1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500

The 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was a production car race held on 6 October 1968 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the ninth running of the Bathurst 500.

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

For the first time factory supported teams of Ford and Holden V8s raced against each other, setting a pattern that continued in Australian racing into the 21st century. It was not one of the factory cars that won however. The race was won by the Wyong Motors entered Holden Monaro driven by Bruce McPhee (apart from one lap mid-race driven by Barry Mulholland) who defeated the big teams with a tactical strategy of running a buffed hard wearing street tyre rather than a racing tyre. Initially Des West and Ron Marks were classified second but were later disqualified for illegal engine modifications. Second place was then awarded to the factory supported Holden Dealer Racing Team Holden Monaro of Jim Palmer (to that point the best finish by a New Zealander) and Phil West. The AM Roberts entered Holden Monaro driven by Tony Roberts and Bob Watson finished third.

Future two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Allan Grice made his Mount Panorama debut in 1968. Driving with author Bill Tuckey in a Class D Fiat 124 Sport for Scuderia Veloce, the pair finished the race in 18th outright and 9th in class, 11 laps down on the McPhee/Mulholland Monaro.

Midge Whiteman and Christine Cole, driving in a Morris Mini De Luxe, contested the race as an all female duo, placing fifth in their class.

Class structure

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Cars competed in five classes based on the purchase price (in Australian dollars) of the vehicle.

 
A replica of the winning Holden Monaro GTS327
 
The Seton / Gibson Ford XT Falcon GT at the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500

Class A

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Class A was for cars which cost up to $1,850. It was contested by Datsun 1000, Ford Cortina, Hillman GT, Morris Mini De Luxe and Toyota Corolla.

Class B

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The $1,851 to $2,250 class entries were dominated by the Datsun 1600, but also included Hillman Arrow, Hillman Gazelle and Morris 1100S.

Class C

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The $2,251 to $3,000 class was contested by Ford Falcon, Holden Kingswood, Fiat 125 and Morris Cooper S.

Class D

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The $3,001 to $4,500 class featured the outright contenders, Ford Falcon GT and Holden Monaro GTS 327, and also included single entries of Chrysler VE Valiant, Fiat 124 Sport and Studebaker Lark.

Class E

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For cars over $4,500, the class was contested by Alfa Romeo 1750 GTVs and a single Citroen DS21 Pallas.

Top 10 Qualifiers

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Pos No Team Driver Car Qual
Pole 13 Wyong Motors Pty Ltd   Bruce McPhee Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:56.7
2 14 Lorack Motors (Granville) Pty Ltd   Des West Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:56.9
3 23 Holden Dealer Racing Team   Paul Hawkins Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:59.3
4 8 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Ian Geoghegan Ford XT Falcon GT 2:59.8
5 25 Holden Dealer Racing Team   Brian Muir Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:00.1
6 24 Holden Dealer Racing Team   Jim Palmer Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:00.5
7 7 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Spencer Martin Ford XR Falcon GT Auto 3:00.5
8 9 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Fred Gibson Ford XT Falcon GT 3:00.9
9 15 AM Roberts   Tony Roberts Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:02.1
10 3 Brian Foley Motors   Brian Foley Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 3:02.4

Results

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Pos Class No Entrant[1] Drivers Car Laps Qual
Pos
1 D 13 Wyong Motors Pty Ltd   Bruce McPhee
  Barry Mulholland
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 130 1
2 D 24 Holden Dealer Racing Team   Jim Palmer
  Phil West
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 130 6
3 D 15 AM Roberts   Tony Roberts
  Bob Watson
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 129 9
4 E 1 Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd   Kevin Bartlett
  Doug Chivas
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 129 11
5 D 25 Holden Dealer Racing Team   Brian Muir
  George Reynolds
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 127 5
6 E 3 Brian Foley Motors   Brian Foley
  Laurie Stewart
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 126 10
7 D 10 Wright Ford Motors   Bruce McIntyre
  Ken Stacey
Ford XR Falcon GT 125 15
8 E 5 Canberra Speed Shop   Peter Brown
  Ray Gulson
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 125 18
9 D 17 Stanmore Auto Port   Chris Brauer
  Murray Harrod
Ford XT Falcon GT 125 17
10 C 30 C Smith   Don Holland
  Charlie Smith
Morris Cooper S 123 23
11 C 34 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Barry Arentz
  Mike Champion
Ford XT Falcon 500 V8 123 20
12 D 8 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Ian Geoghegan
  Leo Geoghegan
Ford XT Falcon GT 123 4
13 D 21 Needhams Motors Pty Ltd   Warren Weldon
  John Hall
Studebaker Lark 123 13
14 C 29 Marque Motors   Digby Cooke
  Mal Brewster
Morris Cooper S 121 22
15 B 50 Datsun Racing Team   John Roxburgh
  Doug Whiteford
Datsun 1600 120 32
16 C 38 Denis Geary Motors Pty Ltd   Damon Beck
  Gary Hodge
Morris Cooper S 120 21
17 C 63 R Marquet   Alan Cant
  Ray Marquet
Morris Cooper S 120 24
18 D 26 Scuderia Veloce   Allan Grice
  Bill Tuckey
Fiat 124 Sport 119 30
19 B 46 Peter Langwill Autos Pty Ltd   Bruce Stewart
  George Garth
Datsun 1600 118 38
20 C 36 W Gracie   Warren Gracie
  Don James
Morris Cooper S 118 36
21 B 49 Datsun Racing Team   Kunimitsu Takahashi
  Yoshikayo Sunago
Datsun 1600 118 28
22 B 65 Vern Curtin Motors   Alton Boddenberg
  Rusty French
Hillman Gazelle 117 35
23 C 61 Varsity Auto Centre   John Prisk
  Alan Cameron
Morris Cooper S 116 31
24 B 42 Dependable Motors Pty Ltd   Dennis Cooke
  Hans Tholstrup
Datsun 1600 116 44
25 C 33 Tony Basile Motors   Tony Basile
  Gary Leggatt
Fiat 125 116 42
26 B 41 Dependable Motors Pty Ltd   Bruce Darke
  Bill Ford
Datsun 1600 115 45
27 C 27 Scuderia Veloce   Mike Kable
  Ron Kearns
Fiat 125 114 40
28 C 35 Young & Green Pty Ltd   Sib Petralia
  Jim Sullivan
Holden HK Kingswood 186S 114 43
29 D 22 C Hodgins   Clyde Hodgins
  Stan Pomroy
Chrysler VE Valiant Auto 113 34
30 A 56 AMI Racing Team   Bruce Hindhaugh
  Bob Morris
Toyota Corolla 113 49
31 D 9 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Fred Gibson
  Barry Seton
Ford XT Falcon GT 113 8
32 A 55 AMI Racing Team   Barry Ferguson
  Brian Sampson
Toyota Corolla 113 47
33 B 45 WH Motors Pty Ltd   Don Smith
  Herb Taylor
Datsun 1600 112 33
34 B 64 MG Car Club NSW   Matt Daddo
  Peter Ulbrich
Datsun 1600 111 56
35 C 66 A Olsen   Arthur Olsen
  Ray Scanlen
Morris Cooper S 110 46
36 B 47 Austen & Butta Motors Pty Ltd   Joe Butta
  Bob Genders
Hillman Arrow 109 53
37 B 48 Tynan Motors   Trevor Mason
  Neil Mason
Morris 1100S 109 54
38 A 52 Central Auto Sales & Services   Lionel Ayers
  Max Volkers
Ford Cortina Mk.II 220 107 58
39 B 43 Kenthurst Motors   Carl Kennedy
  Jack Mullins
Datsun 1600 107 55
40 A 58 A Johns   David Frazer
  Allan Johns
Hillman GT 107 57
41 A 54 P & R Williams   Christine Gibson
  Midge Whiteman
Morris Mini De Luxe 98 60
42 D 7 Ford Motor Company of Australia   Spencer Martin
  Jim McKeown
Ford XT Falcon GT Auto 95 7
43 C 32 W & N Howes   Martin Chenery
  Ernie Johnson
Fiat 125 88 39
44 C 28 Marque Motors   Lindsay Adcock
  Bill Stanley
Morris Cooper S 81 26
45 A 57 AMI Racing Team   Brian Reed
  Dick Thurston
Toyota Corolla 74 50
46 A 60 North Shore Sporting Car Club   Bob Drane
  Jim Laing-Peach
Toyota Corolla 74 52
47 C 31 Frank Croft Motors Pty Ltd   Gary Cooke
  Bob Muir
Fiat 125 69 29
48 D 16 M Savva   Mike Savva
  Bob Wilkinson
Ford XT Falcon GT 62 16
DNF C 39 Vern Potts   Rick Radford
  David Seldon
Morris Cooper S 37
DNF C 40 Vern Potts   Ron Heylen
  John Smailes
Morris Cooper S 88 25
DNF D 11 Wright Ford Motors   Bob Beasley
  Ray Morris
Ford XT Falcon GT 87 14
DNF B 44 Eiffeltower Motors   "Jack Eiffeltower"
  David O'Keefe
Hillman Gazelle 54 27
DNF E 4 Citroen Cars (Citco) Pty Ltd   Bill Daly
  Glyn Scott
Citroen DS21 Pallas[1] 41
DNF D 19 I Haynes   Ian Haynes
  Max Stahl
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 19
DNF A 62 Imp Spares & Repairs   Mel Mollison
  Roger Withers
Hillman GT 59
DSQ D 14 Lorack Motors (Granville) Pty Ltd[2]   Des West
  Ron Marks
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 130 2
DSQ E 2 Alec Mildren (Qld)[3]   John French
  Frank Gardner
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 12
DSQ D 23 Holden Dealer Racing Team[2]   Paul Hawkins
  Bill Brown
Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3
DSQ A 51 Datsun Racing Team[4]   Bill Evans
  John Colwell
Datsun 1000 112 48
DSQ A 53 Datsun Racing Team[4]   Dick Sorenson
  Bevan Gibson
Datsun 1000 112 51
DNS D 12 Jubilee Motors Pty Ltd[2]   Roy Griffiths
  Wayne Rogerson
Ford XT Falcon GT
DNS A 59 Bryan Thompson Racing[5]   Adrian Ryan
  Bryan Thompson
Ford Cortina 220[4] Mk.I[6]
DNS[7] D[7] 20[7] Ken Waggott Speed Equipment[2]   N Petrilli[2]
  W Slattery[2]
Holden HK Monaro GTS327[2]

Note : Jack Nougher competed in car 44 under the name "Jack Eiffeltower" in this race.

Statistics

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  • Pole Position – No.13 Bruce McPhee – 2:56.7
  • Fastest Lap – No.13 Bruce McPhee – 2:58 (lap record)
  • Average Speed – 119 km/h
  • Race time of winning car – 6:44:07 [1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c How they finished last year..., Official Programme, 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500, Mount Panorama, Sunday, October 5, page 27
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Class D (entry list), Official Programme, 1968 Hardie Ferodo 500, Mount Panorama, Sunday, October 6, page 35
  3. ^ Adrian Ryan, Alfa's uncontested win, Racing Car News, November 1968, pages 30 to 32
  4. ^ a b c George Stefanoff, All conquering Corollas, Racing Car News, November 1968, pages 24 to 25
  5. ^ Class A (entry list), Official Programme, 1968 Hardie Ferodo 500, Mount Panorama, Sunday, October 6, page 13
  6. ^ Images of the No 59 Ford Cortina in the "1968 Bathurst" section of the autopics.com.au DVD "The Great Race – 1960 to 1996 – 30,000 images" shows the car to be a Mark 1 rather than a Mark II
  7. ^ a b c Australian Muscle Car, Issue 17, January /February 2005, page 38
  • Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960–1999. Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 154–161 & 456. ISBN 1-875221-12-3.
  • Bill Tuckey, Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1981, pages 130-137
  • Racing Car News, November 1968, pages 24–32
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