1966 Gallaher 500

1966 Gallaher 500

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1967

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

The 1966 Gallaher 500 was an endurance motor race for production cars, held on 2 October 1966 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales in Australia. It was the seventh running of the Bathurst 500 race ^[1] and the first time that the event had been staged under the Gallaher 500 name. 250 examples of a particular model had to be registered for a vehicle to be eligible for the race, up from the 100 examples required in previous years. ^[2]

The race was dominated by the Morris Cooper S. It was won by the BMC entered example of Finnish rally star Rauno Aaltonen and experienced Australian Mini racer Bob Holden a lap ahead of Fred Gibson and Bill Stanley, leading home a flotilla of Cooper Ss that filled the first nine outright race positions. The best non-Mini was a Chrysler Valiant, some six laps behind Aaltonen and Holden in tenth position.

It was while spectating this race from Forrest's Elbow that an on leave from the army Peter Brock decided that he wanted to be a motor racing driver when his National Service was finished. Brock would go on to make his Bathurst 500 debut in 1969 and would go on to win the race a record 9 times.

Class structure

Cars competed in four classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars.

Class A

The Up to $1,800 class was contested by Datsun 1300, Fiat 850, 1.2 litre Ford Cortina, Morris Mini De Luxe and Morris 850.

Class B

The $1,801 to $2,040 class featured 1.5 litre Ford Cortina, Hillman Minx, Isuzu Bellett, Morris Cooper, Prince Skyline, Renault R8 and Toyota Corona.

Class C

The $2,041 to $2,700 class entry list was dominated by the Morris Cooper S, but also included a Fiat 1500, and a Toyota Crown.

Class D

The $2,701 to $4,000 class featured Chrysler Valiant, Holden HD X2, Studebaker Lark, Triumph 2000 and Volvo 122S.

Results

Rauno Aaltonen and Bob Holden won the race outright driving this Morris Cooper S. The car is pictured in 2006.

George Reynolds and Barry Ferguson placed fifth in Class B driving this Isuzu Bellett. The car is pictured in 2015

Pos.	Class	No.	Entrant [3]	Drivers	Car	Laps
1	C	13	BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd.	Rauno Aaltonen Bob Holden	Morris Cooper S	130
2	C	17	Vaughan & Lane Pty. Ltd.	Fred Gibson Bill Stanley	Morris Cooper S	129
3	C	22	Regal Motors Pty. Ltd.	Bruce McPhee Barry Mulholland	Morris Cooper S	129
4	C	27	Marque Motors	Arthur Davis Paul Mander	Morris Cooper S	128
5	C	10	Baulkham Hills Service Station	Peter Brown Bob Cook	Morris Cooper S	128
6	C	9	L. Gordon Dent Pty. Ltd.	Harry Firth Ern Abbott	Morris Cooper S	128
7	C	24	W. Jamieson [4]	John Leffler Bill Jamieson	Morris Cooper S	127
8	C	23	BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd.	John French Steve Harvey	Morris Cooper S	127
9	C	16	B. Arentz	Barry Arentz Barry Seton	Morris Cooper S	125
10	D	5	Eiffel Tower Motors	Jack Nougher David O'Keefe	Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Automatic	124
11	D	6	Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service Pty. Ltd.	Alton Boddenberg Digby Cooke	Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Automatic	122
12	B	41	Gordon Stewart's Sports Car Centre	Don Holland Peter Cray	Morris Cooper	120
13	D	3	Australian Motor Industries Ltd.	Max Stewart Bob Young	Triumph 2000	120
14	C	20	R. C. Kearns	Ron Kearns Barry Quayle	Fiat 1500	120
15	D	8	British & Continental Cars	Kevin Bartlett John Harvey	Volvo 122S	119
16	C	14	Australian Motor Industries Ltd.	Bill Buckle Allan Mottram	Toyota Crown	119
17	B	33	Vern Potts	Doug Chivas Doug Chivas, Jr.	Morris Cooper	119
18	B	42	Brian Foley Motors Pty. Ltd.	Laurie Stewart Ray Morris	Morris Cooper	119
19	D	7	M. Savva	Mike Savva Herb Taylor	Holden HD X2	118
20	B	37	Australian Motor Industries	Brian Reed Des Kelly	Toyota Corona	117
21	B	29	Canopus Motors Pty. Ltd.	George Reynolds Barry Ferguson	Isuzu Bellett 1500	117
22	A	54	Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.	Moto Kitano Kunimitsu Takahashi	Datsun 1300	117
23	A	49	Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.	John Roxburgh Doug Whiteford	Datsun 1300	116
24	A	53	Peakhurst Tyre Service Pty. Ltd.	Brian Lawler Harry Gapps	Ford Cortina Mk.I 220	116
25	B	45	Motor Racing Components	Lionel Ayers Max Volkers	Hillman Minx Series 6	116
26	A	51	Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.	John Colwell Fred Sutherland	Datsun 1300	116
27	B	32	Australian Motor Industries	Brian Sampson Lew Marshall	Toyota Corona	116
28	A	47	Frank Crott Motors Pty. Ltd.	Trevor Meehan Ian Hindmarsh	Fiat 850	113
29	A	55	Marque Motors	Mike Schneider Bruce Wright	Morris Mini De Luxe	113
30	B	40	John Rhodin Pty. Ltd.	Arthur Treloar Colin Bond	Isuzu Bellett 1500	111
31	A	56	Radial Tyre Service Pty. Ltd.	George Garth Ray Marquet	Ford Cortina Mk.I 1200	110
32	A	50	Ken Lindsay Motors Pty. Ltd.	Ken Lindsay Des West	Ford Cortina Mk.I 1200	110
33	B	34	Peter Williamson Pty. Ltd.	Peter Williamson Alex Macarthur	Toyota Corona	110
34	A	57	K. D. McCallum & Coy	John T. Smith Dennis Gregory	Morris Mini De Luxe	109
35	B	43	Renault R8	Bob Edgerton Ross Edgerton	Renault R8	106
36	B	31	Varsity Auto Centre	John Prisk Mike Martin	Morris Cooper	105
37	B	35	Autobahn Motors Pty. Ltd.	Bruce Darke Don James	Isuzu Bellett 1500	104
38	D	2	Needham's Motors Pty. Ltd.	Warren Weldon Bill Slattery	Studebaker Lark	88
39	A	48	M. Bailey	Malcolm Bailey John Hicks	Morris 850	87
40	B	38	Wheelmar Distributors Pty. Ltd.	Carl Kennedy Doug Stewart	Prince Skyline 1500	82
41	B	30	Denis Geary Motors Pty. Ltd.	Gary Hodge Denis Geary	Ford Cortina Mk.I 1500	74
DNF	C	21	Vaughan & Lane Pty. Ltd.	Frank Matich Bruce Demuth	Morris Cooper S	126
DNF	A	46	Bill Burns	Bill Burns Alex Lazich	Fiat 850
DNF	A	58	G. Shoesmith	Gary Shoesmith Tony Robards	Vauxhall Viva	94
DNF	C	26	M. Crampton Engineering	Mick Crampton Geoff Leeds	Morris Cooper S
DNF	C	18	C. G. Smith	Charlie Smith Ron Haylen	Morris Cooper S	64
NC	C	19	Radford Carriers	Rick Radford David Bye	Morris Cooper S	54
DNF	D	4	British & Continental Cars	Gerry Lister Graham Porter	Volvo 122S	52
DNF	C	15	W. Yates Pty. Ltd.	Ken Stacey Mal Henderson	Morris Cooper S
DNF	C	28	BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd.	Paddy Hopkirk Brian Foley	Morris Cooper S	28
DNF	C	12	Ron Hodgson Motors Pty. Ltd.	Ron Hodgson Bob Beasley	Morris Cooper S	15
DNF	C	25	P. Coogan	George Forrest Frank Hann	Morris Cooper S	12
DNF	B	39	Wheelmar Distributors Pty. Ltd.	Jack Murray Bill Ford	Prince Skyline 1500

Statistics

• Fastest Lap - #21 Frank Matich - 3:10 (lap record)
• Average Speed - 112 km/h
• Race Time - 7:11:29.1

References

1. Includes 1960, 1961 & 1962 Armstrong 500 races held at Phillip Island
2. Bill Tuckey, Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1981, pages 114-121
3. Official Programme, Gallaher 500 (1966)
4. Craig Watson, The Giant Killers, Motor Sport Legends, August / Oct 2008, pages 40-45

Further reading

• Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). "1966 The first international race". Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 The first 40 years. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing Group Pty Limited. pp. 138–145 & 454. ISBN   1-875221-12-3.

External links

• Race results at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
• Race images at www.autopics.com.au