40 YEARS
OF THE CONCEPT GS83

The 10th of July marks the 40th anniversary of the racing debut of the mighty Concept GS83. The vehicle is a testament to the design and engineering brilliance of both Greg McCombie and Steve Cramp. As with all the Concept Vees, the silhouette of the vehicle reflected the Formula One designs of the day, with the objective of gaining improvements in performance through moving the driver’s position forward to better distribute weight, the enclosing of the leading arms in the sidepods and narrowing and streamlining the body to improve the vehicle’s aerodynamics.

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And perform it did! In its debut Coca-Cola Bottlers Series race at Amaroo Park (with Steve Cramp at the wheel), the ARDC recorded a dead heat win with Bernie Haehnle, although video tapes from the day showed Steve to be at least a wheel length ahead. Then, over the following 8 years the vehicle continued to be a handy platform, helping to deliver a total of 5 titles to Tracy Taylor (1991 Div 2) and Mitch McDonald (1985 Shell AARC Championship, Div 2, John Fry Vee Series & the 1986 NSW Hillclimb Championship).

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At the present time, restoration of the vehicle is in the hands of the very capable Phil Lewis (1983 Div 2 winner). Of course we all wish that Greg McCombie could have been here to remember and celebrate the anniversary.

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Contribution & Photos: Mitch McDonald