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.
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 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 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 of the vehicle.
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

Results

PosClassNoEntrantDriversCarLapsQual
Pos
1D13Wyong Motors Pty Ltd Bruce McPhee
Barry Mulholland
Holden HK Monaro GTS3271301
2D24Holden Dealer Racing Team Jim Palmer
Phil West
Holden HK Monaro GTS3271306
3D15AM Roberts Tony Roberts
Bob Watson
Holden HK Monaro GTS3271299
4E1Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd Kevin Bartlett
Doug Chivas
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV12911
5D25Holden Dealer Racing Team Brian Muir
George Reynolds
Holden HK Monaro GTS3271275
6E3Brian Foley Motors Brian Foley
Laurie Stewart
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV12610
7D10Wright Ford Motors Bruce McIntyre
Ken Stacey
Ford XR Falcon GT12515
8E5Canberra Speed Shop Peter Brown
Ray Gulson
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV12518
9D17Stanmore Auto Port Chris Brauer
Murray Harrod
Ford XT Falcon GT12517
10C30C Smith Don Holland
Charlie Smith
12323
11C34Ford Motor Company of Australia Barry Arentz
Mike Champion
Ford XT Falcon 500 V812320
12D8Ford Motor Company of Australia Ian Geoghegan
Leo Geoghegan
Ford XT Falcon GT1234
13D21Needhams Motors Pty Ltd Warren Weldon
John Hall
Studebaker Lark12313
14C29Marque Motors Digby Cooke
Mal Brewster
12122
15B50Datsun Racing Team John Roxburgh
Doug Whiteford
Datsun 160012032
16C38Denis Geary Motors Pty Ltd Damon Beck
Gary Hodge
12021
17C63R Marquet Alan Cant
Ray Marquet
12024
18D26Scuderia Veloce Allan Grice
Bill Tuckey
Fiat 124 Sport11930
19B46Peter Langwill Autos Pty Ltd Bruce Stewart
George Garth
Datsun 160011838
20C36W Gracie Warren Gracie
Don James
11836
21B49Datsun Racing Team Kunimitsu Takahashi
Yoshikayo Sunago
Datsun 160011828
22B65Vern Curtin Motors Alton Boddenberg
Rusty French
Hillman Gazelle11735
23C61Varsity Auto Centre John Prisk
Alan Cameron
11631
24B42Dependable Motors Pty Ltd Dennis Cooke
Hans Tholstrup
Datsun 160011644
25C33Tony Basile Motors Tony Basile
Gary Leggatt
Fiat 12511642
26B41Dependable Motors Pty Ltd Bruce Darke
Bill Ford
Datsun 160011545
27C27Scuderia Veloce Mike Kable
Ron Kearns
Fiat 12511440
28C35Young & Green Pty Ltd Sib Petralia
Jim Sullivan
Holden HK Kingswood 186S11443
29D22C Hodgins Clyde Hodgins
Stan Pomroy
Chrysler VE Valiant Auto11334
30A56AMI Racing Team Bruce Hindhaugh
Bob Morris
Toyota Corolla11349
31D9Ford Motor Company of Australia Fred Gibson
Barry Seton
Ford XT Falcon GT1138
32A55AMI Racing Team Barry Ferguson
Brian Sampson
Toyota Corolla11347
33B45WH Motors Pty Ltd Don Smith
Herb Taylor
Datsun 160011233
34B64MG Car Club NSW Matt Daddo
Peter Ulbrich
Datsun 160011156
35C66A Olsen Arthur Olsen
Ray Scanlen
11046
36B47Austen & Butta Motors Pty Ltd Joe Butta
Bob Genders
Hillman Arrow10953
37B48Tynan Motors Trevor Mason
Neil Mason
Morris 1100S10954
38A52Central Auto Sales & Services Lionel Ayers
Max Volkers
Ford Cortina Mk.II 22010758
39B43Kenthurst Motors Carl Kennedy
Jack Mullins
Datsun 160010755
40A58A Johns David Frazer
Allan Johns
Hillman GT10757
41A54P & R Williams Christine Gibson
Midge Whiteman
Morris Mini De Luxe9860
42D7Ford Motor Company of Australia Spencer Martin
Jim McKeown
Ford XT Falcon GT Auto957
43C32W & N Howes Martin Chenery
Ernie Johnson
Fiat 1258839
44C28Marque Motors Lindsay Adcock
Bill Stanley
8126
45A57AMI Racing Team Brian Reed
Dick Thurston
Toyota Corolla7450
46A60North Shore Sporting Car Club Bob Drane
Jim Laing-Peach
Toyota Corolla7452
47C31Frank Croft Motors Pty Ltd Gary Cooke
Bob Muir
Fiat 1256929
48D16M Savva Mike Savva
Bob Wilkinson
Ford XT Falcon GT6216
DNFC39Vern Potts Rick Radford
David Seldon
37
DNFC40Vern Potts Ron Heylen
John Smailes
8825
DNFD11Wright Ford Motors Bob Beasley
Ray Morris
Ford XT Falcon GT8714
DNFB44Eiffeltower Motors Jack Eiffeltower
David O'Keefe
Hillman Gazelle5427
DNFE4Citroen Cars Pty Ltd Bill Daly
Glyn Scott
Citroen DS21 Pallas41
DNFD19I Haynes Ian Haynes
Max Stahl
Holden HK Monaro GTS32719
DNFA62Imp Spares & Repairs Mel Mollison
Roger Withers
Hillman GT59
DSQD14Lorack Motors Pty Ltd Des West
Ron Marks
Holden HK Monaro GTS3271302
DSQE2Alec Mildren John French
Frank Gardner
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV12
DSQD23Holden Dealer Racing Team Paul Hawkins
Bill Brown
Holden HK Monaro GTS3273
DSQA51Datsun Racing Team Bill Evans
John Colwell
Datsun 100011248
DSQA53Datsun Racing Team Dick Sorenson
Bevan Gibson
Datsun 100011251
DNSD12Jubilee Motors Pty Ltd Roy Griffiths
Wayne Rogerson
Ford XT Falcon GT
DNSA59Bryan Thompson Racing Adrian Ryan
Bryan Thompson
Ford Cortina 220 Mk.I
DNSD20Ken Waggott Speed EquipmentN Petrilli
W Slattery
Holden HK Monaro GTS327

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

Statistics