Jim's Javelin revealed!

The 1972 Javelin has been described by Richards as one of the finest racing cars he has ever built. The Javelin has been brewing for some time, even while the multiple Bathurst champion was campaigning the popular 1964 Falcon Sprint in the TCM.

Being a keen admirer of the Javelins raced to victory by Penske Racing and Mark Donohue in the glory days of the Trans Am series in the USA, Richards was keen to get hold of this now-rare muscle car, so when the opportunity came to get hold of an example good enough to convert into a TCM track machine, he jumped at the chance. Ironically, after many months of searching overseas for a suitable Javelin, the right car was found in Melbourne!

"We wanted something different that would interest spectators, but would also be in the Shannons mould," said Richards. "The Javelin ticked all the boxes."
"It turned out that the uncle of one of my team members was an enthusiast with four or five of them and I picked this car up almost around the corner in North Melbourne!" he said.

The exhaustive process of turning the road car into a TCM front runner began in mid-2009. The 1972 Javelin was stripped of every nut and bolt, then rebuilt methodically to the TCM regulations, employing proven racecar technology. From start to finish, the project took 30 months.

Richards said the project had taken him and former Gibson Motorsport Crew Chief Bruce Tyson some time to complete because his small team had been focussed on getting the most out of the Shannons Falcon Sprint, which rewarded them when Richards became the 2010 TCM champion.

"We believe it has been worth taking our time," said Richards after the car's first shakedown at Melbourne's Calder Raceway. "The Javelin is a step up from the Falcon in every way and all the lessons we have learned from four decades of racing touring cars have gone into it."

To comply with TCM regulations, the Shannons Javelin runs a 360-ci AMC V8 producing "in excess of 600HP" and weighs a mandatory 1,580kg, plus an additional seeded driver penalty of 30kg. This will make it 180kg heavier, but more powerful than the 289-ci V8-engined Falcon Sprint (which will remain in the Richards stable for the time being) and on par with the Mustang and Camaro rivals Richards will encounter in the 2012 TCM.

"Being more aerodynamic, wider and with a slightly better brake package, it should also handle and stop a little better than the Sprint, but we can't guarantee that it will be faster out of the blocks. We'll have to wait until Clipsal for that!," said Richards.

Shannons National Sales Manager Paul Gates said interest in Richards' new Javelin by Australian enthusiasts had been "phenomenal".
"I have never known the arrival of a new racing car to be so eagerly anticipated," he said. "Its debut at Clipsal will be huge!"

Resplendent in the green & white Shannons livery that has been a feature of Richards's cars in recent years, the TCM Javelin will make its debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 1 - 4.

Thanks to Shannons for info and images used in this article.