1963 Armstrong 500

1963 Armstrong 500

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1964

File:Mount Panorama 1938-1986.png

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938–1986)

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 Australian Racing Drivers Club. 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

File:1963 Cortina GT Armstrong 500 winner (9031573452).jpg

A replica of the Ford Cortina GT in which Bob Jane and Harry Firth won Class C

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 Fred 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	Template:Flagicon Barry Ferguson Template:Flagicon Bill Ford	Volkswagen 1200	116
2	55	Vaughan & Lane Pty Ltd	Template:Flagicon Don Holland Template:Flagicon Lindsay Little	Morris 850	116
3	51	Victorian VW Agents-VW Sales	Template:Flagicon Jim McKeown Template:Flagicon George Reynolds	Volkswagen 1200	115
4	61	A. Andrews	Template:Flagicon Rocky Tresise Template:Flagicon Arthur Andrews	Volkswagen 1200	115
5	57	Macquarie Motors	Template:Flagicon Greg Mackie Template:Flagicon Graham White	Volkswagen 1200	113
6	53	K.B. Nicholson Motors	Template:Flagicon Bill Stanley Template:Flagicon John Alexander	Morris 850	113
7	49	H.E. Taylor	Template:Flagicon Barry Seton Template:Flagicon Herb Taylor	Morris 850	112
8	50	Kinsley Motors	Template:Flagicon George Forrest Template:Flagicon Frank Hann	Volkswagen 1200	111
9	59	T. Corcoran	Template:Flagicon Tom Corcoran Template:Flagicon Digby Cooke	Morris 850	111
10	52	Paul M. Samuels	Template:Flagicon Barry Collerson Template:Flagicon Les Howard	Fiat 770	103
11	56	Reg Smith Motors	Template:Flagicon Jim Bonthorne Template:Flagicon Mike Callan	Triumph Herald	101
12	58	Vaughan & Lane Pty Ltd	Template:Flagicon Fred Gibson Template:Flagicon Ken Nicholson	Morris 850	89
DNF	60	P & R Williams	Template:Flagicon Tony Hill Template:Flagicon Frank Kleinig	Morris 850
Class B
1	42	Denis Summers Conversions	Template:Flagicon Doug Chivas Template:Flagicon Ken Wilkinson	Morris Cooper	125
2	41	Delore Motors (Newcastle)	Template:Flagicon Jack Gates Template:Flagicon Mike Nedelko	Morris Cooper	125
3	28	Ford Motor Co. of Australia	Template:Flagicon Ern Abbott Template:Flagicon Alan Caelli	Ford Cortina 1500	123
4	46	Ford Motor Co. of Australia	Template:Flagicon Max Volkers Template:Flagicon K Burns	Ford Cortina 1500	123
5	43	Bamar Motors	Template:Flagicon Wal Donnelly Template:Flagicon John Marchiori	Morris Cooper	122
6	44	P & R Williams	Template:Flagicon Des West Template:Flagicon John Martin	Morris Cooper	120
7	26	C. Harding	Template:Flagicon Chris Harding Template:Flagicon Adrian Yannuccelli	Morris Cooper	120
8	29	Total Team	Template:Flagicon Frank Matich Template:Flagicon George Murray	Renault R8	119
9	37	Rex Emmett	Template:Flagicon John Connolly Template:Flagicon Rod Draper	Renault R8	119
10	39	P & R Williams	Template:Flagicon Brian Foley Template:Flagicon Peter Manton	Morris Cooper	116
11	45	P. Brown	Template:Flagicon Peter Brown Template:Flagicon Ron Marshall	Morris Cooper	115
12	47	C.G. Smith	Template:Flagicon Ron Hodgson Template:Flagicon Charlie Smith	Morris Cooper	115
13	32	Cecil R Pierce	Template:Flagicon Ken Brigden Template:Flagicon Bruce Smith	Simca Aronde	114
14	38	Gurdon Motors	Template:Flagicon Barry Gurdon Template:Flagicon Jerry Trevor-Jones	Morris Major Elite	113
15	33	Gurdon Motors	Template:Flagicon Jack Murray Template:Flagicon Alan Edney	Morris Major Elite	113
16	48	Gurdon Motors	Template:Flagicon Warren Blomfield Template:Flagicon Lorraine Hill	Morris Major Elite	112
17	36	Ron Thorp's Bargain Barn	Template:Flagicon Ron Thorp Template:Flagicon John White	Morris Major Elite	111
18	40	Rex Emmett	Template:Flagicon Les Park Template:Flagicon Fred Sutherland	Renault Gordini	110
19	25	Scuderia Veloce	Template:Flagicon Ron Clarke Template:Flagicon David Walker	Renault R8	102
DNF	30	Delore Motors (Newcastle)	Template:Flagicon Doug Kelley Template:Flagicon Graham Kelley	Morris Cooper
DNF	34	Total Bexley Service Station	Template:Flagicon Mike Martin Template:Flagicon Dave Humphries	Morris Cooper
DNF	35	Howard and Sons Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Sid Howard Template:Flagicon Les Weiley	Morris Cooper	18
DNF	27	P. & R. Williams	Template:Flagicon Paul Bolton Template:Flagicon Laurie Stewart	Morris Cooper	13
DNF	31	Three Way Motors	Template:Flagicon Carl Kennedy Template:Flagicon Doug Stewart	Simca Aronde
Class C
1	20	Ford Motor Co. of Australia	Template:Flagicon Bob Jane Template:Flagicon Harry Firth	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	130
2	15	F.G. Morgan	Template:Flagicon Ralph Sach Template:Flagicon Fred Morgan	Holden EH S4	129
3	13	Grawill Motors Pty. Ltd.	Template:Flagicon Bruce McPhee Template:Flagicon Graham Ryan	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	129
4	22	Barrie Broomhall Motors	Template:Flagicon Barry Broomhall Template:Flagicon Bill Cunliffe	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	124
5	18	H. Budd	Template:Flagicon Harry Budd Template:Flagicon R. Smith	Holden EH S4	123
6	23	Geissler Motors Pty. Ltd.	Template:Flagicon Ian Grant Template:Flagicon Trevor Marden	Holden EH S4	120
7	16	Muirs Motors (Ryde)	Template:Flagicon Kevin Bartlett Template:Flagicon Bill Reynolds	Holden EH S4	115
8	24	B.P. Warwick Farm Service Station	Template:Flagicon Lex Bailey Template:Flagicon Phil McCumisky	Holden FB Special	115
9	17	Heldon Motors Pty. Ltd.	Template:Flagicon Spencer Martin Template:Flagicon Brian Muir	Holden EH S4	111
DNF	21	Ford Motor Co. of Australia	Template:Flagicon Ian Geoghegan Template:Flagicon Leo Geoghegan	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	105
DNF	14	Seatons Globe Hotel, Albury	Template:Flagicon Jim O'Shaunnessy Template:Flagicon John Brindley	Holden EH S4	65
Class D
1	8	Ron Dunbier Motors	Template:Flagicon Tony Allen Template:Flagicon Tony Reynolds	Chrysler AP5 Valiant	126
2	5	Ford Motor Co. of Australia	Template:Flagicon Geoff Russell Template:Flagicon John Reaburn	Ford Zephyr Mk.III	126
3	9	Killara Motor Garage	Template:Flagicon Bob Holden Template:Flagicon Bill March	Peugeot 404	119
4	2	Needham Motors Pty Ltd	Template:Flagicon Warren Weldon Template:Flagicon Bert Needham	Studebaker Lark	115
45	6	Alex Strachan Motors	Template:Flagicon Bill Burns Template:Flagicon Brian Lawler	Humber Super Snipe	21
DNF	4	Baulkham Hill Service Station	Template:Flagicon Bob Cook Template:Flagicon Alwyn Rose	Chrysler SV1 Valiant	119
DNF	7	N.J. Wright	Template:Flagicon Jim Wright Template:Flagicon Ian Ferguson	Studebaker Lark	57
DNF	3	Boyded Pty Ltd-Scuderia Veloce	Template:Flagicon David McKay Template:Flagicon Greg Cusack	Vauxhall Velox	20
DSQ	10	Continental & General Distributors	Template:Flagicon Bill Coe Template:Flagicon Syd Fisher	Peugeot 404	119
DNS	12	P. Fallu	Template:Flagicon Paul Fallu Template:Flagicon Terry Kratzmann	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

External links

• Race results, www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
• Bathurst 1963 images, autopics.com.au
• 6th Oct 1963. Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst NSW. The Armstrong 500 car race (a.k.a Bathurst 500) (video), www.youtube.com