The grid gets way at the start of the September 30, 1962 Bathurst 6-Hour Classic. The entry comprised a mix of production sports and touring cars divided into price based classes. The front row comprises the three MGA Twin-Cams of Matt Daddo/Bill Stanley, N Claydon/Fred Gibson and Clarke/Lazich, with the C Lansdowne/Dianne Walker Triumph TR4 on the inside.
The Bathurst promoters, the Australian Racing Drivers Club, perhaps ran the event off the back of the success of the Phillip Island 500-milers (Armstrong 500) first run in 1960, which would soon after become the ARDC’s after the debacle of the Phillip Island October 1962 event in which the track surface famously, in essence, fell to bits.
A total of £3,000 in prize money was split evenly among the classes or divisions: A-production touring cars up to £900, B-production touring cars £901-£1050, C-production touring cars £1051-£1250, D-production touring cars £1251-£1700, E-production sportscars up to £1500, F-production sportscars £1501-£2000.
While there was officially no outright winner, the interest of the punters was amongst the top-guns which included the V8s: Studebaker Larks, the brothers Geoghegan’s Daimler SP250 and potentially the best of the little-cars, the Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Morris Cooper.
What strikes me now is that the entry list was a who’s-who of (mainly) New South Wales stars of the day and of the immediate future with a swag of Gold Star, Australian Touring Car and Sportscar Championship, and Bathurst winners in the mix.
Morris 850s dominated Division A – 14 cars, of which all but one finished – where the winners were Frank Kleinigs senior and junior. Kleinig Snr was an Australian great pre-and post-war and always polls well in lists of Greatest Australian Drivers Never to Win an AGP. Junior was no slouch either as a racer and constructor of Formula Vees. There was no shortage of notables in this class including Des West, Bill Pitt, Arnold Glass, John French and Paul Bolton, while Tom Sulman would have run Kleinig Snr close in a contest for who started racing first.
Seven cars contested Division B, the victors were John Martin and C Hodges in a Skoda Felicia of all things. This group included cars raced by Ron Hodgson, Digby Cooke, Alan Heasman, Peter Wherrett, Doug Stewart and Alan Stanfield.
Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland went on to win the Bathurst 500 outright aboard an HK Holden Monaro GTS327 in 1968, they prevailed in Division C where Bob Jane and Harry Firth were much fancied in a works-Ford Falcon XK.
Ford planned to race their new Falcon XL in the Armstrong 500 at the Island on 21 October, in addition they decided, wisely, to contest the Bathurst Six Hour Classic to be held only three weeks before. The catch was that Ford didn’t want to race the XL at Mount Panorama so Firth set about preparing an XK Falcon for the race.
Firth takes up the story in his typically self-serving way, “Having not been to Bathurst for some years, I had to rely on hearsay information like, “no, it is not hard on brakes and the circuit has not changed. I did all the usual things such as a valve grind, compression check, set the camshaft properly, gave the pistons plenty of clearance, deck-heighted the head and put the engine on the dyno.”
“I fitted a set of heavy Armstrong shockers and some well-worn springs. I made up some Ferodo brake shoes but ended up leaving them at home, thinking they wouldn’t be needed. I drove the car to Bathurst myself. Practice proved two things: the car was the fastest sedan and the brakes were not good enough.”
The two wily Melbourne racers – who went on to win three of these Phillip Island and Bathurst 500s together – led their class early, but the brakes were progressively showing signs of stress as the pedal crept inexorably closer to the floor.
Harry took over from Bob after a scheduled stop and then on lap 39 “As he braked for Hell Corner, the fronts suddenly over-energised and locked on, the nose dug in and the car rolled.” The roof was crushed with Harry extremely lucky he wasn’t badly hurt, the car had no roll bar or cage of course. He exited via the rear window as fuel spilt over the tarmac, but did not ignite.
Division D’s 10 car entry included three Studebaker Larks, with the Don Algie/Kingsley Hubbard entry the winner on 99 laps, then the well credentialed David McKay/Greg Cusack duo in a Fiat 1500 from Peter Williamson and K Whiteley third in another Fiat 1500. Other notables in that class were Bill Buckle, Brian Foley and George Murray.
Only four cars contested Division E, with the Tony Reynolds/Les Howard Morgan Plus 4 ahead of the Bill Reynolds/Kevin Bartlett Austin Healey Sprite Mk1.
The Geoghegans won Division F for the more expensive sportscars from the G Lansdowne/Holt Bonnie Triumph TR4. The Top-Three outright were the Geoghegan Daimler on 104 laps, then the Lansdowne/Binnie TR4 on 100 and the Algie/Hibbard Studebaker with 99 completed laps.
Credits…
Bill Richards, Bruce Wells, Shannons Falcon XK article by Mark Oastler, SS Auto Memorabilia
Tailpiece…
Leo Geohegan at the wheel of the winning Daimler SP250. With a 2.5-litre V8 and light fibreglass body it proved a quick car but the duo had some challenges, most notably the drivers door opening on a regular basis as the body flexed, and the loss of first gear on the start-line.
Finito…
primotipo... 