Owner of Bathurst-winning Mustang turns down $10 million offer

In an exclusive interview with News Corp, Grove Racing boss Stephen Grove revealed he wouldn’t flog the flying Ford for $10 million after copping a Powerball-sized offer for the Mount Panorama machine that crowned Matt Payne a Bathurst legend.

Instead, he’ll turn the Mustang into motorsport history by sealing it forever with an indestructible clear coat — complete with all the dirt, dings and battle damage from the brutal 1000km war in the wet.

“Someone rang me that night wanting to buy the car,” Grove said.

“I told them not a chance. It’s bloody special and priceless to me.”

When pushed on whether he’d part with it for a jaw-dropping $10 million, Grove didn’t blink.

“No way. It’s priceless.”

The victorious Mustang, piloted to glory by Matt Payne, will now join Australian motorsport royalty alongside cars like Mark Skaife’s “Golden Child” and Jamie Whincup’s “Kate” — both worth north of $1.5 million.

Grove will preserve every battle scar by encasing the car in clear coat, locking in each scratch, dent and speck of Mount Panorama dust for eternity.

“I wanted to park it straight away, but we couldn’t because we’re heading to the Gold Coast next week,” Grove said. “Matt’s still fighting for the championship so we need the car to give him the best crack.”

To protect those precious Bathurst scars before the final race, Grove has already stripped the Mustang and stashed its war-torn parts.

“We pulled the body apart and stored all the panels exactly as they were,” Grove said.

“We didn’t wash a thing because we want it exactly as it crossed the line. We’re checking out different clear coats now. We want to lock in all that character forever.”

After its last hurrah on the Gold Coast, the car will be retired to the team’s museum at their Braeside base, never to race again.

“It’ll sit alongside some other famous motors in our collection,” Grove said. “We’ve got Ken Block’s original Ford Focus and the original Sandman built by Triple Eight. It’ll stay in the family forever.”

The car’s value gets a massive boost from being the first Gen3 Supercar the team built, plus the special livery it wore for the big dance.

“The livery celebrated Penrite’s centenary,” Grove said. “The car only ran number 100 for that race... makes it one of a kind.”

For Grove, winning Bathurst is the absolute peak.

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“Winning Bathurst is everything to me,” Grove said. “Team championships matter, driver titles matter, but personally, winning Bathurst is just incredible.”

After the victory, Grove copped a congratulatory call from the team’s former owner, Todd Kelly.

“He sent me a ripper message saying we’d achieved what they’d tried so hard to do,” Grove said.