1960 Armstrong 500

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The 1960 Armstrong 500 was an endurance motor race for Australian made or assembled standard production sedans. The event was held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, Australia on 20 November 1960 over 167 laps of the 3.0 mile circuit, a total distance of 501 miles.

The race was organised by the Light Car Club of Australia and promoted by Armstrong York Engineering Pty Ltd. [1] Jim Thompson, managing director of the shock absorber manufacturer, was encouraged by his PR man Ron Thonemann to increase the company's business with major carmakers, particularly Ford and Holden, by sponsoring a race.

This was the first event held in the history of the race later to become known as the Bathurst 1000, the race that would come to dominate Australian motor racing.

Outright controversy

Officially only class placings and prize money were awarded, with no outright winner recognised. [1] In later years as the fame of the Bathurst 1000 grew, outright placings, particularly the outright winner, became more widely recognised. John Roxburgh and Frank Coad have been widely acclaimed as the outright winners of the event, and have been recognised in CAMS motorsport manual in more recent times. This has been the source of some controversy as claims the winners of Class C, Geoff Russell, David Anderson and Tony Loxton covered the race distance in a faster time. The source of the discrepancy arises from the starting procedure which saw the classes released at ten second intervals, with the Class D Roxburgh/Coad Vauxhall starting the race ten seconds [2] before the Class C Russell/Anderson/Loxton Peugeot. A comprehensive investigation in 1992 by Graham Hoinville, utilizing the record of individual lap times from the race, concluded that the car of Frank Coad and John Roxburgh was the first to finish the race. [2]

Class structure

Class A

Class A was for cars with an engine capacity of 750cc or less. The class featured Fiat 600, Lloyd Alexander, NSU Prinz and Renault 750

Class B

Class B was for cars with an engine capacity of between 751cc and 1300cc. The class featured Ford Anglia, Renault Dauphine, Simca Aronde, Triumph Herald and Volkswagen Beetle

Class C

The Brian Foley / Alan Edney Austin Lancer competing in the 1960 Armstrong 500. 1960 Austin Lancer Series II.jpg
The Brian Foley / Alan Edney Austin Lancer competing in the 1960 Armstrong 500.

Class C was for cars with an engine capacity of between 1301cc and 2000cc. The class featured Austin Lancer, Hillman Minx, Morris Major, Peugeot 403 and Singer Gazelle.

Class D

Class D was for cars with an engine capacity between 2001cc and 3500cc. The class featured Ford Falcon, Humber Super Snipe, Mercedes-Benz 220SE, Standard Vanguard, Vauxhall Cresta.

Class E

Class E was for cars with an engine capacity over 3500cc. There was only one entry in the class, a Ford Customline.

Results

Class results were as follows:

Pos.No.Entrant [1] DriversCarLaps
Class A
11Continental & General Dist. Doug Whiteford
Lex Davison
NSU Prinz 155
22Continental & General Dist.Bruce Walton
Paul England
NSU Prinz 151
33Continental & General Dist.Hoot Gibson
J Gorman
NSU Prinz 150
410W. McB. MarchBill March
John Connolly
Renault 750 145
515Wal Gillespie Fiat ServicesWal Gillespie
Lou Sinclair
Fiat 600 138
64 [1] Finlay Bros. P/LKevin Lott
G Petty
Lloyd Alexander TS [1] 135
716Torino Motors P/LBrian Pyers
Frank Elkins
Fiat 600 135
85Finlay Bros. P/LGraham Levingston
Peter Candy
Lloyd Alexander TS [1] 134
97Finlay Bros. P/LR Slaney
G White
Lloyd Alexander TS [1] 132
108B.P. Batteries P/LLes Park
J Fleming
Renault 750
DNF9Monash Service StationRex Emmett
A Hawkins
Renault 750
DNF6Finlay Brothers P/LTony Thieler
Frank Kilfoyle
Lloyd Alexander TS [1] 120 [3]
Class B
124Melody Motors P/LMurray Galt
Bill Murray
Simca Aronde 164
223 Chrysler Australia Ltd. (Eiffel Tower Group)Jack Nougher
Lionel Marsh
Simca Aronde 161
322 Chrysler Australia Ltd. (B.J. Autos Service)Bob Brown
Michael Lempriere
Simca Aronde 161
427 Australian Motor Industries Jack Maurer
Ern Abbott
Triumph Herald 158
520Orman's Service StationRex Orman
Max McPherson
Volkswagen 158
618Lanock Motors Ltd. David McKay
Greg Cusack
Volkswagen 158
719Spencer Motors P/LArthur Wylie
Ken Wylie
Volkswagen 157
829Nalders GarageBill Nalder
John Ampt
Ford Anglia 156
914Ecurie DauphineJ Leighton
Alan Ling
Renault Dauphine 154
1012Ecurie DauphineDes West
Ian Geoghegan
Renault Dauphine 152
1111Ecurie Dauphine Bill Pitt
Leo Geoghegan
Renault Dauphine 151
DNF17V.W. Motors P/LEddie Perkins
George Reynolds
Volkswagen 151 [3]
DNF26 Australian Motor Industries Graham Hoinville
Austin Miller
Triumph Herald 100 [3]
DNF25R. ChristieRay Christie
George Hughes
Simca Aronde 66 [3]
DNF21 Chrysler Australia Ltd. (J.E. Murray) Jack Murray
W Murison
Simca Aronde
Class C
134Continental & General Dist. P/LGeoff Russell
David Anderson
Tony Loxton
Peugeot 403 167
241 British Motor Corp. Peter Manton
Barry Topen
Morris Major 164
338 British Motor Corp. George Spanos
Leo Taylor
Austin Lancer 161
435Continental & General Dist. P/L Bob Holden
Ken Brigden
Peugeot 403 160
542 British Motor Corp. Brian Muir
Jim Smith
Morris Major 160
643 British Motor Corp. Rod Murphy
John Callaway
Morris Major 159
745 Rootes (Aust) Limited Harry Firth
John Reaburn
Singer Gazelle 159
836Continental & General Dist. P/LRon Lilley
Jim Gullan
Peugeot 403 157
939 British Motor Corp. Brian Foley
Alan Edney
Austin Lancer 155
DNF44 Rootes (Aust) Limited Bill Clemens
Don Dunoon
Hillman Minx
DNF40 British Motor Corp. Barry Gurdon
Clyde Miller
Austin Lancer 59 [3]
Class D
137S. A. Chenery P/L John Roxburgh
Frank Coad
Vauxhall Cresta 167
228 Australian Motor Industries Norm Beechey
John French
Standard Vanguard 162
330Autoland P/L Bob Jane
Lou Molina
Ford XK Falcon 161
DNF46 Rootes (Aust) Limited Bill Graetz
Fred Sutherland
Humber Super Snipe 125 [3]
DNF47Smith Street Motors P/LGavin Youl
John Youl
Mercedes-Benz 220SE 67 [3]
DNF31Wangaratta MotorsRon Phillips
Ern Seeliger
Ford XK Falcon 49 [3]
Class E
132Sabina Motors P/LRay Gibbs
Murray Carter
Ford Customline 154

Statistics

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Official Programme, The 1960 Armstrong 500, Phillip Island, Sunday, 20th November
  2. 1 2 Paul Watson, The debate over the first Armstrong 500, www.pccv.org, as archived at web.archive.org
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 David McKay, Cresta wins production "500", Modern Motor, January 1961, pages 14 to 17 & 81 to 82
  4. Armstrong 500 20 November, 1960 - www.nmrm.com.au via web.archive.org Retrieved on 23 October 2013
  5. Armstrong 500 - 1960, Official Results, The Australian Light Car, Jan - Feb 1961

Further reading