Allan George MoffatOBE is an Australian racing driver known for his four wins in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four wins in the Bathurst 500/1000. Moffat was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 1999.
Henry Leslie "Harry" Firth was an Australian racing driver and team manager. Firth was a leading race and rally driver during the 1950s and 1960s and continued as an influential team manager with first the Ford works team and then the famed Holden Dealer Team (HDT) well into the 1970s. Firth’s nickname was "the fox", implying his use of cunning ploys as a team manager.
Robert Frederick Jane was an Australian race car driver and prominent businessman. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a four-time Australian Touring Car Champion, Jane was well known for his chain of tyre retailers, Bob Jane T-Marts. Jane was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 1962 the Firth Motors workshop at Queens Avenue, Auburn (Melbourne) became the base for the Ford works team with Harry Firth as team manager. At the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island Firth and Jane drove a Ford XL Falcon to victory and the following year won again this time in a Ford Cortina Mk.I GT at the first Armstrong 500 run at Bathurst. In 1964 Bob Jane and George Reynolds were first across the line at Bathurst in a works Cortina GT and also that year Harry Firth took out the Ampol Trial.
The 1962 Armstrong 500 was an endurance race for Australian built production cars. The race was held at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia on 21 October 1962 over 167 laps of the 3.0 mile circuit, a total of 501 miles. Cars competed in four classes based on the retail price of each model. Officially, only class placings were awarded but the No 21 Ford Falcon driven by Harry Firth and Bob Jane was recognised as "First across the line". This was the third and last Armstrong 500 to be held at Phillip Island prior to the race being moved to the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst in New South Wales where it later became known as the Bathurst 1000.
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1956.
The Ford Falcon (XL) is a mid-size car which was produced by Ford Australia from 1962 to 1964. It was the second iteration of the first generation of this Australian-made model.
1966 saw Firth and navigator Graham Hoinville take out the inaugural Southern Cross Rally in a Cortina. In 1967 Firth won another Bathurst 500 with co-driver Fred Gibson in a 4.7 litre (289 cui) Ford XR Falcon GT, with the Geoghegan brothers finishing in second place after a re-count of the lap scores (The Geoghegan's were actually flagged in first, but they had mistakenly been credited with a lap early in the race when Leo Geoghegan ran out of fuel just after the pits and returned to pit lane via the back of the pits. Firth knew this and successfully protested against his team mates). It was the first time a V8 powered car had won the race. Then in 1968 Firth and Hoinville won the first Australian Rally Championship in a Cortina.
The Southern Cross Rally was a major international rally mainly held in the Port Macquarie region of New South Wales, Australia, between 1966 and 1980. The rally attracted many of the world's leading rally drivers and factory teams.
The 1967 Gallaher 500 was a motor race for Production Saloon Cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 1 October 1967. The race, which was the eighth running of the Phillip Island 500/Bathurst 500, was organised by the Australian Racing Drivers Club Ltd and promoted by Gallaher International (Aust) Ltd.
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder V configuration engine with the cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two sets of four, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft. Most banks are set at a right angle (90°) to each other, some at a narrower angle, with 45°, 60°, and 72° most common.
At the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 at Bathurst, Ford introduced the Ford XT Falcon GT, now powered by the 5.0 L 302 cui V8 engine. However rival manufacturer Holden had introduced the Holden Monaro GTS327 powered by a 5.3 L (327 cui) Chevrolet V8 engine. While the Monaro's would prove slightly faster than the Falcons in 1968, late in the race the works Ford of Fred Gibson and 1965 race winner Barry Seton was leading until a stone from the circuit thrown by another car put a hole in the radiator and ended their race on lap 113, though they were classified in 31st place. The Geoghegan brother's Falcon GT would finish in 12th place. They had planned to go the whole race without changing their brakes as they had done in 1967 (despite warnings from Firth that they were not taking into account the increased pace), but this backfired and they lost 7 laps in the pits after the worn brake pads welded themselves to the brake rotors. The third works entry (using an automatic transmission and running in Class C) driven by Barry Arentz and Mike Champion finished in 11th place.
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.
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, is an Australian automobile importer and former automobile manufacturer with its headquarters in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931, when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, and General Motors-Holden in 2005.
The 1965 Armstrong 500 was the sixth running of the Bathurst 500 touring car race. It was held on 3 October 1965 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The race was open to Australian assembled or manufactured vehicles and, for the first time, to imported vehicles, of which at least 100 examples and 250 examples respectively had been registered in Australia. Cars competed in four classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian pounds. Prize money was on offer only for class placings however the Armstrong Trophy was presented to the entrant of the outright winning car, this being the first time in the history of the event that there had been an official award for the outright winner.
Allan Moffat and Al Turner
Works Ford Falcon GTHO Phase II in 1970/71
After some impressive performances in his Ford Mustang Boss 302Improved Production touring car in 1969, Canadian-born Allan Moffat joined the Ford team and became the team's No.1 driver. With Harry Firth switching to Holden and forming the Holden Dealer Team, American Al Turner was signed up as the new team manager.
In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with the FIA’s Group C sports car regulations, used from 1982 to 1992 for the World Endurance Championship / World Sports-Prototype Championship / World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and sports sedans during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer Team, by then under the ownership of Peter Brock, diversified into producing modified road-going Commodores and other Holden cars for selected dealers via HDT Special Vehicles.
The Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase I powered by the 5.8 L, 351 "Windsor" V8 engine looked to be a big threat at the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 against the new Holden HT Monaro GTS350 with the GTHO's proving to have a slight speed advantage over the 5.7 L, 350 Chevrolet V8 powered Monaros, but Al Turner's tactic of flying in untested special tyres from the USA proved to be the undoing of the Ford challenge as Falcons kept pulling into the pits with shredded tyres. Ironically, the one Ford works car that did not chew through its tyres was the one driven by Moffat and Allan Hamilton. Moffat contends that had he not been called into the pits early to change tyres after the failures on the Geoghegan brothers car and the Gibson/Seton car, that he would have won the race. Unlike Pete Geoghegan and Fred Gibson, Moffat had looked after his tyres and the unscheduled stop ultimately cost the team victory. Following the race, Ford took the extraordinary step of running a full page newspaper add with the caption of "We were a little deflated".
The 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the tenth running of the Bathurst 500 production car race. It was held on 5 October 1969 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in five classes based on purchase price of the vehicle.
Ian "Pete" Geoghegan, was an Australian race car driver, known for a quick wit and natural driving skills. Sometimes referred to as "Pete" Geoghegan, he was one of the iconic characters of the 1960s and 1970s Australian motor racing scene. His older brother Leo was also an accomplished driver and the brothers often shared a car in endurance events.
The 1970 Bathurst race was a 1–2 victory for the Ford works team with Allan Moffat winning his first Bathurst 500 in a Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II from team-mate Bruce McPhee whose car was much healthier but was holding back in the final laps following team orders. The Phase II GTHO Falcon's, while still using a 5.8 L V8 engine, were now using the Australian manufactured 351 "Cleveland" engine rather than the imported 351 Windsor engines.
By 1971 Howard Marsden was the new team manager at Ford. Moffat drove his Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III to an 'all the-way' win at the 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500 at Bathurst. 1972 saw the "Supercar scare" which killed off the Phase 4 Falcon project. Ford was forced to use the Phase 3 GTHO again for its Bathurst campaign and in a race that started on a wet track the light-footed Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 driven by a young Peter Brock won the day. But Ford did add a major trophy to their cabinet by winning the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
In 1973 the Ford team contested the Australian Touring Car Championship with Allan Moffat winning from Holden rival Brock. At Bathurst (now a 1,000km race) Moffat and co-driver Ian Geoghegan won in a Falcon XA GT after early leader John Goss was involved in a collision and Doug Chivas famously ran the HDT car he shared with Brock out of petrol.
On 25 January 1974, the Ford Motor Company announced that they were pulling the plug on factory involvement in motor racing, with the effects of the 1973 Oil Crisis being cited as one of the reasons for the company's withdrawal. The Australian Ford works team was wound up, with Moffat driving as a privateer in 1974 with sponsorship from Brut 33.
Moffat Ford Dealers
In 1976 Ford supported the Moffat Ford Dealers Team, in the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 with Allan Moffat. The team expanded to two cars in 1977 with Moffat and Colin Bond as drivers (after 8 years, Bond had left the Holden Dealer Team at the end of 1976 to join Moffat). Moffat and Bond finished 1-2 in both the Touring Car Championship before going on to a memorable 1-2 finish in the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 with multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx joining Moffat in victory. The #1 Falcon was limping at the finish of the race with no brakes after Ickx had been overly hard on them during his driving stint, but as the team owner Moffat had ordered that Bond not pass him to take the victory, orders which years later Bond regretted following.
It was to be the high point for the team who faced stiff opposition in 1978 from the Holden LX Torana SS A9X's which swept all before them with Peter Brock and the HDT winning the 1978 ATCC, the Sandown 400 and the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 (with Jim Richards). Ford introduced the Ford XC Falcon Cobra in late 1978, but even this could not halt the Holden/Brock onslaught. Ford withdrew its support for touring car racing at the end of 1978, with Moffat and Bond going their separate ways.[1]
1978-1999
After 1978, Ford withdrew all development and involvement in Australian motor racing. Various drivers however stuck to ford products, and the XD and XE Falcon's saw success in the 1981, 1982 and 1984 as well as the 1981 James Hardie 1000 with Dick Johnson at the wheel. Johnson also told that he never really had official help from Ford until the early days of the Group 3A 5.0L touring cars (the forerunner of V8 Supercars) which began in late 1992, although like most top Ford drivers he received support from Ford's auto parts brand Motorcraft.
In order for the Falcon to still be eligible for racing though, a limited number of XD Falcon's were produced by Phase Autos, with aerodynamic improvements by Ford Australia designer Wayne Draper. It wasn't until 1999 that Ford supported a proper factory outfit, purchasing Glenn Seton's team and renaming it Ford Tickford Racing. Seton, the son of former Ford Works driver Barry Seton, had been receiving financial support from Ford since the 1996 season with his Falcon's major sponsor being Ford Credit.
In rallying, in 1977 a very competitive Ford works rally team was formed with 1971, 1972 and 1974 Australian Rally Champion Colin Bond as team manager and lead driver with future triple ARC champion Greg Carr as the other team driver. Carr won the 1978 Australian Rally Championship (his first) for Ford in a Ford Escort BDA. The team was wound up at the end of the 1980 season.
Ford also entered a three car Ford Cortina team in the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial which started and finished at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. Despite the late decision to enter the event, the Cortinas, led by Colin Bond, were quick but fragile with the example driven by Gregg Carr proving to be "the fastesty combination in the event".[2] Carr eventually placed fifth.[2] The 20,000 km rally (ran clockwise around the country over mostly dirt roads) was won by Peter Brock in a HDT prepared Holden VB Commodore. The HDT would in fact lock out the podium with a 1-2-3 finish.
List of Championships and major races won
Note: Not including Bathurst or Sandown endurance wins (see below)
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1,000-kilometre (620 mi) touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as a championship event for Supercars.
Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found success, winning the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 mile race at Bathurst, New South Wales in a Holden Monaro.
Bruce Alexander McPhee was an Australian motor racing driver. He is most famous for winning the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500, defeating both the Holden and Ford factory teams.
John GossOAM is an Australian retired motor racing driver who competed in his home country during the 1960s, 1970's and 1980's. He is the only driver to have won Australia's two most prestigious races, the Bathurst 1000, and the Australian Grand Prix (1976).
Robert Morris is an Australian former racing driver. Morris was one of the leading touring car drivers during the 1970s and continued racing until 1984. Morris won Australia's premier Touring car race, the Bathurst 1000 in 1976. He also won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1979. Morris was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2004.
The 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was a motor race for Group C Touring Cars, held on 2 October 1977 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the 18th in a sequence of "Bathurst 1000" events commencing with the 1960 Armstrong 500.
The 1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 17th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 3 October 1976 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race was open to cars complying with CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations.
The 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 14th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. This was the first race to be held under the new metricised distance of 1000 kilometres, rather than the 500 miles previously contested. It was held on 30 September 1973 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to cars eligible to the locally developed CAMS Group C touring car regulations with four engine capacity based classes and it was the 3rd round of the 1973 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was an endurance motor race open to Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The race was held on 1 October 1972 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in four classes defined by Capacity Price Units, where the engine capacity, expressed in litres, was multiplied by the purchase price in Australian dollars to arrive at a CP value for each vehicle. It was the 13th running of the Bathurst 500 race and the last to be held over the original distance of 500 miles. It was also the last to allow drivers to compete for the full distance without a relief driver. The race was the third round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
The 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was a motor race held on 3 October 1971 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was open to production vehicles competing in showroom condition, with the field divided into five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars. Although an outright winner was officially recognised, all other official awards were for class results only. The race was the 12th in a sequence of annual "Bathurst 500" production car races dating back to the 1960 Armstrong 500. The outright winner was Allan Moffat driving a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III.
The 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the 11th running of the Bathurst 500 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1970 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to standard production sedans competing in five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle.
Leo Geoghegan was a former Australian racing driver. He was the elder of two sons of former New South Wales car dealer Tom Geoghegan, both of whom become dominant names in Australian motor racing in the 1960s. While his younger brother Ian "Pete" Geoghegan had much of his success in touring car racing, winning five Australian Touring Car Championships, Leo spent most of his racing career in open wheel racing cars.
The Ford Falcon GT is an automobile produced by Ford Australia from 1967 to 1976 as the performance version of its Falcon model range. Its production was resumed by a joint venture in 1992 and 1997 with Tickford, and between 2003 and 2014 with Prodrive, the latter being marketed as the FPV GT. The Falcon GT is inextricably linked with the history of Australian sport sedan car production and with the evolution of Australian domestic motor racing.
The National Motor Racing Museum (NMRM) is located in the regional New South Wales city of Bathurst, approximately 200 km west of Sydney. The museum is situated adjacent to the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit at the end of Conrod Straight, close to the city.
The Supercar scare was a national controversy that arose in Australia in 1972 in regard to the sale to the public of high performance "race homologation" versions of Australian-built passenger cars.
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