Bathurst 1983 has long been remembered for one of Australian motor racing’s most dramatic incidents.
If you’re into touring cars – and let’s face it, if you’ve found your way here, you probably are – there’s one car that might just rise above all the rest. It has an absurd nickname, a catastrophic backstory, and the kind of resurrection tale that would make Lazarus feel like an underachiever.
I’m of course talking about ‘Greens-Tuf’, Dick Johnson’s 1983 XE Falcon. This snarling, V8-powered lime green brute not only represents the very best of Aussie motorsport, but also one of its greatest comeback stories. Well, almost…
The Bathurst disaster
Let’s rewind to 1983: The mountain, Bathurst, qualifying. Dick Johnson, a national hero on four wheels, is coming onto Conrod Straight in his XE Falcon when disaster strikes. The rear end slides, clips the wall and the front right wheel then grabs the barrier tyres a monumental crash ensures and with it, the hopes of a weekend win obliterated.
You’d think that was it. The car is destroyed, weekend over, right? That’s where you’d be wrong. What happened next is instead the stuff of legend.
Reborn overnight: TAFE kids come to the rescue
Johnson’s team needed a miracle, and they didn’t just get one, they built one, quite literally overnight.
This wasn’t just with the usual pit crew, either. Instead, this rebuild involved an army of colunteers, including a group of enthusiastic local TAFE students who were drafted in to help thrash together a new Greens-Tuf car from whatever was lying around.
Crucially, this included a donor shell from privateer Andrew Harris. This car had been running around in an inconspicuously blue livery before it was hastily doused in that now-iconic lime green paint job. The result was so rushed, it became affectionately known as the ‘Wet Paint Car’ because that’s how it rolled onto the grid the very next day: still tacky to the touch.
Ross Palmer, Dick’s sponsor at the time, even found Harris another car so the poor bloke wasn’t left watching from the grandstand. You simply don’t get that kind of camaraderie in motorsport anymore
Unfortunately, all’s well didn’t end well. On lap 61 of the 161 lap event, a fuse failure forced the retirement of the Falcon, finally bringing an end to Dick’s 1983 campaign.
The legend in the garage
Fast forward a few decades, and the rebuilt XE had disappeared from the track and quietly faded into storage, its wild days seemingly behind it. At least, that was until a Ford-obsessed family with more X and Y Falcons than most blokes have socks got their hands on it.
Enter Jacob, and more importantly his father who he affectionately described as “a bit of a mad Ford man”. The XE came to them via well-known car sleuth Neil Thompson, and since 2005, it’s been lovingly tucked away. However, Jacob wasn’t content to just let it sit and collect dust.
“I said to my dad recently, I think it’s time we get it up and going,” Jacob told Retro Rides. He wasn’t mucking about when he said that, either. The mission: restore it, log its Certificate of Description, and most importantly race it.
Chad Parrish and the ‘Group C’ resurrection
Enter Chad Parrish – ‘Group C’ guru and mechanical magician. Parrish performed a full mechanical restoration of the car, keeping as much of its raw, 1983 DNA intact as humanly possible.
And that shows, because this isn’t a tribute or replica – this is the real thing.
It’s still fitted with its original body, four-speed transmission, roll cage, seats, diff and interior. Under that bright green topcoat, you’ll still find the donor car’s blue paint – the very shade Andrew Harris ran before his car was conscripted into legend.
Under the bonnet? A monstrous 351 Cleveland pushing out around 425 horsepower. No turbo, no computers, no nannying electronics – just raw, naturally aspirated anger.
As for those wheels, its 21-inch rims are wrapped in serious rubber. “Too much grip,” says Jacob with a grin that tells you he means the opposite.
Back on the track
After two decades of being pushed around the shed, Greens-Tuf is now thundering back onto Aussie tracks. First stop is scheduled for Winton in August, where Jacob will slide into the bucket seat and give the old beast a proper shakedown.
“It’s different than driving a supercar,” he says. “Very challenging.”
While the goal is to have fun, there’s a clear sense of duty to do the car justice – maybe even to show up a few Holdens along the way.
“The car’s mostly day one. There might be a couple little odds and ends, but it’s all there from when it raced,” Jacob explains.
“The roll cage, the gearbox, the diff, it’s all original. It’s got the scars and the soul.”
A living piece of motorsport history
So, what does Dick Johnson himself think of his old car’s second life? “I would assume he’s pretty pleased,” Jacob laughs. Given DJR’s legacy and the love fans still have for this car, that’s a safe bet.
The family’s DJR connection doesn’t stop there either. They’ve also got an AU, an EL, and even the Sandown 500-winning Falcon in the garage. These blokes don’t just talk the talk, they live it.
The best bit of this particular project, though, is that Greens-Tuf isn’t destined for museum duty. It’s back where it belongs – on the track, growling through corners, spitting V8 thunder, and giving Holden fans flashbacks.
The Greens-Tuf Falcon isn’t just a car – it’s a time capsule, a war story, and a tribute to Aussie motorsport’s greatest era. And it all comes wrapped in one wet-painted, 5.8-litre V8 howling machine.
Thanks to Jacob, his father, and the wizardry of Chad Parrish, it’s roaring back to life exactly the way it should: sideways, loud, and still a little green around the edges.
Bravo, boys – now give it the berries.
