We are looking for anybody who has verifiable information on who made the Oldsmobile that later became the #23, #46, #9, #48 and #6 Oldsmobile in Australia, the car known as ‘Intrepid’.

This car was purchased by Ian Thomas for him to drive in Australia with his Tropic Coast Racing team in the 1992/93 season.

There are two sets of opinion about this car, one is that Doug Taylor at Specialty Motorsports built the car and the other is that Doug Taylor did not build it, but he did recondition the car for Ian Thomas, so we need something that proves one or the other version of events.

In 1992, Ian Thomas went to the United States to race in ARCA races, he raced the ex-Team III Pontiac that he had purchased at Pocono on June 13 and then he raced the Oldsmobile at Michigan on June 20, Ian attempted to qualify a Lumina in Texas later on in 1992.

Ian had help from Phil Barkdoll’s team and from Doug Taylor, Doug would race in Australia for Ian and was a contender on the Gold Coast including leading a race there in 1992.

This car is not one of the two original ex-Morgan-McClure Oldsmobiles (Destiny and another name) that were used by Ian Thomas, we know that one was relegated to be the team’s road course car and the other was sold to Paul Stocker for Robin Best to drive in 1994.

Ian would also acquire an ex-Phil Barkdoll Oldsmobile, and it went to Denzil Mead after the car we are seeking information on went to John Faulkner.

We have asked all the major Tropic Coast Racing employees and John Faulkner and had no success in finding a definitive answer, as there was a high volume of cars through TCR, some car histories have been muddled up with others and time has also made histories uncertain.

The car we are looking for information on arrived in Australia in time for the 1992/93 championship, it won the first part of the season opener at Calder Park Thunderdome.

The 1992/93 season was shortened due to rain that washed out races at Calder Park Thunderdome and Adelaide International Raceway.

The car was sold to John Faulkner sometime before July 30, 1993, when it was announced that he had brought a second Oldsmobile, he had it for a couple of years until it was sold to Eddie Abelnica who had raced it until selling it to Paul Stocker who after one V8 Stock Cars round had Doug Moss drive it in 2001 for the bulk of that inaugural V8 Stock Cars season.

The car had the nickname Intrepid; this was seen in several photos of the car when it was the #46.

The hatch on the left side 3/4 window has been puzzling, there has been no exact match seen after looking at hundreds of photos, the closest match was the Rahmoc Oldsmobile though the six pins are different on those cars.

1542 was stamped on both the left and the right spring buckets, there was no BP, LRP or any other initials that would give a clear indication if who made the chassis though 1542 is likely Laughlin.

There are also these three numbers, welding obscures the third number but the first two numbers are 48, it is likely the third number is a five or an eight.

Though it is possible the above was from after the Ian Thomas era, M#2 was etched into the left-hand rear drive plate on the differential, figuring out its meaning has eluded us.

One interesting note is that part of Mark Martin’s #6 Ford Thunderbird chassis number JR17 is on the car, this may have just been a spare part from Roush that was on sold to whoever put the Oldsmobile together.

Hopefully somebody out there either in Australia or United States recalls something about this car.

We’re looking for anybody who worked at Specialty Motorsports in 1992 who may know exactly what this car was whether it was built at Specialty or was purchased and brought to Specialty for reconditioning.

There is also the chance somebody has a book or magazine from 1992 laying around that has the answer, likely an edition of Auto Action as Motorsport News did not exist at the time.