It may not have been the first defection in Australia motorsport, but Allan Moffat choosing to contest the Australian Sports Sedan Championship in a DeKon Chevrolet Monza was big news.
Ford Australia had stopped its motor racing program leaving Moffat to garner some back door support and obtain big name sponsors including Brut.
By this time the Australian Sports Sedan Championship and other large races for the class were attracting big money enabling Moffat to back his sponsorship dollars.
Developed and constructed by DeKon in the US, the Chevrolet Monza was built for IMSA Camel GT Challenge against the might of Porsche.
The Monza used a similar powerplant to what his future local rivals used – the Chevrolet 350c stock-block V8. This proved an attractive option for Moffat due to spare parts and knowledge.
Chevrolet’s unofficial motorsport manager Vince Piggins is credited with entering the Monza into competition and given General Motors was out of motor racing DeKon Engineering proved the perfect operation to turn the coupe into a championship winner.
DeKon was founded by Australian Horst Kwech and revered engineer Lee Dykstra in 1974 based at Libertyville, Illinois. Within three years, DeKon built 17 race cars of which 14 were Monzas and one went to Moffat in Australia.
Kwech was born in Austria, but immigrated to Australia in his early life where he picked up the racing bug. Identifying as Australian after moving to the US in 1961, Kwech always had the flag or a kangaroo on his car to display his patriotism for his second home. Leading Alfa Romeo’s success in Trans Am contesting the Under 2.0-litre Manufacturers’ Championship led to a move to Ford and Carroll Shelby for Kwech achieving wins in both the Over and Under 2.0-Litre classes to be the only driver to do this.
Kwech and Dykstra had worked with Moffat before during Ford’s Mustang program in Trans Am in addition to the famed Project B52 Ford Falcon in 1974. Moffat and Kwech had also teamed up together at the 24 Hours of Daytona, then the 12 Hours of Sebring though retired from both.
The Monza was designed by DeKon for racing purposes only featuring a tubular chassis, fully adjustable double wishbone front suspension supported by a fabricated subframe, a NASCAR-type solid axle, Ford nine-inch Detroit Locker diff, box flares to enclose large BBS wheels and an insane engine sending power through a Muncie four-speed gearbox.
Moffat was confident of the DeKon Monza’s potential during its early running in 1975, sampling it alongside Kwech in a 500-mile race at Mid-Ohio and returning for the season finale at Daytona as teammate to Al Unser, but both ended in engine problems.
Purchasing the Monza for $10,000 proved Moffat’s ability wheel and deal as it was air freighted to New Zealand for its debut down under.
Competition was hot in Sports Sedans thanks to the new Moffat DeKon Monza, Frank Gardner in his John Player Special Chevrolet Corvair and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan’s Craven Mild Holden HQ Monaro GT3 350 for Craven Mild.
Moffat raced two events prior to the inaugural Australian Sports Sedan Championship, with the second at Calder being controversial after circuit owner Bob Jane declared the Monza illegal. A $5000 prize left Moffat to fight the exclusion and he did win some months later.
It proved a perfect start for Moffat in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship by winning the opening two rounds at Surfers Paradise International Raceway and Sandown.
However, the Monza was parked when Ford officialdom promised support from its dealers in 1977 and thus Moffat returned to his Capri RS3100 Cologne as he finished the champion despite missing the final two rounds.
Moffat didn’t get rid of the Monza, he stored it and when Ford stopped its support in 1979 it was pressed into action, though the game had changed considerably.
After getting the Mazda deal, the Monza was put in the corner and success was left to Bob Jane’s example to carry into the 1980s.
In a funny quirk, McLaren Formula 1 boss Zak Brown now owns it.