Team Johnson seeks to enter Tru-Blu Falcon in TCM

Team Johnson is attempting to get ‘Tru-Blu’ back onto the racetrack. Kind of.

A Ford Falcon XD bearing the same ‘Tru-Blu’ livery as the Falcon driven by Dick Johnson in the Bathurst 1000 in 1980 could be entered in Touring Car Masters if rules are changed to extent the allowed entries by two years.

Currently, vehicles made after 1978 are not permitted to enter the Touring Car Masters series, with Johnson’s XD having been built only two years later in 1980.

Johnson says that TCM is considering the change as Team Johnson plans to build an XD racecar and give it the classic Tru-Blu livery for DJ’s son Steven to race.

Steven Johnson currently races the Team Johnson Ford Mustang in TCM, and has recently been a strong contender. Current scoring has him 3rd, behind John Bowe in 2nd and Adam Bressington in front.

Allowing Johnson to swap into an XD much like that of his father’s would be mean a nostalgia trip for both the family, and for fans.

“To see Steven driving one would be pretty special. He was a real pest when we were building the original, always making a nuisance of himself!” Dick Johnson told Supercars.

“It’s right on the edge of what’s currently run in TCM and I think most people remember and can relate to the Tru-Blu era.”

The Tru-Blu Falcon might best be remembered for the incident in 1980 when Johnson hit ‘the rock’.

Though we wouldn’t see Dick Johnson behind the wheel, the extension of allowed years for Touring Car Masters would also mean the Commodore could enter as the VB was introduced in late 1978.

After all, a VC Commodore steered by Brock and Richards took the top spot in 1980…