Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Class D

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

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

Top 10 Qualifiers

PosNoTeamDriverCarQual
Pole 13 Wyong Motors Pty Ltd Australia Bruce McPhee Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:56.7
2 14 Lorack Motors (Granville) Pty Ltd Australia Des West Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:56.9
3 23 Holden Dealer Racing Team Australia Paul Hawkins Holden HK Monaro GTS327 2:59.3
4 8 Ford Motor Company of Australia Australia Ian Geoghegan Ford XT Falcon GT 2:59.8
5 25 Holden Dealer Racing Team Australia Brian Muir Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:00.1
6 24 Holden Dealer Racing Team New Zealand Jim Palmer Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:00.5
7 7 Ford Motor Company of Australia Australia Spencer Martin Ford XR Falcon GT Auto 3:00.5
8 9 Ford Motor Company of Australia Australia Fred Gibson Ford XT Falcon GT 3:00.9
9 15 AM Roberts Australia Tony Roberts Holden HK Monaro GTS327 3:02.1
10 3 Brian Foley Motors Australia Brian Foley Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 3:02.4

Results

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

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

Statistics

  • 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

  1. 1 2 3 How they finished last year..., Official Programme, 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500, Mount Panorama, Sunday, October 5, page 27
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 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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