Walkinshaw Performance
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Walkinshaw Performance is an automotive company involved in motor racing and the production of high performance sporting cars for regular road use. The company was founded by former racing driver, Scottish businessman,
Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...
and is essentially a successor organisation to his previous automotive concern,
Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring ca ...
which was driven into bankruptcy by the failure of the Arrows
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team, then a part of TWR. Walkinshaw Performance is now operated by Walkinshaw's son, Ryan.


Holden

In 2005 Walkinshaw was making his return to his involvement in Australian automotive industry initially through
Holden Special Vehicles Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) was the officially designated performance vehicle division for Holden. Established in 1987 and based in Clayton, Victoria, the privately owned company modified Holden models such as the standard wheelbase Commodore, ...
. In addition to HSV, Walkinshaw Performance also took over the construction and maintenance of racing cars for
Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...
(HRT) and the
HSV Dealer Team The HSV Dealer Team, previously known as the K-Mart Racing Team, was an Australian V8 Supercar team. The team ceased operations at the end of 2008, with Walkinshaw Racing and Kelly Racing being formed by owners and staff of the former team. The ...
. After purchasing
Elfin Sports Cars Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd (formerly known as Elfin Sports Cars) is an Australian car manufacturer company that was founded by Garrie Cooper. It has been an Australian manufacturer of sports cars and motor racing cars since 1959. Elfin Sports C ...
the low volume, high performance sports car maker was added to Walkinshaw Performance in 2006 and slowly revitalised its Holden based designs. 2007 saw partial ownership of Holden Racing Team return to Walkinshaw Performance. WP's involvement with HSV Dealer Team ceased when the Kelly family took their Racing Entitlements Contracts and set-up
Kelly Racing Kelly Grove Racing (formerly known as Kelly Racing and Nissan Motorsport) was an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team made its debut in 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2009, and raced Holden ...
at the end of 2008 after purchasing much of
Perkins Engineering Perkins Engineering was a team contesting the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, operating as an active racing team between 1986 and 2008. From 2009 onwards, the involvement of Perkins Engineering in the championship wounded back into ...
. At the same time WP acquired the rest of HRT from Skaife Sports and Dillon Racing to set up a new two car team titled
Walkinshaw Racing Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche ...
which began operation at the start of 2009. In addition to the vehicle construction businesses, Walkinshaw Performance also builds add-on performance parts for vehicles based on the Holden Commodore platform in the guises of Holdens, HSVs,
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
s and Vauxhalls, as well as performance parts for
Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...
s. In August 2016, Holden announced it would consolidate its sponsorship of the Supercars Championship at
Triple Eight Race Engineering Triple Eight Race Engineering, (branded as Red Bull Ampol Racing) is an Australian motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team has been the only Brisbane based V8 Supercar team since its formation, originally operating ...
. This saw HRT brand transfer to Triple Eight Race Engineering in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
with the two HRT cars entered under a revived Walkinshaw Racing brand.Walkinshaw continuing with two Holdens in 2017
''
Speedcafe Speedcafe.com is an Australian-based motorsport news website that launched on 23 October 2009. The site had over 50 million page views in 2020. Speedcafe.com is a source of news and race reports for the Supercars Championship, Formula One, and oth ...
'' 16 August 2016


4WD and Truck Market

With the closing of Holden in Australia, and the Walkinshaw Group subsequently becoming heavily involved with the conversion of LHD to RHD of large American trucks such as Silverado, as well as various re-engineering projects for other vehicle manufacturing companies, Walkinshaw Performance also turned their skills to the 4x4 market. Working on models such as Silverado, RAM DS and VW Amarok, they have produced superchargers, headers, cat & lifts, as well as towing accessories. Walkinshaw Performance have also tested their skills in 2022 by entering 2 vehicles in the AORC events.


W-Series models

The model number refers to power in kW *W375 *W407 *W457 *W497 *W507 *W547 *W557


References

{{reflist Australian racecar constructors Auto parts suppliers of Australia