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 the purchase price in Australian dollars of the vehicle.

The race was dominated by the newly formed Holden Dealer Team fielding three Holden Monaro GTS350s, with Colin Bond and Tony Roberts taking the chequered flag; teammates Peter Brock and Des West finished third and the team's third car finished sixth. In second position were the previous year’s race winners Bruce McPhee and his single-lap co-driver Barry Mulholland, driving a Ford Falcon GTHO. McPhee and Mulholland, who had won the 1968 race driving a Holden Monaro GTS327, had originally intended to race a Monaro 350 in 1969 but after receiving no help from Holden, instead decided to race one of the new Falcons.

Brock and Melbourne based Canadian Allan Moffat made their Bathurst débuts in the race; Brock with Harry Firth's Holden Dealer Team, and Moffat driving a works Falcon GTHO with Alan Hamilton. Between them, Brock and Moffat would go on to win 13 of the next 17 Bathurst 500/1000s (until 1987), with Brock winning a record nine times (all for Holden), and Moffat winning four times for Ford.

The Ford Works Team were the favourites to win the race with their new Falcon GTHOs, which with their new 5.8-litre (351 cui "Windsor") V8 engines proved to have a speed advantage over the 5.7-litre (350 cui) Monaros. However, the decision by Ford Works Team's American manager Al Turner to import special racing tyres for the Falcons proved to be a disaster. During the race numerous tyre failures put the Works cars out of contention. After early tyre failures on the Ian (more commonly known as "Pete") and Leo Geoghegan car, as well as the Fred Gibson and Barry Seton car, Turner called Moffat into the pits for a tyre change. There Moffat cemented his status as not only a top driver, but one who could take care of his car when it was found that unlike his team mates Pete Geoghegan and Seton, Moffat had been far easier on his tyres and that the stop was not actually necessary. As of 2025, Moffat believes that this decision cost himself and co-driver Alan Hamilton the race win. The day after the race, Ford ran a full page newspaper advert stating "We were a little deflated" referring to the tyre failures.

The 1969 race was also notable for the first-lap crash which saw at least one third of the field forced to retire or continue with accident damage. Bill Brown rolled his Falcon GTHO coming through Skyline, all but blocking the track while John French, who qualified 21st, rolled his Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV trying to avoid the carnage that Brown's rollover caused. One driver lucky to escape the carnage was Allan Moffat, who had pulled up just out of The Cutting on the first lap with his Falcon stuck in neutral. Once he got going he was able to weave through the stopped vehicles and debris at Skyline and continue on his way. For Brown, it would be the first of three rollovers in three years at Bathurst on the same piece of road (McPhillamy Park - Skyline), with the third and last in 1971 bringing a lucky escape from death for himself and a pair of quick-reacting and fleet-footed flag marshals who only just managed to scamper out of the way.

Class structure

Cars competed in five classes based on the purchase price (in Australian dollars) of the vehicle.

Class A Class A was for cars which retailed for up to $1,860. It was made up of Datsun 1000s, a Hillman GT, Morris Mini Ks and Toyota Corollas.

Class B Class B was for cars which retailed for $1,861 to $2,250. More than half of the class’ cars were Datsun 1600s, but a Ford Cortina, Hillman Gazelle, Morris 1500, Renault 10 and Volkswagen 1600 were also entered.

Class C The $2,251 to $3,100 Class C saw a mix of a Chrysler Valiant, Fiat 125s, Ford Capris, Mazda R100s, Morris Cooper Ss and a Renault 16.

Class D The $3,101 to $4,500 class featured the outright contenders, Ford Falcon GTHOs and Holden Monaros (with twice as many Falcons as Monaros), but also contained a single Toyota Corona 1900.

Class E For cars over $4,500, this class had a single automatic gearbox version of the Ford Falcon GT but otherwise was all Alfa Romeo, with 1750 GTVs and a 1750 Berlina.

Top 10 Qualifiers Pos No Entrant Drivers Car Qual Pole 59 Ford Australia Ian Geoghegan Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:48.9 2 51 Fair Deal Car Sales Digby Cooke Holden HT Monaro GTS350 2:50.0 3 46 Kloster Pty Ltd Bruce McPhee Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:50.1 4 61 Ford Australia Allan Moffat Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:53.6 5 60 Ford Australia Fred Gibson Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:53.7 6 56 Alto-Ford Pty Ltd David McKay Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:53.7 7 44 Holden Dealer Team Colin Bond Holden HT Monaro GTS350 2:53.8 8 42 Holden Dealer Team Peter Macrow Holden HT Monaro GTS350 2:54.5 9 50 McLeod Ford John Goss Ford XW Falcon GTHO 2:55.3 10 43 Holden Dealer Team Des West Holden HT Monaro GTS350 2:55.4

Results

Pos Class No Entrant Drivers Car Laps QualPos 1 D 44 Holden Dealer Team Colin Bond Tony Roberts Holden HT Monaro GTS350 130 7 2 D 46 Kloster Pty Ltd Bruce McPhee Barry Mulholland Ford XW Falcon GTHO 130 2 3 D 43 Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock Des West Holden HT Monaro GTS350 130 10 4 D 61 Ford Australia Allan Moffat Alan Hamilton Ford XW Falcon GTHO 129 4 5 D 59 Ford Australia Ian Geoghegan Leo Geoghegan Ford XW Falcon GTHO 128 1 6 D 42 Holden Dealer Team Peter Macrow Henk Woelders Holden HT Monaro GTS350 128 8 7 D 54 Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd Bob Beasley Bob Muir Ford XW Falcon GTHO 127 18 8 E 71 Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo Kevin Bartlett Len Goodwin Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 126 22 9 E 68 C Smith Charlie Smith Bill Ford Ford XW Falcon GT Automatic 126 20 10 D 58 Byrt Ford Martin Chenery Ernie Johnson Ford XW Falcon GTHO 125 19 11 E 69 Canberra Speed Shop Peter Brown Ray Gulson Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina 122 27 12 D 63 R Genders Joe Butta Bob Genders Ford XW Falcon GTHO 122 24 13 D 48 Rowell Thiele Ford Pty Ltd Mike Savva Bob Wilkinson Ford XW Falcon GTHO 121 11 14 C 30 Waterloo High Performance Tuning Centre Ron Gillard Warren Gracie Morris Cooper S 119 36 15 C 38 Grenville Motors P/L Peter Finlay Bob Forbes Fiat 125 119 34 16 C 31 Zanardo & Rodriguez Sales & Service Ron Kearns Gerry Lister Fiat 125 119 37 17 C 22 Graham Ryan Auto Repairs Graham Ryan Mike Kable Chrysler Valiant Pacer 118 30 18 B 18 W.H. Motors Bruce Stewart George Garth Datsun 1600 117 41 19 C 25 G Cooke Gary Cooke Geoff Spence Mazda R100 117 35 20 C 32 Marque Motors Ian Hindmarsh Bill Stanley Morris Cooper S 117 33 21 C 23 Trevor Mason Developments Trevor Mason Neil Mason Mazda R100 117 32 22 C 26 Regal Motors Pty Ltd Les Grose Graham Moore Morris Cooper S 117 45 23 B 15 Datsun Racing Team John Roxburgh Doug Whiteford Datsun 1600 117 44 24 B 17 W.H. Motors Don Smith Peter Wilson Datsun 1600 114 43 25 B 19 McInnes Automotive Conversions Dave Morrow Bob Wootton Datsun 1600 114 51 26 D 57 P Bradford Roy Griffiths Glyn Scott Ford XW Falcon GTHO 114 17 27 B 14 Datsun Racing Team William Coad Jon Leighton Datsun 1600 113 46 28 C 28 D Frazer David Frazer Allan Johns Morris Cooper S 113 42 29 A 2 AMI Toyota Brian Sampson Bob Morris Toyota Corolla 112 52 30 A 6 Datsun Racing Team Bill Evans Barry Tapsall Datsun 1000 110 55 31 B 20 McLeod Ford Pty Ltd Max Dickson Diane Dickson Ford Cortina Mk.II 240 108 57 32 B 10 Provincial Motors Pty Ltd Gary Campbell Gerry Murphy Volkswagen 1600 107 58 33 C 27 President Car Sales Bill Bryden John T. Smith Renault 16TS 107 53 34 A 7 Kent BMC David Bye Richard Willis Morris Mini K 104 61 35 B 9 R Edgerton Bob Edgerton Ross Edgerton Renault 10 100 62 36 A 8 P & R Williams Arthur Olsen Sandra Bennett Morris Mini K 99 63 37 B 12 R. G. Lanyon Alf Barrett Mel Mollison Morris 1500 97 56 38 D 52 Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd Harry Gapps Frank Hann Ford XW Falcon GTHO 94 23 39 A 4 C.J. Cronin Martin Cortese Steve Parkes Toyota Corolla 93 60 40 C 35 T Meehan Trevor Meehan Mal Brewster Morris Cooper S 93 39 41 B 16 M.T.R. Services Nick Ledingham Damon Beck Hillman Gazelle 84 49 42 C 36 E.M. Automation Pty Ltd Paul Mander Phil Edwards Morris Cooper S 82 29 DNF D 51 Fair Deal Car Sales Digby Cooke David Bowden Holden HT Monaro GTS350 96 2 DNF D 60 Ford Australia Fred Gibson Barry Seton Ford XW Falcon GTHO 93 5 DNF C 24 K Grose Keith Grose John Wright Ford Capri Mk.I 1600GT 92 38 DNF A 1 A Johns George Geshopulos Ray Scanlan Hillman GT 88 59 DNF C 37 Grand Prix Auto Services Ann Thomson Carole Corness Morris Cooper S 82 47 DNF D 56 Alto-Ford Pty Ltd David McKay Brian Foley Ford XW Falcon GTHO 78 6 DNF D 45 AMI Toyota Max Stewart Brian Reed Toyota Corona 1900SL 78 28 DNF B 21 M.T.R. Services Hans Tholstrup Brian Connell Datsun 1600 73 64 DNF D 50 McLeod Ford Pty Ltd John Goss Denis Cribbin Ford XW Falcon GTHO 50 9 DNF C 33 Brian Foley Motors Pty Ltd Christine Gibson Lynne Keefe Fiat 125 48 40 DNF D 62 Anthony Horden & Sons Ltd Nick Petrilli Max Stahl Holden HT Monaro GTS350 45 15 DNF D 64 Boyded of Bankstown Bill Tuckey Sib Petralia Holden HT Monaro GTS350 44 13 DNF D 53 B Arentz Barry Arentz Brian Michelmore Ford XW Falcon GTHO 36 12 DNF C 39 D.H. Whitehead Bernie Haehnle Peter Wherrett Mazda R100 31 31 DNF B 11 Dependable Motor Sales Pty Ltd Bruce Darke Dennis Cooke Datsun 1600 4 50 DNF C 29 Central Motors Penrith P/L Bob Cook Alan Cant Ford Capri Mk.I 1600GT 1 48 DNF D 55 Alto-Ford Pty Ltd Bill Brown Phil West Ford XW Falcon GTHO 0 16 DNF E 72 Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo John French Doug Chivas Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 0 21 DNF E 67 Bryan Thomson Motors Bryan Thomson Graham Ritter Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 0 25 DNF C 34 Varsity Auto Centre John Prisk Alan Cameron Morris Cooper S 0 27 DSQ A 3 AMI Toyota Barry Ferguson Jim Laing-Peach Toyota Corolla 103 54 DNSComplete Results, 1969 Bathurst 500, Australian Motor Manual, January 1970, pages 26 & 27 D 49 Young & Green Pty. Ltd. David Sheldon Don Holland Holden HT Monaro GTS350 15 DNS C 40 Teterin Engineering Pty. Ltd. R. Marquet J. Andrews Morris Cooper S DNS A 5 Datsun Racing Team Bob Holden Don Toffolon Datsun 1000

Statistics Pole Position - #59 Ian Geoghegan - 2:48.9 Fastest Lap - #61 Moffat/Hamilton & #60 Gibson/Seton - 2:52.1 (lap record) Race time of winning car: 6:32:25 Fastest Flying : Bruce McPhee & Barry Mulholland (Ford Falcon GTHO): 135.95 mph

References

External links 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500, www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au