This year’s V8 Supercars season has been nothing like the old Ford vs Holden days, which is exactly why the sport’s drivers are confident of its long-term survival. In this month’s Inside Sport, on the eve of Car Of The Future’s debut at Mt Panorama, we take you through the excitement, politics and technical development that bought about one of the most dramatic changes ever made to Australia’s most beloved motorsport platform.

As Richard Lindstrom writes, at the opening round of season 2013, the vehicles that rolled onto Adelaide’s griddle of a street circuit represented a quiet revolution in Australian sport. In their usual racing taxi guise, the cars of the future looked familiar enough but under the skin, they were all new and all business – unambiguous statements of problem-solving intent. For safety and balance, the engine was mounted lower than it had been and 100mm further back towards a now-standardised firewall. The new car also featured bigger wheels, bigger brakes and greater stopping power; a fuel tank sequestered forward of the rear axle and remote from tail end shunts; independent rear suspension instead of an ancient, single-beam axle that deprived the wheels of autonomy from one another; a standardised roll cage and floor pan where, once, high-priced works of art stood and dared engineers to bankroll yet another modicum of stiffening or weight loss.

Finally, the gearbox and differential – usually at opposite ends of the car – were married in a “transaxle” arrangement between the back wheels in order to complete the re-distribution of weight. The car was also made 100kg lighter ... For the full story, grab a copy of the current edition of Inside Sport, with Buddy Franklin on the cover.