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.

1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500
Previous: 1967 Next: 1969

For the first time factory supported teams of Ford and Holden V8s raced against each other, setting a pattern that continues to this day in Australian touring car racing, currently known as V8 Supercar. 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 upset the big teams with a tactical tyre 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 Monaro of Jim Palmer (to that point the best finish by a New Zealander) and Phil West. The AM Roberts entered 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/journalist 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, racing in a Mini 850, finished the race as an all girls team, coming 5th 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 less than $1,850. It was made up of Datsun 1000, Ford Cortina, Hillman GT, Morris Mini De Luxe and Toyota Corolla.

Class B

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

Class C

The $2,251 to $3,000 class saw a mix of standard versions of the outright contenders, Ford Falcon and Holden Kingswood and 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, but also contained a single Chrysler VE Valiant, Fiat 124 Sport and Studebaker Lark.

Class E

For cars over $4,500, contained Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV and a single Citroen DS21 Pallas.

Top 10 Qualifiers
PosNoTeamDriverCarQual
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 42 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
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
  • 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 – 6:44:07

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