Bruce Alexander McPhee (11 February 1927 – 22 September 2009) was an Australian

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

driver. He is most famous for winning the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 (now the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

), defeating both the Holden and Ford factory teams.

Career

At the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500, McPhee drove a

Holden Monaro The Holden Monaro ( ) is a rear-wheel drive coupé manufactured by General Motors Holden in Australia from 1968 to 1975 and later reintroduced from 2001 to 2005. It was also manufactured as a 4-door sedan from 1973 to 1977. Three generations of ...

GTS327 painted yellow with black stripes with the number 13. His co-driver, who drove just one lap that day, was

Barry Mulholland Barry Mulholland (14 June 1940 – 28 April 2006) was an Australian racing driver. While a skilled racing driver, Mulholland was more infamously known as Bruce McPhee's 'contractual obligation' co-driver. In endurance production touring cars McP ...

. McPhee would later claim in ''Australian Muscle Car'' magazine that an attempt to sabotage his Monaro was made the night before the race. As the race cars were road registered in that era, McPhee had driven the car back to his motel in Bathurst for the night. When he came out on race morning to fill the car with petrol, a number of tree leaves floated to the top of the filler. Luckily this was found before any potential damage could have put the car out of the race. The Monaro, supplied and sponsored by

Wyong Wyong () is a town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 63 km SSW of Newcastle and 89 km NNE of Sydney. Established in 1888, it is one of the two administrative centres for the local government area. Hist ...

Motors, ran the race on one set of used, almost bald tyres, McPhee believing that they were faster than tyres with full tread (race regulations at the time stated the cars had to race on road tyres). Towards the end of the race track marshals around 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 ...

were reporting seeing sparks from the Monaro's

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

tyres as they had worn down to their steel belts after almost 500 miles (800 km) of racing. McPhee entered the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 originally intending to run one of the new HT Monaro GTS350's, but when he received no help from

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

to do so he instead drove a privately entered XW Ford Falcon GTHO. Driving with Mulholland who again only drove one lap, the McPhee Falcon finished a close second at Bathurst to the

Colin Bond Colin John Bond (born 24 February 1942) is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found succ ...

/ Tony Roberts HDT Monaro GTS350. Many, including HDT boss

Harry Firth Henry Leslie Firth (18 April 1918 – 27 April 2014) was an Australian racing driver and team manager. Firth was a leading race and rally driver during the 1950s and 1960s and continued as an influential team manager with first the Ford works ...

, believe that if not for an early pit stop to change a tyre after a clash with another car resulting in a late stop for fuel as they were out of sequence, McPhee and Mulholland would have won in '69 and made it back to back Bathurst 500's. McPhee joined the Ford works team in 1970, driving in the

South Pacific Touring Series The South Pacific Touring Series was an Australian Touring car racing series held annually from 1970 to 1975 during the month of February in conjunction with the Tasman Series for open-wheelers. Races counting towards the series were staged at ...

early in the year, and was given his own Phase II XW GTHO to drive solo at the

1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 The 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the 11th running of the Bathurst 500 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1970 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to standard production sedans competing in five classes ...

. Even though his car was still running near perfectly at the end of the 500 miles, McPhee finished second after following team orders not to pass his teammate, lead driver

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four win ...

. As well as the 1968 outright win in the Holden Monaro, McPhee finished on the podium at Bathurst in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

(3rd) in a Ford Cortina Mk.I GT (the first year the race was run at Mount Panorama),

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

(2nd) in a Ford Cortina Mk.I GT500,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

(3rd) in a

Morris Cooper S 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 ...

, 1969 (2nd) in a XW Ford Falcon GTHO Phase I and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

(2nd) in a XW Ford Falcon GTHO Phase II. McPhee also claimed the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 pole position giving him the dual honour of being the first "

Bathurst 500 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rec ...

" race winner for Holden and the first "

" pole position winner for Holden.

Personal life

McPhee lived the majority of his life on the NSW Central Coast until his death on 22 September 2009 at the age of 82.

Career

Personal life

Career results

Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

Further reading