When people hear John Player Special, their mind usually jumps straight to the black-and-gold Formula 1 cars of the 1970s and ’80s. The Lotus 72 that carried Emerson Fittipaldi to a world title, or the Lotus 79 ground-effect marvel with Mario Andretti at the wheel – these are the machines that etched the JPS livery into motorsport legend.

In Australia, the livery found new life on a very different machine: the BMW 635 CSi, a car that carried the JPS name through the rough-and-tumble world of touring cars. Driven by Jim Richards in both Group C and Group A competition, the JPS BMW became one of the most recognizable touring cars of its era. Unlike the delicate, single-seater Lotuses, the 635 CSi was a wide-body bruiser, taking on the Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores in the country’s most demanding races.

TEXT & PHOTOS:
VLADIMIR LJADOV
IG: WHEELSBYWOVKA