The 1965 Armstrong 500 was the sixth running of the
Bathurst 500 touring car
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof).
"Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Th ...
race. It was held on 3 October 1965 at the
Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...
just outside
Bathurst, New South Wales,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. 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.
[Australian Motor Manual, August 1965, page 4] 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.
The outright winning car was the
Ford Cortina Mk.I GT500 entered by Fairfield Motors and driven by
Barry Seton and emerging young driver
Midge Bosworth
Midge Bosworth (born 23 June 1941) is a former Australian racing driver.
Bosworth raced in the 1960s and is most remembered for winning the 1965 Bathurst 500, co-driving with Barry Seton in a Fairfield Motors entered Ford Cortina GT500. It ...
. Second was the Grawill Motors entered Cortina driven mainly by
Bruce McPhee with one lap driven by
Barry Mulholland. Third, and one lap behind the two Cortina was the factory entered
Morris Cooper S of Brian Foley and Peter Manton.
Class structure
Class A
Class A was for cars under £920. It was contested by
Datsun Bluebird,
Fiat 850, 1.5 litre
Ford Cortina 220
The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in fiv ...
,
Morris Mini de Luxe and
Vauxhall Viva, although all the Datsuns were withdrawn prior to race start due to wheel cracking failures.
Class B
The £921 to £1,020 class featured 1.5 litre
Ford Cortina 240,
Isuzu Bellett
The Isuzu Bellett is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Isuzu between 1963 and 1973. Designed by Isuzu, the Bellett replaced the Isuzu Hillman Minx, manufactured by Isuzu under license with the Rootes Group.
The car was a ...
,
Morris Cooper
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
,
Renault R8 and
Toyota Corona.
Class C
The £1,021 to £1,300 class was dominated by the
Morris Cooper S, but also contained
Chrysler Valiant,
Ford Cortina GT and
Holden HD X2.
Class D
The £1,301 to £2,000 class featured the first of what came to be known as the 'Bathurst specials', the
Ford Cortina GT500
The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in fiv ...
named for the race. The class also contained
Fiat 2300,
Humber Vogue,
Studebaker Lark
The Studebaker Lark is a compact car that was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.
From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" fr ...
,
Triumph 2000
The Triumph 2000 is a mid-sized, rear wheel drive automobile which was produced in Coventry by the Triumph Motor Company between 1963 and 1977. It was introduced on 15 October 1963. It was styled by Giovanni Michelotti.
It competed with the c ...
and
Volvo 122.
Results
Statistics
* Fastest Lap – #29 Brian Foley – 3:13.7 (lap record)
* Average Speed – 110 km/h
* Race time of first car home – 7:16:45.1
[Why Cortinas Win, Modern Motor, December 1965, pages 38 to 41 + 66 to 67]
References
*
Further reading
* Australian Motor Manual, December 1965, page 47
External links
1965 Armstrong 500 race summary, race results and video, www.uniquecarsandparts.com.auBathurst 1965 images, autopics.com.au
{{Australian Touring Car Racing
Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales
Armstrong 500 Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong, O ...
Armstrong 500