1964 Armstrong 500

The 1964 Armstrong 500 was a production car race held on 4 October 1964 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The 500 mile race was open to Australian built production sedans of which 100 examples had been registered.[1] It was the fifth Armstrong 500 and the second to be held at Bathurst although it is commonly referred to as the fifth "Bathurst 500".

1964 Armstrong 500
Previous: 1963 Next: 1965

Official results reflected only class placings, with no outright winner recognized by the organizing body, the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club. The first car to complete the full 130 lap distance race was a factory backed Ford Cortina GT driven by Bob Jane and George Reynolds, the 1964 event being the fourth consecutive Armstrong 500 in which Jane had achieved an unofficial "line honours" victory.

Class structure

Cars competed in four classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian pounds. There was little change from the 1963 race. Class A entries proliferated, taking up space on the grid from a shrinking Class B. Ford Australia had a strong presence in Class C with three factory entered Cortina GTs and Australian Motor Industries entered two Triumph 2000s in Class D.

Class A

The up to £900 class was composed of Hillman Imp, Morris 850, NSU Prinz, Vauxhall Viva and Volkswagen Beetle.

Class B

The £901 to £1,000 class featured Ford Cortina 1500, Morris Cooper, Renault R8 and Simca Aronde.

Class C

The £1,001 to £1,200 class included only Ford Cortina GT and Holden EH entries.

Class D

The £1,201 to £2,000 class featured Chrysler Valiant, Citroën ID19, Ford Zephyr, Humber Vogue Sports, Holden EH Premier, Studebaker Lark, Triumph 2000 and Vauxhall Velox.

Race

While the V8 powered Studebaker Larks again led early, fragile brakes saw them overtaken by the leading Cortinas as the race wore on. The Cortina driven by the Geoghegan brothers fell from the mid-race lead after a generator bracket broke, allowing teammates Jane and Reynolds into the race lead they would not relinquish. Barry Seton and Herb Taylor finished second ahead of Jane's former partner Harry Firth co-driving the third factory Ford with John Reaburn. In the other three classes, the early leaders each retained their leads throughout the day. Bert Needham and Warren Weldon brought their Class D winning Studebaker home as fourth car across the line, two laps down on Jane/Reynolds and a lap behind Firth/Reaburn. Charlie Smith and Bruce Maher won Class B, leading home a 1-2-3-4 for Morris Cooper ahead of four Renault R8s. Smith/Maher finished just six laps behind the Cortina GTs. Class A was dominated by Vauxhall, with the Viva of Spencer Martin and Bill Brown leading home five other examples. Seven cars failed to finish the event, with another being disqualified.[2]

Results

As follows:[3][4]

Pos No Entrant Drivers Car Laps
Class A
1 46 Boyded Pty Ltd [2] Spencer Martin
Bill Brown		 Vauxhall HA Viva 116
2 55 Boyded Pty Ltd [2] Ron Clarke
Brian Muir		 Vauxhall HA Viva 115
3 58 Clinton Motors Pty Ltd [2] John Marchiori
Arnold Ahrenfeld		 Vauxhall HA Viva 114
4 56 Boyded Pty Ltd [2] Tony Simmons
Mike Champion		 Vauxhall HA Viva 114
5 54 Jack Gates
Mike Nedelko		 Vauxhall HA Viva 114
6 44 C. McLean
George Murray		 Vauxhall HA Viva 112
7 40 Brian Milton
David Walker		 Volkswagen 1200 112
8 47 Midge Bosworth
Peter Williamson		 Hillman Imp 112
9 41 Chris McSorley
Phil West		 Hillman Imp 110
10 59 Lionel Ayers
Dennis Geary		 Hillman Imp 110
11 43 Bernie Haehnle
Neil McKay		 Volkswagen 1200 110
12 38 Barry Ferguson
Bill Ford		 Volkswagen 1200 109
13 49 Brian Reed
Lorraine Hill		 Hillman Imp 108
14 51 Paul Bolton
John Schroder		 Hillman Imp 107
15 42 George Forrest
Frank Hann		 Volkswagen 1200 105
16 50 Matt Daddo
Keith Russell		 Morris 850 104
DNF 39 Bryan Thomson
Bruce Wilson		 NSU Prinz 94
DNF 52 Peter Cray
Phil Barnes		 Morris 850
DNF 53 Bill Stanley
Steve Harvey		 Morris 850
DNF 57 Eric Lane
Stan Pomroy		 Morris 850 15
DNF 45 Lex Bailey
Bill Orr		 Hillman Imp 0
DNS [2] 48 [2] Kennedy
Stewart [2]		 Ford Anglia [2] -
Class B
1 26 Ron Wood Pty Ltd [2] Bruce Maher
Charlie Smith		 Morris Cooper 124
2 36 P & R Williams Pty Ltd [2] Don Holland
Laurie Stewart		 Morris Cooper 123
3 23 College Auto Parts [2] Ray Kaleda
Barry Thiele		 Morris Cooper 121
4 33 W. Blomfield [2] Warren Blomfield
Jerry Trevor-Jones		 Morris Cooper 120
5 34 Bill March
John White		 Renault R8 120
6 35 John Connolly
Rex Emmett		 Renault R8 120
7 28 Bob Holden
Keith Pascall		 Renault R8 119
8 29 Brian Fleming
Bill Gates		 Renault R8 119
9 32 Peter Brown
Ray Gulson		 Morris Cooper 118
10 37 Les Park
John Roxburgh		 Renault R8 117
11 30 Ira L. and A.C. Berk Jim Bonthorne
John Dando		 Ford Cortina Mk.I 1500 116
12 27 Mike Martin
John Prisk		 Morris Cooper 114
13 25 Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service Alton Boddenberg
Digby Cooke		 Simca Aronde 112
14 31 David Burton
Brian McGrath		 Renault R8 103
DNS [2] 24 [2] Doug Chivas
unknown [2]		 Morris Cooper [2] -
Class C
1 15 Ford Motor Company of Australia [2] Bob Jane
George Reynolds		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 130
2 18 Fairfield Motors Pty Ltd [2] Barry Seton
Herb Taylor		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 130
3 19 Ford Motor Company of Australia [2] Harry Firth
John Reaburn		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 129
4 22 Ron Hodgson Motors Pty Ltd [2] Ron Hodgson
John French		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 127
5 21 Ford Motor Company of Australia [5] Ian Geoghegan
Leo Geoghegan		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 127
6 20 Frank Delandro Motors [5] Bruce McPhee
Barry Mulholland		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT 126
7 16 W.H. Lober and Co. [5] Phil Ismay
Bob Skelton		 Holden EH 179 101
DNF 14 Beautihome Constructions Anthony Cooper
Joe Hills		 Ford Cortina Mk.I GT
DSQ 13 J. Turner and Sons Ian Grant
W. Mitchell		 Holden EH 179 10
DNS [2] 17 [2] Budda
Smith [2]		 Holden EH S4 [2] -
Class D
1 11 Needham Motors Pty Ltd [2] Warren Weldon
Bert Needham		 Studebaker Lark 128
2 8 Canada Cycle & Motor Company [2] Fred Sutherland
Allan Mottram		 Studebaker Lark 126
3 9 Buckle Motors [2] Brian Foley
Bill Buckle		 Citroën ID19 124
4 2 Jubilee Motors Pty Ltd [2] Bill Burns
Brian Lawler		 Ford Zephyr Mk III 123
5 1 Arthur Davis
Paul Mander		 Triumph 2000 123
6 4 Bob Cook
Alwyn Rose		 Chrysler SV1 Valiant 123
7 7 Bill Barnett
Don Johnston		 Humber Vogue Sports 119
8 10 Australian Motor Industries [5] Lex Davison
Rocky Tresise		 Triumph 2000 117
9 3 Tony Allen
Tony Reynolds		 Triumph 2000 116
10 5 Australian Motor Industries [5] Bob Salter
Max Stewart		 Triumph 2000 105
11 6 Stack & Company Lyndon McLeod
Lionel Williams		 Holden EH Premier 95
DNF 12 Alec Mildren Motors [5] Ralph Sach
Max Brunninghausen		 Vauxhall Velox

The Team Prize was won by the three Ford Motor Co entered Ford Cortina GTs driven by Jane/Reynolds, Seton/Taylor and Firth/Raeburn.[6]

Statistics
  • Fastest Lap - #21 Geoghegan/Geoghegan - 3:21.3
  • Fastest "flying eighth mile" speed was achieved by the Studebaker Lark of Warren Weldon & Bert Needham at 114.65 mph [2]
  • Race Time - No time published by the ARDC

References
  1. Armstrong classes, Australian Motor Sports, September 1964, page 4
  2. A Freezing 500, Sports Car World, December 1964, pages 46, 47 & 52
  3. Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). "1964 Here come the works team". Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 The first 40 years. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing Group Pty Limited. pp. 122–129 & 452. ISBN 1-875221-12-3.
  4. "Bathurst 1964: Armstrong 500". Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  5. Bill Tuckey, 1964:Here come the works teams, Australia's Greatest Motor Race, The Complete Story, 1981, pages 98-105
  6. Bathurst 500, Australian Motor Manual, December 1964, pages 42-43
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