The first Armstrong 500 at Bathurst was in 1963, after 3 years at Phillip Island. We should already know about the '63 Bathurst, famous for the duel all afternoon between the Mini of Lindsay Little/Don Holland and the VW 1200 Standard of Barry Ferguson/Bill Ford (under £900 Class A). The Mini flipped over at Murray's Corner on the very last lap, and the VW won its class. Another VW (George Reynolds / Jim McKeown) finished 3rd behind the righted Mini; the VW of Art Andrews / Rocky Tresise was 4th, and the VW of Greg Mackie / Graham White was 5th. The Frank Hann / Graham Forrest VW was 8th in class. All VWs finished, while five Minis (four of them Coopers in Class B) DNF. The overall winner was Bob Jane and Harry Firth in a Ford Cortina GT.

But what about the next year, 1964? There were four VW 1200s entered in the under £900 Class A, plus four Mini 850s. But this time both the VW and the Mini were outclassed by another model - the Vauxhall Viva. Spencer Martin and Bill Brown's Viva won the class, followed by five more Vivas. The VW 1200 of Brian Milton and David Walker followed in seventh, four laps behind the class-winning Viva.

Another VW (Bernie Haehnle/Neil McKay) was 11th, Bill Ford / Barry Ferguson was 12th and Frank Hann / Graham Forrest were 15th. They all beat the sole surviving Mini 850 – the other three all DNF. This was the last time VW Beetles ever raced at Bathurst, as none were entered in 1965 and after.

The race is won overall by Bob Jane / George Reynolds in a Cortina GT – Bob Jane’s fourth win in a row and first for the (usually) VW-driving George Reynolds. George passed away in 2012, aged 83.

This is part of the front page of the SMH, the day after the 1964 Armstrong 500. It shows three cars from Class A heading into the Dipper - the #41 Hillman Imp of Chris McSorlie and Phil West (which eventually finished 9th in class), followed by the #43 VW of Bernie Haehnle and Neil McKay (11th), and the #40 VW of Brian Milton and David Walker (7th).

Thanks for the photos.

Brings back great memories of when it was worthwhile going to Bathurst

We used to go to Forest Elbow.

Seeing all the different classes racing together and the Poms bringing over there knowledge and drivers.

Awesome stuff.

Great article. So what's the best place a VW has achieved overall?

Phil, just a small correction. You say that "The overall winner was Bob Jane and Harry Firth in a Ford Cortina GT"......Not so.

In 1963 there was NO OVERALL WINNER, only class winners. Jane and Firth were 'First across the line' only.

At the end of the 500 miles, a 'Race Finished' board was held up.....NO CHEQUERED FLAG.

You are quite right Greg, I was using the term in the modern 'first-past-the-post' sense.

There were only class winners for the three Phillip Island races, and the first two Bathursts. To be specific, in 1963 Bob Jane and Harry Firth won Class C (£1,001 to £1,200), with 130 laps completed. Class D (£1,201 to £2,000) was won by Tony Allen and Tony Reynolds in a Chrysler Valiant, with 126 laps completed. Class B (£901 to £1,000) was won by Doug Chivas and Ken Wilkinson in a Morris Cooper, 125 laps. The Barry Ferguson / Bill Ford VW won class A with 116 laps.

But the general public saw things in black and white and recognised the 'overall' winner, as did the typical newspaper report (Canberra Times below). Everyone knew that Harry Firth and Bob Jane had 'won.'

For the 1965 race, The Armstrong Trophy was awarded for the first time to the 'overall' winners, while the class winners received cash prizes. Barry Seton and Midge Bosworth were thus the first official outright winners in their Ford Cortina GT500.

Back to the 1964 race, this was a preview of the event, published in the Canberra Times:

And this was the result.

Again, technically there were only Class winners and no 'overall' result, but in reality everyone celebrated Bob Jane 'winning' the event.

No mention of the VW 1200s, as they were outclassed by the Vauxhall Vivas and were never raced at Bathurst again.

thanks for posting.....great articles