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
Pos. Class No. EntrantOfficial Programme, Gallaher 500 (1966) Drivers Car Laps 1 C 13 BMC (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Rauno Aaltonen Bob Holden Morris Cooper S130 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. JamiesonCraig Watson, The Giant Killers, Motor Sport Legends, August / Oct 2008, pages 40-45 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 Bluebird 1300 117 23 A 49 Nissan Motor Company (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. John Roxburgh Doug Whiteford Datsun Bluebird 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 Bluebird 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 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 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 DNS B 44 M.G. Car Club (N.S.W.) Matt Daddo 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 : Warren Weldon. Bill Slattery, No. 2 Studebaker Lark, B M C Blitzkrieg in 1966 Gallaher 4500, Australian Motor Manual, December 1866, pages 44 & 45
References
Further reading
External links Race results at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au Race images at www.autopics.com.au