If any country comes close to matching the enthusiasm Americans have for muscle cars, it has to be Australia. Some might even say that their muscle cars are better than ours, though that sounds to use like a case of the-grass-is-always-greener. Still, there has been a lot of pining for Aussie muscle here in the states, and if one racing series gets its way, we might be getting our first taste very soon.
According to SpeedTV, the FIA has approved the expansion of the Australian V8 Supercar series to 18 races, including 6 international venues that could include the United States.
It is a natural transition of course, as right now the Australian arms of General Motors and Ford (Holden and Ford Australia, respectively) make up almost the entirety of the starting grid for the V8 Supercar series. Recent television exposure in the U.S. has also garnered interest among fans who would like to see this event first hand on our own shores. And while the Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores that make up the racing grid are highly modified, they bear much more of a resemblance to their production counterparts than say, NASCAR vehicles do.
Each car is actually built on a production chassis rather than the space frame of NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow. Bringing the V8 Supercar series over to America, even for just a single race (which currently seems like the plan) could really shake things up over here. At the very least, it will give us some new cars to cheer for…and perhaps force Ford and GM to reconsider bringing some Aussie models stateside. That’d be like two gifts in one for motorsports fans across our great country.