Stone Brother Racing dominated the V8 Supercars Championship during the mid-2000s and returned Ford to the title after a significant drought compared to arch rival Holden.
Formed out of Alan Jones Racing in the mid-1990s, Stone Brothers Racing led by New Zealand brothers Jim and Ross Stone began almost immediately to turn the fortunes of the Ford around.
Jim is the eldest and worked at McLaren, but returned amidst agony when Bruce McLaren was killed in a testing incident at Goodwood. Meanwhile, Ross had also caught the racing bug and as he brother had gone overseas, but completed his apprenticeship in New Zealand before hitting the track as a driver.
The two combined to build a Formula Ford termed Cuda1, before Jim returned to Europe to support McLaren’s Can-Am program.
There was more to come as Cuda 2 followed and Cuda JR3 signalled the move to Formula Pacific, which Ross drove to back-to-back Gold Star Championships in 1977 and 1978.
Following this, Ross chased his dreams in the US and Jim returned to New Zealand for good to a farm, however Group A touring cars led the two brothers to link up again.
Working alongside Andrew Miedecke, Kevin Waldock and Dick Johnson Racing during the late-1980s into the 1990s, the duo went into partnership with Alan Jones to create Pack Leader Racing.
Jones moved out of the partnership in 1997 as Jim and Ross created the team into a powerhouse featuring rising star Jason Bright. In fact, the team won Bathurst courtesy of Bright and Steven Richards in 1998 featuring Pirtek backing, which lasted until 2005.
Ford was entering a tough time on the race track, but Stone Brothers Racing proved a leading contender in a dry period of the Blue Oval.
Bright, Mark Larkham, Craig Baird and Tony Longhurst all came under the SBR umbrella between 1998 and 2000, but it was when a young driver returning from overseas arrived on the scene.
Marcos Ambrose arrived back in Australia and emerged very quickly as one of the leading contenders for the championship.
Debuting in 2001 partnering David Bernard, Ambrose scored three round wins, multiple race victories and podiums in his first two years before Russell Ingall joined for 2003.
Thus, SBR became a powerhouse winning the next three championships through Ambrose in 2003 and 2004, while Ingall took out the 2005 title.
After so much disappointment, SBR rose Ford into a dominant force during those seasons.
Although these results were never to be repeated before the Jim and Ross sold out to Betty Klimenko in 2012.
The SBR-era remains much loved and is remembered at the SIXT Taupo Historic GP this weekend by the reveal of the restored championship winning Ford BF Falcon from 2005, with Russell Ingall in attendance alongside Jim and Ross.