Nice to see it all in colour, back in the day we watched at home on an AWA black and white TV with a screen smaller than todays computers. Leo and Pete Geohagan, legendary racing brothers of whom I was a lifelong fan. I remember Pete doing a celebrity race prior to an F1 GP in Melbourne in the mid 80's. I think they were all in Ford Lasers or Nissan Pulsars. Even with his big frame and late middle age, he still won by a country mile.
Channel 7 coverage started at 7:55am. Race started at 9:30am. In the 1960s there were not enough cameras to cover all of the race track. Race in 1967 named after Gallaher cigarettes.
my farther had one of those model fords brought it brand new he washed it with water and kerosene he had the car till the day he died 7 years ago the paint was perfect no rust no fading the inside was like new same motor and transmission i sold i to a collector 45 grand it had 78 thousand miles on the clock
The years following this race was the golden era of Australian motor racing. Australia stood still to watch 2 totally different car which were the mighty GTHO versus the legendary Holden GTR-XU1. The battle between these 2 cars put Bathurst on the world stage for motor racing.
What rubbish, this race was for real cars that real people could buy at their local dealer for a dozen different brands of cars, not a contrived event to promote two manufacturers to the exclusion of all the others. Oh, and where are they now???
Yes those were awesome golden nail biting years, with fierce brand loyalty. Ford man myself first Australian super car gt in only one color gold which was never able to be replicated.
@@paulhall170Holden and Ford Australia both died due to lack of public buyer support and through a failure of both to follow buyer trends and preferences. Beyond that, the two cars he mentioned were based directly on the same vehicles available on the showroom floor. Yes, they had roll cages, racing seats and 5 point safety belts.. All was to make motor racing safer. Remember, the Australian Touring Car Championship extended into the late 90's, before the "Supercar" rubbish made its appearance.
Back in the day it was the 'Big Three' in one of five classes, that all raced at once, A,B,C,D,E. That is why you will see a big black letter on the bonnet and side. Leo Geohagan led in his RT Charger for more than half the race in 1971, until a faulty earth lead meant he had to be push started in the pits, which meant a 1 lap penalty for each of his stops. In 1972 Ford and Holden had been given such a scare that they cheated and used larger brakes than what was available on the cars in the showroom, and Doug Chivas still raced a Charger to 2nd place. Chrysler's race program had been going for 4 years at this stage, while the other 2 had 8-10 yrs. In 1973 a highly tuned 340 V8 was planned with 4 wheel disc brakes, however 'journo' Evan Greene put the mocha on everything. So Leo went across the ditch to NZ with the Charger and subsequently won everything. Now there are many who will argue, about the cheating or the 340cui Charger with 4 wheel discs, I have even seen articles or videos refuting the 340 on the grounds of weight. However aluminium versions were being custom made in the US. I have met Leo Geohagan many times since about 1990, I was a big fan and Chrysler fanatic and all this information came directly to me, from him, over a cup of tea or two. So there is no better source of information, than from the man himself. In terms of wow factor, just go to a classic race meeting and see which car now turns the most heads. Not the GTR or the XY, and ask yourself what was the inspiration for the XA or A9X two doors. Chrysler led the way, right back to the 2 door Pacers. I owned several of each over the years. I'll take a VH RT-E49 any day of the week. Make mine plum crazy with black stripes and a white interior please. Edit: Harry Firth was later a scrutineer at classic touring car races and the story goes he failed 5 Torana's as soon as he saw them. When asked 'why' he responded 'they're illegal, I know because I built them!'.
@@gooseknackShowroom spec ended when Group C was introduced. From 1973 onwards, the cars were anything but the same as the showroom. I know because I was there.
Ahh, the glory days of Bathurst. On a visit back to Aus in late 1983, I took the VCR tapes back to London with me to view and show the Poms, the race. Before I saw them, some mongrel bastards broke into the new flat and stole a whole bunch of shit. All the other stuff was insured but my precious Bathurst tapes were lost forever. A long time memory of the race that got away. All due to a couple of lowlifes. The halcyon days of proper motor racing. Lakeside, Surfers LUVVED it.
I learnt to drive in a 68 Toyota Corona, I couldn't imagine someone trying to go racing in one. Four wheel drum brakes, a 1.6 litre engine, and a gear stick a foot long would have made racing them a real challenge...
The Toyota Corona was after a class win against cars of similar price that also did not have high specifications. Or even just to finish the race well without breaking down was a sales plus compared to some more expensive cars.
great vid, thanks.... i used to have a 67 Fairmont and it floated around like a boat. horrible handling and cornering.... back then we had to spend money on replacing and modifying everything. better brakes, suspension, rims and tyres, motor work, carby/manifold, extractors and exhaust.... now even a soccer mums vehicle like my Kia Grand Carnival is fast and handles reasonably no mods at all.
I think I've managed to sync the audio. It looks right to me if you move the video track forward 10 seconds and 9 frames (at 25 frames per second = 259 frames). File is about 200mb - happy to pop it in google drive for you to download. Many thanks for the upload.
Wooww 1967 # The first COLOUR VIDEO RECORDED SOO BEAUTIFUL ! i was only 6 years old , still running naked around the village , like the car still using thin tyres and no off-set rim ! Sharpe CONERING THE CAR GO TO GHE SIDE ! The absorber and the spring should be upgrade during heavy coner its able to hold the LOAD AND SMOOTHLY move !
I was looking at the drivers as they left the pit box, peering over their shoulders. Then I realised there's no wall separating the track from the pits. Brave mechanics in the pits, just getting on with it. ('67 is the year I was born. Everything was dangerous when I grew up ...)
That was awesome , i watched the whole video , amazing , lol , some big names in there , safety wasnt a and priority , old mate changing a tyre and has fuel poured all over him HAHAHA , loved it 😆
An awesome look back with well known Alfa Romeo dealers Mildren and Foley. Is that a young Kevin Bartlett as a member of team Alfa? Imagine racing the Leyland Austin or Hillman Imp... think I saw them in the mix! Thank you :-))
BMC back in 1967. No Leyland for a few years. No Austins ran. All Morris Mini Cooper S cars in Australia. Previous year the Morris Cooper S filled positions 1 to 9 outright. Domination of V8 cars and all others never to be repeated. Austin name reserved for the larger BMC cars in Australia since about 1962. Only the Cooper S models did well. Wikipedia should have how the Imp. Not a memorable result but fast on the twisty flat bits back then.
Many thanks for this one. Wondering if you had another copy of this, as the audio/video synch is out by about 10 seconds. Or is this how its provided? Cheers.
I remember the old days with cricket , when the batsman hit the ball the commentator would tap his pencil on his desk to imitate the bat hitting the ball , awesome !!
For better or worse it was back in the day when commentators had complete license to say as they please. The commentator in question doesn't even know the difference between a Corona and a Corolla, LOL.
It was great to watch this again, the variety of makes and the variety of drivers. But the writing was already on the wall, moving away from the original concept. Sure they still had to be sold in a minimum number and from the showroom, but introduction of 'specials' from the GT500 in 1965, the 1275 Cooper S and the start of the V8s in this clip, it had already lost the ideal on the Armstrong 500. I'm not really complaining though. There was fabulous racing and hard luck stories aplenty. It was compulsory viewing on the Sunday of the NSW long weekend.
The Mildren Alfa team was dudded here, they were laps ahead, thanks to good pace and fewer pit stops for fuel, but, of course, it wouldn't do not to have a Ford or Holden win, so a dirty backroom deal was made and we have the result we wanted.....
Also the lead Alfa was even further in front until it picked up a stone in the radiator lapping a slower car heading down conrod, by the time the temp gauge started to soar they were already past the pits.
The Mildren Alfa team wasn't even running in the same class as the Falcons, or the Holdens. Their only competition were two other 1600 GTVs and a Dodge Phoenix of all things.
@@greebo7857 yes that's true. But, with a little effort (its not hard with modern technology) the sound and video could have been made a lot more in sync.
@@Holden308 Fixed - little effort indeed! I just left a comment for the uploader - hopefully he can upload the new video in place of this one so the views and comment remain intact.
The 302 XT GT would have won in `68 beating the 327 Monaro if it wasnt for a stone hitting the radiator in the Gibson/Seton car. Holden fans use excuses when they lose so i will too. You can take 5 or 6 wins away from Brock for cheating & im not talking about him swapping cars, he used 4V valves when the rules said 2V valves & he won a few by luck not skill.
Alfa would of won in 67 but for a holed radiator lapping a slower car down Conrod, they had passed the pits before the temp gauge rose. Alfa ended 2nd in 67 but beat all the Fords home in 68 coming in 4th and on the lead lap.
@@rodneyjones4890 Really? There are 2V and 4V heads, but no such thing as "2V / 4V valves". I think you're getting confused, as the "V" stands for Venturi, not valves.
The days when racing was affordable and for the masses, people were interested because it related to the cars they drove at the time. Now it’s elitist and very discriminating against those without money.
@@hcrun Early tech microphones & Forest Elbow doesnt help. Have you ever been there ? The speed of the car in a rock valley wall & early microphone tech, it puts the sound out of time just like loud speakers, they are out of time from the person speaking the words to when you hear it.
Harry firth and cheating was just natural to him.. Peter brock had ruined what should have been a great career by stealing race wins. Like oh well I will just kick my team mate out of his car fudge the lap scoring and put a car back on the lead lap and pretend we are a real race team.. now days it Roland Dane. Try developing some skills Holden hero’s darling.
