THE Great Race at Bathurst was founded upon production cars pounding around Mount Panorama all day long in the 1960s – and there was a point in the race’s history when its past and present nearly came together.
Australian touring car fields shrunk in 1991 as the economy was hit by recession, with some rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship struggling to attract many more than a dozen cars.
Accordingly, the-then custodians of the Tooheys 1000 (as it was then known) at Bathurst devised a plan to allow Group E production car Falcons and Commodores to race against Group A touring cars in the 1991 edition of the October classic.
ARDC GM Ivan Stibbard wrote in the July 1991 ARDC Newsletter that the Board had made the decision to add production cars “after considering that there would be insufficient cars to make a full field for the 1991 event.”
He continued: “Because of the apparent lack of numbers and the downturn in the economy the Board felt that something had to be done to add some competition as well as commercial interest in the event.
“We had long discussions with our joint Marketers and Telecasters ATN 7 before making this decision. Since then TCI (Touring Cars International) and ATECA (Australian Touring Car Entrants Association) have fought to keep the event entirely Group A.
“They provided us with a list of cars that believed to be available but upon investigation by the Board we still anticipated somewhere around 40 cars (not including some last-minute overseas entrants).
“The Board believes it is better commercially as well as the sporting side to have about 15 well-prepared, well-driven Falcon and Commodores than the equivalent amount of ill-prepared Group A cars making up a full field.”
But it all led to no change.
There was reportedly opposition to the plan by the Bathurst City Council who had felt the introduction of production cars into the 1000-kilometre classic would have a detrimental effect on the James Hardie 12 Hour including similar cars at Easter.
The Group E production cars supported the ATCC at a range of rounds in 1991, including Sandown. Photo: an1images.com / Graeme Neander.
There was also reportedly a mixed reaction from Group E competitors to being included in the ‘1000 field.
The ARDC dropped the plan quickly in early July and, in the end the Group A teams came through with the goods.
“While the ARDC has serious doubts about at least 20 of these cars making it on to the grid this year, it feels obliged to accept the assurances of the entrants’ group,” Stibbard told Auto Action in early July.
A total of 57 entries had been received from Group A teams by mid-August.
As it turned out, a total of 49 cars arrived in October for race week at Mount Panorama.
Stibbard reported in the August 1991 ARDC Newsletter they were “just as surprised as everyone else to see more than a full field of cars for this event”.
Glenn Seton‘s team ran one car in the 1991 ATCC but added a second for Bathurst with David Parsons and Wayne Park. Photo: an1images.com / Graeme Neander.
He continued: “The reasons for this could be many but I believe that the controversy and interest generated earlier in the year by the Club’s proposal to include another category within the race, has prompted many of the leading competitors to run extra cars and entice many others out of their garages and workshops.”
Whatever the case, the plan to use production cars to top up the Bathurst 1000 field only popped up once more and, in 1998, it actually got up.
A handful of production cars were added to the AMP Bathurst 1000 for Super Tourers to race alongside the two-litre touring cars and Schedule S tourers from New Zealand.
Production cars also topped up the field for the Sandown 500, promoter Jon Davison taking steps to top up the Melbourne endurance classic from 1992 to 1994 after a small field of Group A cars contested the ‘500 in ’91.