1966 Gallaher 500

Motor race in Australia August 2021 October 2011 1966 Gallaher 500 1965 1967 thumb|250px|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 raceIncludes 1960, 1961 & 1962 Armstrong 500 races held at Phillip Island 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.Bill Tuckey, Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1981, pages 114-121 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 Bluebird 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 thumb|Rauno Aaltonen and Bob Holden won the race outright driving this Morris Cooper S. The car is pictured in 2006. thumb|George Reynolds and Barry Ferguson placed fifth in Class B driving this Isuzu Bellett. The car is pictured in 2015 Pos. Class No. EntrantOfficial Programme, Gallaher 500 (1966) Drivers Car Laps 1 C 13 BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Finland Rauno AaltonenAustralia Bob Holden Morris Cooper S130 2 C 17 Vaughan & Lane Pty. Ltd. Australia Fred GibsonAustralia Bill Stanley Morris Cooper S 129 3 C 22 Regal Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Bruce McPheeAustralia Barry Mulholland Morris Cooper S 129 4 C 27 Marque Motors Australia Arthur DavisAustralia Paul Mander Morris Cooper S 128 5 C 10 Baulkham Hills Service Station Australia Peter BrownAustralia Bob Cook Morris Cooper S 128 6 C 9 L. Gordon Dent Pty. Ltd. Australia Harry FirthAustralia Ern Abbott Morris Cooper S 128 7 C 24 W. JamiesonCraig Watson, The Giant Killers, Motor Sport Legends, August / Oct 2008, pages 40-45 Australia John LefflerAustralia Bill Jamieson Morris Cooper S 127 8 C 23 BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Australia John FrenchAustralia Steve Harvey Morris Cooper S 127 9 C 16 B. Arentz Australia Barry ArentzAustralia Barry Seton Morris Cooper S 125 10 D 5 Eiffel Tower Motors Australia Jack NougherAustralia David O'Keefe Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Automatic 124 11 D 6 Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service Pty. Ltd. Australia Alton BoddenbergAustralia Digby Cooke Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Automatic 122 12 B 41 Gordon Stewart's Sports Car Centre Australia Don HollandAustralia Peter Cray Morris Cooper 120 13 D 3 Australian Motor Industries Ltd. Australia Max StewartAustralia Bob Young Triumph 2000 120 14 C 20 R. C. Kearns Australia Ron KearnsAustralia Barry Quayle Fiat 1500 120 15 D 8 British & Continental Cars Australia Kevin BartlettAustralia John Harvey Volvo 122S 119 16 C 14 Australian Motor Industries Ltd. Australia Bill BuckleAustralia Allan Mottram Toyota Crown 119 17 B 33 Vern Potts Australia Doug ChivasAustralia Doug Chivas, Jr. Morris Cooper 119 18 B 42 Brian Foley Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Laurie StewartAustralia Ray Morris Morris Cooper 119 19 D 7 M. Savva Australia Mike SavvaAustralia Herb Taylor Holden HD X2 118 20 B 37 Australian Motor Industries Australia Brian ReedAustralia Des Kelly Toyota Corona 117 21 B 29 Canopus Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia George ReynoldsAustralia Barry Ferguson Isuzu Bellett 1500 117 22 A 54 Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. Japan Moto KitanoJapan Kunimitsu Takahashi Datsun Bluebird 1300 117 23 A 49 Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. Australia John RoxburghAustralia Doug Whiteford Datsun Bluebird 1300 116 24 A 53 Peakhurst Tyre Service Pty. Ltd. Australia Brian LawlerAustralia Harry Gapps Ford Cortina Mk.I 220 116 25 B 45 Motor Racing Components Australia Lionel AyersAustralia Max Volkers Hillman Minx Series 6 116 26 A 51 Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. Australia John ColwellAustralia Fred Sutherland Datsun Bluebird 1300 116 27 B 32 Australian Motor Industries Australia Brian SampsonAustralia Lew Marshall Toyota Corona 116 28 A 47 Frank Crott Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Trevor MeehanAustralia Ian Hindmarsh Fiat 850 113 29 A 55 Marque Motors Australia Mike SchneiderAustralia Bruce Wright Morris Mini De Luxe 113 30 B 40 John Rhodin Pty. Ltd. Australia Arthur TreloarAustralia Colin Bond Isuzu Bellett 1500 111 31 A 56 Radial Tyre Service Pty. Ltd. Australia George GarthAustralia Ray Marquet Ford Cortina Mk.I 1200 110 32 A 50 Ken Lindsay Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Ken LindsayAustralia Des West Ford Cortina Mk.I 1200 110 33 B 34 Peter Williamson Pty. Ltd. Australia Peter WilliamsonAustralia Alex Macarthur Toyota Corona 110 34 A 57 K. D. McCallum & Coy Australia John T. SmithAustralia Dennis Gregory Morris Mini De Luxe 109 35 B 43 Renault R8 Australia Bob EdgertonAustralia Ross Edgerton Renault R8 106 36 B 31 Varsity Auto Centre Australia John PriskAustralia Mike Martin Morris Cooper 105 37 B 35 Autobahn Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Bruce DarkeAustralia Don James Isuzu Bellett 1500 104 38 D 2 Needham's Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Warren WeldonAustralia Bill Slattery Studebaker Lark 88 39 A 48 M. Bailey Australia Malcolm BaileyAustralia John Hicks Morris 850 87 40 B 38 Wheelmar Distributors Pty. Ltd. Australia Carl KennedyAustralia Doug Stewart Prince Skyline 1500 82 41 B 30 Denis Geary Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Gary HodgeAustralia Denis Geary Ford Cortina Mk.I 1500 74 DNF C 21 Vaughan & Lane Pty. Ltd. Australia Frank MatichAustralia Frank Demuth Bill Tuckey and David Greenhalgh, Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1960 to 1989 - The first 30 years, page 521 Morris Cooper S 126 DNF A 46 Bill Burns Australia Bill BurnsAustralia Alex Lazich Fiat 850 DNF A 58 G. Shoesmith Australia Gary ShoesmithAustralia Tony Robards Vauxhall Viva 94 DNF C 26 M. Crampton Engineering Australia Mick CramptonAustralia Geoff Leeds Morris Cooper S DNF C 18 C. G. Smith Australia Charlie SmithAustralia Ron Haylen Morris Cooper S 64 NC C 19 Radford Carriers Australia Rick RadfordAustralia David Bye Morris Cooper S 54 DNF D 4 British & Continental Cars Australia Gerry ListerAustralia Graham Porter Volvo 122S 52 DNF C 15 W. Yates Pty. Ltd. Australia Ken StaceyAustralia Mal Henderson Morris Cooper S DNF C 28 BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd. UK Paddy HopkirkAustralia Brian Foley Morris Cooper S 28 DNF C 12 Ron Hodgson Motors Pty. Ltd. Australia Ron HodgsonAustralia Bob Beasley Morris Cooper S 15 DNF C 25 P. Coogan Australia George ForrestAustralia Frank Hann Morris Cooper S 12 DNF B 39 Wheelmar Distributors Pty. Ltd. Australia Jack MurrayAustralia Bill Ford Prince Skyline 1500 DNS B 44 M.G. Car Club (N.S.W.) Australia Matt Daddo Australia Warren Carden Morris Cooper - Statistics Fastest lap: #21 Frank Matich - 3m 10s (116.94 km/h) (lap record) Race time of first car to finish: 7:11:29.1 Average speed: 112 km/h Fastest flying 1/8 mi: Warren Weldon. Bill Slattery, No. 2 Studebaker Lark, 119.04 mphB M C Blitzkrieg in 1966 Gallaher 4500, Australian Motor Manual, December 1866, pages 44 & 45 References Further reading Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 The first 40 years Greenhalgh David Thomas B. Floyd Bill Tuckey Chevron Publishing Group Pty Limited Hornsby 1966 The first international race 2000 1-875221-12-3 138–145 & 454 External links Race results at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au Race images at www.autopics.com.au Category:Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales Gallaher 500