Full Tilt: A champion's story of Ford, Holden and the defining era of motor-racing
By (Author) Colin Bond
With John Smailes
Allen & Unwin
Allen & Unwin
30th September 2025
Australia
General
Non Fiction
Car racing
Paperback
376
Width 153mm, Height 234mm
Bathurst winner, Australian Touring Car Champion, and the only man to have won on both sides of the racing's most iconic rivalry - Ford versus Holden - this is the high-octane story of motor-racing legend Colin Bond.
From his rallying crowns to his extraordinary Bathurst victory and his Touring Car Championship triumph, to the hugely controversial 1-2 Bathurst win with Allan Moffat in '77, Bond's career spanned the most thrilling decades of Australian motorsport. At the heart of it all was the fierce tribal battle between Ford and Holden - a rivalry Bond knew better than anyone.
Against the backdrop of the golden age of motorsport, Full Tilt is packed with accounts of racing with and against other superstars like Peter Brock, capturing the drama, danger and intense competition of the sixties to the nineties, the incredibly engineered Monaros, Toranas, Falcons and Commodores, the dirty tricks, dodgy deals and maverick team managers.
A celebration of speed, skill and the defining era of motor-racing, Full Tilt is essential reading for any lover of the sport. Written with bestselling motorsport journalist John Smailes, this is the incredible story of a life raced at full tilt.
Colin Bond OAM is an Australian former racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found success, winning the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 mile race, now the Bathurst 1000. He was Peter Brock's team-mate in Holden's 1974 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning team. Bond won the 1975 Australian Touring Car Championship himself, for Holden, before defecting to Ford to support Allan Moffat's championship dominance. Bond was Australia's most versatile driver, winning the Australian Rally Championship in 1971, 1972 and 1974. He was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2002.
John Smailes is a journalist, motorsport commentator and publicist. His speciality is the automotive industry and motorsport. He has covered and broadcast rounds of the World F1 championship (Australia, Singapore, India, Monaco), the World Rally Championship (Australia, New Zealand, Greece), MotoGP, the Le Mans 24 hour race and Goodwood Festival of Speed. John was part of the commentary team for the first live broadcast of F1 in Australia - along with Sir Jack Brabham. His bestselling books include Climbing the Mountain (with Allan Moffat), Mount Panorama, Race Across the World and Formula One. He is chair of the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame.