It’s what we love to find out and admire; a treasure the other bloke has tucked away in his shed. Well there’s one on the West Coast of New Zealand that has revealed a unique racing car – a 1995 Toyota Camry BTCC which was driven by both Julian Bailey and Kiwi Rod Millen.
This exceptional example is now up for sale on Trade Me and the current owner Richard Atkinson is keen to see it stay in New Zealand.
Originally built in England for Toyota by Dave Cook Racing at the end of 1995 it was tested before it was shipped out to South Africa where it was first used by Julian Bailey in the 1996 South African Touring Car Championship. There he finished sixth overall in the series won by Terry Moss in an Audi Sport.
Atkinson says that there were originally four of these cars built and this one was the most sophisticated. It certainly could foot-it with the very quick BMW’s while other marques struggled.
In 1997 the car was shipped to the United States and raced by Kiwi Rod Millen in the North American Touring Car Championship.
The 1997 North American Touring Car Championship was the second and final season of the series. Organized by CART, and ran to Super Touring regulations, it had 18 rounds at 9 race meetings and all but one (in Savannah, Georgia) supporting the CART World Series.
Millen only competed in two rounds, both at Portland, Oregon.
After Millen had finished with it the car was shipped to Australia where it was used by Jamie Miller in the 2000 Australian Super Touring Championship where he reportedly finished eighth on the points table. His highest finish was fourth at Symmons Plains Raceway.
Its last outing was in 2005 at Oran Park before the car was eventually sold by Miller to Richard Atkinson, who shipped it to New Zealand.
With an already strong historic touring car register and not having yet raced in anger in NZ, Atkinson is keen for a local buyer. Hopefully it will move from the shed into the pits!
