1963 Armstrong 500
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Mount_Panorama_1938-1986.png/250px-Mount_Panorama_1938-1986.png)
The 1963 Armstrong 500 was the fourth running of the Armstrong 500 touring car race. It was held on 6 October 1963. After the 1962 race, the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit was too damaged to continue to stage the race, forcing it to move to a new location, the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst with a new organising club, the . The race was open to standard production sedans with four classes based on the purchase price (in Australian pounds) of the vehicle.
Bob Jane and Harry Firth were the first team to complete the full race distance, taking victory in Class C in their factory backed Ford Cortina GT, the change of both vehicle and circuit making no difference to their result of the previous year. While outright victories were not to be recognised until years later, they had completed a hat-trick of 'first to the line' wins.
Class structure[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/1963_Cortina_GT_Armstrong_500_winner_%289031573452%29.jpg/220px-1963_Cortina_GT_Armstrong_500_winner_%289031573452%29.jpg)
The largest change was cosmetic. The bigger cars moved down the alphabet, the smaller cars moved into classes A and B. The Volkswagens moved into class A. Ford Falcons disappeared from the race, replaced by an influx of smaller, more versatile Ford Cortinas. As in 1962 the Fords were the biggest threat, shaping up to be faster than the larger D Class cars which included Chrysler Valiants and Studebaker Larks.
Class A[]
Class A was for cars that cost less £900. It comprised Fiat 770, Morris 850, Triumph Herald and Volkswagen Beetle.
Class B[]
The £901 to £1,000 class featured 1.5 litre Ford Cortina, Morris Cooper and Morris Major Elite, Renault R8 and Simca Aronde.
Class C[]
The £1,001 to £1,200 class was contested by Ford Cortina GT, Holden EH S4 and Holden FB.
Class D[]
The £1,201 to £2,000 class featured Chrysler Valiant, Ford Zephyr, Humber Super Snipe, Peugeot 404, Studebaker Lark, Vauxhall Velox and Vauxhall VX 4/90.
Race[]
The race became the first Ford vs Holden head-to-head fight, with the works Cortina of defending race champions Bob Jane and Harry Firth winning by a lap over the first EH Holden of Ralph Sach and Frank Morgan with a second Cortina on the same lap. It was a third consecutive victory for Jane and Firth, each victory coming in a different model and back-to-back for the factory Ford team. Second place was the closest Holden would get to a win until the breakthrough in 1968. Chrysler got its first class win with the Valiant of Tony Reynolds and Tony Allen with Geoff Russell driving the factory prepared Ford Zephyr again narrowly missing out on the Class D win. The new Morris Coopers saw the Mini break out of the entry level class and gave Doug Chivas his first class win, co-driving with Ken Wilkinson in Class B, defeating the 1.5 litre Cortinas, ominously just a lap behind the Valiant and the Zephyr. In the small class, Volkswagen again defeated the Morris 850s with Barry Ferguson and Bill Ford taking first place ahead of the Mini of Don Holland and Lindsay Little.
Results[]
Pos | No | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class A | |||||
1 | 54 | Lanock Motors Ltd | ![]() ![]() |
Volkswagen 1200 | 116 |
2 | 55 | Vaughan & Lane Pty Ltd | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | 116 |
3 | 51 | Victorian VW Agents-VW Sales | ![]() ![]() |
Volkswagen 1200 | 115 |
4 | 61 | A. Andrews | ![]() ![]() |
Volkswagen 1200 | 115 |
5 | 57 | Macquarie Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Volkswagen 1200 | 113 |
6 | 53 | K.B. Nicholson Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | 113 |
7 | 49 | H.E. Taylor | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | 112 |
8 | 50 | Kinsley Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Volkswagen 1200 | 111 |
9 | 59 | T. Corcoran | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | 111 |
10 | 52 | Paul M. Samuels | ![]() ![]() |
Fiat 770 | 103 |
11 | 56 | Reg Smith Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Triumph Herald | 101 |
12 | 58 | Vaughan & Lane Pty Ltd | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | 89 |
DNF | 60 | P & R Williams | ![]() ![]() |
Morris 850 | |
Class B | |||||
1 | 42 | Denis Summers Conversions | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 125 |
2 | 41 | Delore Motors (Newcastle) | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 125 |
3 | 28 | Ford Motor Co. of Australia | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina 1500 | 123 |
4 | 46 | Ford Motor Co. of Australia | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina 1500 | 123 |
5 | 43 | Bamar Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 122 |
6 | 44 | P & R Williams | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 120 |
7 | 26 | C. Harding | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 120 |
8 | 29 | Total Team | ![]() ![]() |
Renault R8 | 119 |
9 | 37 | Rex Emmett | ![]() ![]() |
Renault R8 | 119 |
10 | 39 | P & R Williams | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 116 |
11 | 45 | P. Brown | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 115 |
12 | 47 | C.G. Smith | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 115 |
13 | 32 | Cecil R Pierce | ![]() ![]() |
Simca Aronde | 114 |
14 | 38 | Gurdon Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Major Elite | 113 |
15 | 33 | Gurdon Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Major Elite | 113 |
16 | 48 | Gurdon Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Major Elite | 112 |
17 | 36 | Ron Thorp's Bargain Barn | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Major Elite | 111 |
18 | 40 | Rex Emmett | ![]() ![]() |
Renault Gordini | 110 |
19 | 25 | Scuderia Veloce | ![]() ![]() |
Renault R8 | 102 |
DNF | 30 | Delore Motors (Newcastle) | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | |
DNF | 34 | Total Bexley Service Station | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | |
DNF | 35 | Howard and Sons Racing Team | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 18 |
DNF | 27 | P. & R. Williams | ![]() ![]() |
Morris Cooper | 13 |
DNF | 31 | Three Way Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Simca Aronde | |
Class C | |||||
1 | 20 | Ford Motor Co. of Australia[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina Mk.I GT | 130 |
2 | 12 | F.G. Morgan[2] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 129 |
3 | 13 | Grawill Motors Pty. Ltd.[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina Mk.I GT | 129 |
4 | 22 | Barrie Broomhall Motors[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina Mk.I GT | 124 |
5 | 18 | H. Budd[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 123 |
6 | 23 | Geissler Motors Pty. Ltd.[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 120 |
7 | 16 | Muirs Motors (Ryde)[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 115 |
8 | 24 | B.P. Warwick Farm Service Station[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden FB Special[1] | 115 |
9 | 17 | Heldon Motors Pty. Ltd.[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 111 |
DNF | 21 | Ford Motor Co. of Australia[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Cortina Mk.I GT | 105 |
DNF | 14 | Seatons Globe Hotel, Albury[1] | ![]() ![]() |
Holden EH S4 | 65 |
Class D | |||||
1 | 8 | Ron Dunbier Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Chrysler AP5 Valiant | 126 |
2 | 5 | Ford Motor Co. of Australia | ![]() ![]() |
Ford Zephyr Mk.III | 126 |
3 | 9 | Killara Motor Garage | ![]() ![]() |
Peugeot 404 | 119 |
4 | 2 | Needham Motors Pty Ltd | ![]() ![]() |
Studebaker Lark | 115 |
45 | 6 | Alex Strachan Motors | ![]() ![]() |
Humber Super Snipe | 21 |
DNF | 4 | Baulkham Hill Service Station | ![]() ![]() |
Chrysler SV1 Valiant | 119 |
DNF | 7 | N.J. Wright | ![]() ![]() |
Studebaker Lark | 57 |
DNF | 3 | Boyded Pty Ltd-Scuderia Veloce | ![]() ![]() |
Vauxhall Velox | 20 |
DSQ | 10 | Continental & General Distributors | ![]() ![]() |
Peugeot 404 | 119 |
DNS | 12 | P. Fallu | ![]() ![]() |
Vauxhall VX 4/90 |
Statistics[]
- Fastest Lap – N/A
- Race time of Firth / Jane Ford Cortina GT (First car across the line) – 7:47:14[3]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Philip McCumisky, Holden versus Holden at Bathurst, www.pccv.org, as archived at web.archive.org
- ^ Barry Collerson, Behind the wheel, Australian Motor Sports, November 1963, pages 30, 31, 32 & 50
- ^ Bill Tuckey and David Greenhalgh, Australia's Greatest Motor Race – The First 30 Years
- Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). "1963 The telecast begins". Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 The first 40 years. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing Group Pty Limited. pp. 114–121 & 452. ISBN 1-875221-12-3.
External links[]
- Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales
- 1963 in Australian motorsport
- Armstrong 500