Incredible to think that this October it will have been 13 years since the passing of Peter Brock.
It's inevitable in the wake of a death like Brock's that people rewind the clock to his most successful years at Bathurst behind the wheel. Whether it was his solo 'David and Goliath' victory in 1972, or his six-lap demolition in 1979 with Jim Richards, or his defeat of the best from Europe in 1987.
What they don't necessarily do is think about his final few years at Australia's Great Race.
Brock's final Bathurst 1000 as a full-time driver was in 1997 — a race where he laid down one of his best ever stints to open the race and lead every lap, before the car expired in the hands of co-driver Mark Skaife.
From there Brock retired from Supercars, occupying himself with drives in Targa and with Holden in Nation's Cup (which eventually ended up being Australian GT). But he did return to the 1000 twice for two last cracks.
The last was in 2004 in the Holden Racing Team's second car. But, after buckets of pre-race hype around the legend's return, he didn't even get to drive thanks to a spectacular crash in the opening stint for co-driver Jason Plato.
That means that many consider his other post-retirement performance at the 2002 Bathurst 1000 as his last ever, before his untimely death in 2006.
In that regard, the black AUTOart Holden VX Commodore that he raced there in 2002 is a bit of a historic car. And now it's for sale at luxury car auction house Dutton Garage in Melbourne.
The race didn't necessarily go to plan for Brock or his Kiwi co-driver Craig Baird, but they did make it to the finish-line in 23rd position. Not a bad effort for one of the oldest drivers on the grid, in a car with much less funding and development than those at the front.
The spiritual 'final' former Brock Commodore, chassis RNR002 (Rod Nash Racing, for those keeping tabs) still sits in near-pristine condition. Dutton Garage claims that it's only been used four times since that race some 17 years ago.
Dutton Garage's listing for the Commodore doesn't include a price, instead stating that it's 'Price on Application'. While it might not have seemed quite such a significant car all those years ago, it's likely to sell for a healthy figure now.
