E49 Charger Leo Leonard's The Fastest Production Car In New Zealand

The 1972/73 Castrol GTX Series for production cars New Zealand was dominated by Charger E49s, led by the Hot Mustard E49 driven by Leo Leonard and sponsored by Todd Motors, the NZ Chrysler distributor. There were five other Charger E49s, Falcon GTHOs and Torana XU1s competing in the series. Todd Motors assembled Chrysler Valiants in their Wellington region assembly plants between 1963 and 1979. They were very successful marketing the Valiants in NZ where the Valiant actually outsold the Ford Falcon up to the early 1970s. Todd Motors also assembled a total of 2208 VH and VJ Charger 770s between 1971 and 1976.
The decision to be involved in motorsport and sponsor Chrysler racing teams was justified, as the Charger was an instant sales success. Leo’s first Todd Dealer Charger was an E38 which was very successful in the previous NZ series, winning two races, and breaking the production lap record on two circuits.  Leo and his team spent countless hours developing the E38 for NZ circuits but the three-speed gearbox was always a handicap. Leo’s new 302bhp four – speed E49 for the 1972/73 season was set up the same as his previous E38 and right from the first race, it was much quicker than the other competitors. During the season, he broke the production lap record on every NZ circuit.  During one event in Pukekohe, he lowered his own lap record three times. Ford even sent out Allan Moffat in the factory Falcon GTHO to catch the flying Kiwi Charger. To Ford’s horror, the Charger proved to be faster on the two occasions they met, at Wigram and Teretonga.  Moffat famously said at the time; “You New Zealanders have the fastest Chargers in the world, I just could not have gone any faster”.  
As Leo and his Charger toured the country, it would display the name of the local Todd Dealer closest to the circuit, on the windscreen and on both the front guards, the promotion paid off very handsomely for the dealerships. This model displays the dealer ‘George Mason Motors’ which was a Todd Dealer in Tauranga, close to the Bay Park circuit. Leo’s E49 won its first race at Bay Park and Leo broke his own production lap record from the previous season in the E38.
Leo Leonard from Timaru, South Island, was the most successful NZ Chrysler driver of his time. As well as dominating the 1972/73 Castrol GTX series in the E49, Leo won NZ’s Bathurst, the B&H 500 and 1000 seven times, twice in Valiant Regal V8s, and twice in Charger 770s. New Zealand assembled Charger 770s won NZ’s great race for an amazing seven years in a row between 1972 and 1978. The Chrysler Valiant Charger remains the most successful production car ever on NZ racing circuits. The famous Leo Leonard/Todd Dealer E49 survives today and lives in the South Island.

Item includes certificate with individual production number.