Matich A53 1976 AGP Winner

September 12th 1976, at Sandown International Raceway, the forty first Australian Grand Prix took place, also doubling as round one of the 1976 Australian Drivers’ Championship. John Goss would win the Australian Grand Prix (AGP) and in doing so, become the only driver to ever win both the Bathurst 1000 and the Australian Grand Prix. It would be a crowning moment in his racing career.
After a poor run in the early rounds of the 1975 Gold Star series he opted to miss the last two races at Calder and Phillip Island to be ready for the ‘76 season. Goss wanted to concentrate his racing efforts more on the F5000 than his Group C Falcons, and ever loyal to Ford, tried to run the A53 with a 5.0L Ford V8 but the concept had little success and competitiveness demanded it be replaced by the latest ‘flat plane crank’ Repco Holden engine.
In the 1976 AGP with the Repco Holden, Goss did well in qualifying, putting him third on the grid with a time of 01.04.1, only 3.4 seconds off pole position. In the race he got a clean start and pushed his way past Max Stewart’s Lola T400 and Vern Schuppan’s much newer designed Elfin MR8 to take the lead. The nail-biting duel between Goss and Schuppan over the second half of the race brought out the best in both drivers, making it very exciting for spectators. Goss managed to hold on and win the race to take the Australian Grand Prix title. The 47 laps were punishing on machinery, out of the seventeen entrants only five managed to cross the finish line.
Frank Matich, a brilliant race car driver and self taught designer of racing machinery produced these highly successful cars, bearing the Matich emblem. The seven cars were built on titanium/aluminium electroplated monocoque tubs made by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation and engineered to be fitted with suspension components that allowed track dimensions to be varied. Weight distribution could be altered by moving the tub forward and aft within the wheel base and the wheel base was variable too. The V8 engine bolted onto the rear bulk head of the tub, and by fitting engine/transmission plates of different thicknesses would change the wheel base. Frank Matich chose the Repco latest flat plane crank engine, a modified 370-odd kW Holden 5-litre V8. This was mated to a Hewland DG300 transaxel gear box to those 508mm wide rear wheels. Brutal acceleration and top speed approaching 300km/hr. The A53 radiators were fitted to improve the cooling. The front and rear geometry was changed, having longer wishbones to smooth out roll and bump conditions. The car weighed in at 625kg with oil, water and one gallon of fuel.

Item includes certificate and production number plate, mounted to the chassis.