s local motorsport history was too good to pass up.

“Once we were alerted to the fact that this car was still out there, we connected with its owner Zac via the team at V8 Sleuth and arranged to have it returned to its last winning livery from 2000,” he says.

“To see the car reunited with Kim at the Calder Park Thunderdome and to have it as part of the display at Bathurst is really special. The NASCAR era is an incredible chapter in Australian motorsport history and one we’re very proud of our involvement in.

“The display at the National Motor Racing Museum is set to feature some important cars from Repco’s motorsport history and we’ll be revealing more of them in the weeks ahead.”

Brad Owen, Museum Coordinator of the National Motor Racing Museum, says the exhibition is the latest in a line of successful displays at the venue.

“We’ve celebrated Craig Lowndes, Dick Johnson and Larry Perkins in recent displays and 2022 is the perfect time for us to celebrate Repco’s incredible racing history and heritage in its 100^th anniversary year,” he says.

“The line-up of cars being assembled is exciting and will give fans at the Repco Bathurst 1000 added reason to visit the Museum this October.”

Now owned and raced in the national Stock Car Series by Goulburn’s Zac O’Hara, the car was returned to its Albert Park 2000 Repco livery by former NASCAR team owner and signage expert Scott Williams, who originally applied it 22 years ago!

Originally driven by Max Dumesny as a Valvoline car, the V8-powered Monte Carlo was purchased by Bob Jane for nephew Kim to race, still prepared by John Sidney, beginning with the 1996/1997 Australian super speedway season.

It initially raced in yellow Bob Jane T-Marts colours with Repco becoming a secondary sponsor in the seasons that followed. Repco then took over naming rights sponsorship of Jane and the car for the final 1999/2000 season.

The Chevrolet did most of its winning at the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne but also won on the short flat track oval at Adelaide International Raceway in addition to its 2000 Albert Park success.

It finished runner-up in the 1998 NASCAR 100 at Bathurst with Jane following home winner Russell Ingall. The car also competed at the Twin Ring Motegi in 1999’s Winston West NASCAR round held in Japan.