Photograph from the front cover of the 1968 event regulations booklet – Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson in their 1967 Southern Cross International Rally winning Volkswagen 1967 4 – 8 OCTOBER – BAIRNSDALE - SYDNEY

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PREAMBLE

Adapted quote from the 1967 Southern Cross International Rally Supplementary Regulations booklet: “The Australian Sporting Car Club (ASCC) is proud to be conducting this event. It is the successor to the Round Australia Trials which were pioneered and organised by the ASCC in the 1950s and remembered as classic contests between man and machine and a big country. The years have brought changes. Cars have improved, the country has been opened up, and outback roads have become smoother. The Southern Cross International Rally, while a natural successor to the Round Australia Trials, is formed in a different mould. In concept, it is based more on the European style of event with greater emphasis placed on overall vehicle performance (road holding, braking, steering) and less on a car’s ability to withstand a succession of rough creek crossings. It is more a test of a driver’s skill than of his endurance. Shorter stages through forests and mountainous country have replaced long and often monotonous hauls through desolate country. This is the pattern that has been a successful formula overseas and the 1966 Southern Cross International Rally saw the successful adaptation of European trends to an event run on Australian roads. It was a great success, and the ASCC is determined to develop this event into a contest which will be recognised as one of the world’s classic rallies.” SUMMARY

Winners are grinners and there is no guessing who won in 1967 - Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson

This year Ferguson and Johnson made up for the disappointment of their 1966 crash with a runaway win in their Volkswagen. The rally provided much drama. Ferguson replaced Kilfoyle as the leader on the way back from Bairnsdale and a navigation error near Bairnsdale removed a potential threat from John Keran/Steve Halloran. The run home was led by Ferguson/Johnson all the way and they led the 39 finishers into Sydney. 1966 winners Firth/Hoinville crashed their Ford Cortina off the road and did a few rolls down a mountain at Blue Duck on the road to the Bogong High Plains. So Firth went fishing. Final Outright Placings 1 Barry Ferguson Dave Johnson Volkswagen 330 2 Frank Kilfoyle Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina GT 379 3 Bob George Shepheard Morris Cooper S 464 4 Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt 467 5 Ian Vaughan Roger Vaughan Ford Cortina Mk2 482 Series Production Class Placings A Up to 1000cc Bruce Wilkinson Ian Inglis Datsun 1000 B 1001 to 1300cc Bruce Collier J. Boon Renault Gordini C 1301 to 2000cc Ian Vaughan Roger Vaughan Ford Cortina D Over 2000cc Greg Garard Frank Goulburn Holden 186S Special Production Class Placings E Up to 1000cc P. Walters Eric Vigar Ford Cortina F 1001 to 1300cc Colin Bond Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt G 1301 to 2000cc Barry Ferguson David Johnson Volkswagen H Over 2000cc Tony Roberts Peter Hass Holden 186S Manufacturers Award: Ford Motor Company. Ladies Award: Wendy Taylor & Carole Waldron, Hillman Imp There was no limit on the amount of the course that could be missed provided the late time limit was achieved at the end of a division; missing a control led to a penalty of 200 points. 28

VEHICLE ELIGIBILITY

The event catered for: • FIA Group 2 (Series Production Touring Cars), open and closed, of which at least 1000 units to be produced within 12 consecutive months; or • FIA Group 5 (Special Touring Cars), which allowed significant further mechanical modification except that the engine must be from the same manufacturer and have the same number of cylinders and configuration; or • CAMS Group D (Series Production Sports Cars, Closed & Open) & Group E (Series Production Touring Cars), which were basically aligned with FIA Group 2.

In 1966 the FIA introduced a number of new categories including one for highly modified touring cars, officially known as Group 5 Special Touring Cars. The regulations permitted vehicle modifications beyond those allowed in the concurrent Group 1 and Group 2 Touring Car categories. The Special Touring Cars category was discontinued after 1969.

Roll cages/bar were not compulsory, except for convertibles, a laminated windscreen was compulsory; extra lights, under body protection, extra fuel tanks were permitted.

EVENT DETAILS/ ORGANISING TEAM

Event Details The event was conducted over some 4000 kilometres, of which 1200 kilometres comprised special sections.

Organising Team

Director: Bob Selby-Wood Administrator: John Keeffe Secretary: Peter Mulder Technical Officer & Chief Scrutineer: Fred Pearse Senior Officials: • John Arter • Elizabeth Arundell • Pat Lawless • John McKittrick • Bob Taylor • John Whitton

Sponsor Rothmans of Pall Mall

ENTRIES

A total of 84 entries were received for the event, an increase of 13 over 1966. 26 finished. There were three overseas drivers.

• Ford entered three twin-cam Lotus Cortinas - for Harry Firth/Graham Hoinville, Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford and Ian/Roger Vaughan.

• BMC formed the Cooper S team of Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Makinen (both also in Australia for the Bathurst 500 Race). Their cars were prepared in England, and their navigators from Australia were Gary Chapman and Bob Forsyth. An Australian prepared ‘S’ (prepared by Bob Holden) was for the UK’s Tony Fall/Fred Logan (from Sydney), as well as cars for /Roy Denny and Bob Holden/George Shepheard.

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Tony Fall (UK) Timo Makinen (Finland) Paddy Hopkirk (UK) The International Stars of the BMC Mini Cooper S Team

• Volkswagen were strongly represented with four factory cars – ‘Beetles’ fitted with 1600cc motors – for Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson, Tony Theiler/Bruce Ford, Stewart McLeod/Jack Lock and Ray Christie/Joe Dunlop.

• The Holden onslaught, with Victorian Holden Dealer cars, ‘186s’, for Reg Lunn/Mike Osborne, Ron Phillips/Jim McAuliffe, Tony Roberts/Peter Haas. NSW entries were for Greg Garard/Frank Goulburn and John Garard/Barry Waldron. Bob Watson was based in the United Kingdom and missed this year’s event.

• Official Renault entries – 1255cc Gordinis – were handled by Mal McPherson/Bob Sharpley, Bruce Collier/John Boon and Gerry Crown/Nigel Collier. The factory also entered an R10 for Barry Cooke/John Sproule.

• Three full-house Volvo 122s were entered for John Keran/Steve Halloran, Max Winkless/Graham Mewburn and Bill Nolan/Peter Meyer.

• Japanese entries included Mitsubishi Colt Fastbacks for Colin Bond/Brian Hope, Doug Stewart/John Bryson, Barry Lloyd/Albert Brown and Vince Brown/Barry Field.

• Datsun entered two 1000cc sedans for Bruce Wilkinson/Ian Inglis and D.Anderson/B.Cain.

• And finally, Fiat entered four cars – an 850 coupe for Bill Burns/Bruce Kaye, and 124s for Max Stahl/George Stefanoff, Col Roser/Alex Terrasson and David Forster/Peter Battrick.

• All the way from West Australia, and it was a long way in those days with much of the road across the Nullarbor being unsealed, was Bob Bullock/Rod Stonehouse in a Volkswagen who finished third in Standard class. Bullock also competed in 1966. LIST OF ENTRIES By Car Number (not Start Order) NO DRIVER STATE NAVIGATOR STATE CAR MAKE CAR MODEL 1 Stahl, Max NSW Stefanoff, Geroge ACT Fiat 124 2 Whatman, H McIntyre, R Morris Mini Deluxe 3 Adams, Dr A Paterman, D Morris Cooper S 4 Cheeseman, Bruce NSW Pratley, R Morris Cooper S 5 McLeod, Stewart SA Lock, Jack SA Volkswagen Beetle 1600 6 Taylor, John SA West, Graham SA Morris Cooper S 7 Ross, Ann NSW Carroll, K NSW Volkswagen Beetle 8 Houghton, Peter NSW Neilsen, Mick NSW Peugeot 404 9 Ward, F SA Annabelle, M SA Volkswagen Beetle 10 Janson, Peter Vic Bainbridge, R Vic Hillman Hunter 11 Keran, John NSW Halloran, Steve NSW Volvo 122S 12 Ferguson, Barry NSW Johnson, Dave NSW Volkswagen Beetle 1600 13 Lunn, Reg Vic Osborne, Mike Vic Holden HR X2 186 14 Hopkirk, Paddy Ireland Chapman, Andy SA Morris Cooper S 16 Pritchard, D Dodd, I Peugeot 403 17 Cleverley, B NSW Cleverley, M NSW Honda S600 18 Theiler, Tony Vic Ford, Bruce Vic Volkswagen Beetle 1600 19 Vaughan, Ian Vic Vaughan, Roger Vic Ford Cortina GT Mk2 20 Murray, Jack NSW Ward, Grahame NSW Datsun Prince Skyline GT 21 Hurley, A Fierning, A Peugeot 404 22 Fritter, Norm SA Newby, L Toyota Corolla 23 Lloyd, Barry NSW Brown, Albert NSW Mitsubishi Colt Fastback 30

24 Taylor, W NSW Waldron, Carol NSW Hillman Imp GT 26 Roberts. Tony Vic Haas, Peter Vic Holden HR X2 186 27 Brown, Peter NSW Simmonds, J Morris 850 28 Hodgins, Clyde NSW Brown, M NSW Holden HR 29 Holden, Bob NSW Shepheard, George NSW Morris Cooper S 30 McPherson, Mal Vic Sharpley, Robin Vic Renault Gordini 8 31 Taylor, B Dark, K Volkswagen Beetle 32 Winkless, Max NSW Mewburn, Graham NSW Volvo 122S 33 Hayward, Alex NSW Broad, Les NSW MG Y 34 Mecak, Gary NSW Roberts, I Ford Cortina GT 35 Marshall, Jenny ACT Stuart, Don ACT Volkswagen Beetle 36 Tubman, Ken NSW Short, Robyn NSW Hillman Arrow 37 Kilfoyle, Frank Vic Rutherford, Doug Vic Ford Cortina GT Mk2 38 Brown, Vince NSW Field, P NSW Mitsubishi Colt Fastback 39 Burns, Bill NSW Kays, Bruce NSW Fiat 850 Coupe 40 Nolan, Bill NSW Meyer, Peter NSW Volvo 122S 41 Keeffe, Lynn NSW Elam, Pam Vic Volvo 42 Walters, P NSW Vigar, Eric NSW Ford Cortina GT 500 43 Chivas, Doug NSW Adcock, Lindsay NSW Morris 1100S 44 Cook, B NSW Sproule, John NSW Renault 10 45 Lawson, Allan NSW Hibbard, J NSW Peugeot 404 46 Daddo, Matt NSW Delahunty, P NSW Morris Cooper 47 Wilkinson, Bruce Vic Inglis, Ian Vic Datsun 1000 48 Hansen, David NSW Sandilands, David NSW Volkswagen Beetle 50 Collier, Bruce NSW Boon, John NSW Renault Gordini 8 51 Hodgson, Bruce NSW Stivens, E NSW Ford Cortina 52 Crawford, T Graber, B Morris Cooper 53 Neale, Frank NSW Kelly, L NSW Ford Cortina 54 Ryder, Charles NSW French, Tony NSW Morris Cooper 55 Forster, D Vic Battrick, P Vic Fiat 124 56 Bassie, J Purdy, S Ford Cortina 57 Fall, Tony UK Logan, Fred NSW Morris Cooper S 58 Stewart, Doug NSW Bryson, John NSW Mitsubishi Colt Fastback 59 Drane, R Pettit, J Mazda Coupe 60 Garard, Greg NSW Goulburn, Frank NSW Holden HR X2 186 61 Bond, Colin NSW Hope, Brian NSW Mitsubishi Colt Fastback 63 Bailey, W Preston, L Morris 850 64 Roser, C NSW Torrason, A NSW Fiat 124 65 Treloar, Arthur SA Monoghan, G SA Hillman Arrow 66 Anderson, Don NSW Short, Ken NSW Datsun 1000 67 Crown, Gerry NSW Collier, Nigel NSW Renault Gordini 68 Steer, S Barron, L Holden 69 Phillips, R Vic McAuliffe, Jim Vic Holden X2 186 70 Sweeney, M Pirch, D Morris Cooper S 71 Bourke, L Smith, W Ford Anglia 72 Firth, Harry Vic Hoinville, Graham Vic Ford Lotus Cortina Mk2 73 Garard, John NSW Waldron, Barry NSW Holden HR X2 186 74 Christie, Ray Vic Dunlop, Joe Vic Volkswagen Beetle 1600 75 Ditton, M Thompson, D XP 76 Makinen, Timo Finland Forsyth, Bob Vic Morris Cooper S 77 Waite, R SA Newby, D SA Toyota Crown 79 Cooke, Gary NSW Baxter, K NSW Ford Cortina GT 80 Green, Evan NSW Denny, Roy NSW Morris Cooper S 81 Clark, R Third, D Volkswagen Beetle 82 Barnett, Bill SA Burns, B SA Volkswagen Beetle 83 Mullins, Jack NSW Hall, John NSW Daihatsu GT 84 Bullock, Bob WA Stonehouse, Rod WA Volkswagen Beetle

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THE EVENT

Competition was conducted in darkness and day breaks were taken at Canberra, Bairnsdale and then Canberra again on the return trip to Sydney. The event started from Bankstown Square.

Bright, shiny and full of pep at the start, the Hopkirk/Chapman Cooper S was headed for an early disappointing retirement

Four night stages were conducted to the service break at Collector, and these included the notorious 16 kilometre Wombeyan Caves road which was 10 metres wide carved out of the side of a mountain. The precipitous, rocky road to Richlands was daunting, as was a ‘horror stretch that tested drivers patience’ as they wound down a mountain to a river crossing and where the pace was down to a crawl for several hundred metres, with the small wheels of the often left hanging, the sump guard being perched on the rocks.

At Collector, after 400 kilometres Timo Makinen was fastest with 7 points lost followed by Tony Fall (with 15 points - 9 of these were due to a flat tyre), and then Paddy Hopkirk (20) and Colin Bond on 21. Evan Green – who started in 80th position and blitzed his way through the field – was also on 21, John Garard (23), John Keran, Barry Ferguson, Stewart McLeod and Bob Holden on 24, and Harry Firth on 31. Peter Janson/Rick Bainbridge in their Hillman Hunter were next on 36 points.

11 cars had retired by this point. Much of the course was through thick fog, with swirling patches hiding tricky corners and sudden drops and several not-so-experienced drivers went off.

After Collector, one corner claimed four roll-overs, including McLeod’s Volkswagen. Makinen also left the road but he elected to steer into the bush rather than try to regain the road, leaped a gully, missed rocks and trees and regained the road, cutting off several hundred metres to the course proper! Navigator Bob Forsyth claimed a saving of five seconds!

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Into the forests west of Canberra, in some years to come to be used for the Castrol International Rally, the special stages gave the drivers some exciting moments. They permitted high speeds and the powerful started to make an impression on the scoring.

Makinen had a magnificent drive from Collector to Canberra, not dropping any time against the times allowed.

Results at Canberra were: 1. Timo Makinen/Bob Forysth Cooper S 7 points 2. Tony Fall/Fred Logan Cooper S 19 3. Paddy Hopkirk/Gary Chapman Cooper S 22 4. Colin Bond/Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt 27 5. John Keran/Steve Halloran Volvo 122S 29 6. Bob Holden/George Shepheard Cooper S 30 =7. Reg Lunn/Mike Osborne Holden 186 32 =7. Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina 32 9. Harry Firth/Graham Hoinville Ford Cortina 34 10. John Garard/Barry Waldron Ford Cortina 34

After a day’s rest, crews were permitted 15 minutes service. Tony Fall’s Cooper S required considerable repairs, including a rear sub-frame replacement, damaged as a result of running on a flat tyre before Collector, and these repairs took 53 minutes, losing Fall 38 points.

Tony Fall/Fred Logan tried hard, but mechanical troubles dropped them back, although they finished second in their modified class.

Heading southwest from Canberra, using roads through Uriarra to Brindabella and emerging at Kiandra, Makinen retired when the heavy use of first gear took its toll on the Cooper S, with a gear braking and holing the casing and releasing the oil, causing the engine to seize.

Just past Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains, Hopkirk had the gearbox of his Cooper S ‘let go’ as well, so the two international stars were out of the event.

The remaining 64 car field moved into at Corryong where Frank Kilfoyle led the way on 40 points, followed by John Garard and John Keran on 47, Barry Ferguson (48), Evan Green (49) and Bob Holden (52).

Heading into ‘home territory’ raised the hopes of many Victorian crews.

Harry Firth was hoping to close the gap, but near the ‘Blue Duck’ on the Mitta Mitta - Omeo Road, at a location which became known within rally vocabulary as ‘Firth’s Leap’, the Lotus Cortina differential suddenly stopped working and the car teetered on the edge of a cliff, then slipped, toppled and plunged down the shear drop for 20 metres before stopping against a tree. But Firth and navigator Graham Hoinville were lucky, for there was another 50 metres drop to the bottom. Neither were injured and were surprised that the road ‘’was right up there’’. The car was wrecked and very obviously they were out of the event. Hoinville was left to arrange recovery of the car while Firth went fishing.

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Then it was Greg Garard’s turn for rallying notoriety. His Holden found a slippery wooden bridge, tripped on a kerb and ended on its roof in the creek, bonnet on one bank and boot on the other. Assisted by the recovery vehicle some ninety minutes later the crew managed to get back on the road, stay within late time and, remarkably, went on to record a class win.

Results at Bairnsdale were: 1. Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson Volkswagen 90 points 2. John Keran/Steve Halloran Volvo 122S 91 3. Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina 114 4. Ron Phillips/Jim McAuliffe Holden 186S 117 5. Evan Green/Roy Denny Cooper S 130 6. Bob Holden/George Shepheard Cooper S 137 7. John Garard/Barry Waldron Holden 186S 141 8. Bruce Collier/John Boon Renault Gordini 145

59 crews restarted at Bairnsdale. The BMC service team was hard at it during the 15 minute service break, making repairs to the cylinder head of Tony Fall’s Cooper S. The head had blown a gasket, then cracked, giving slow times before Bairnsdale. The time the repairs took put Fall well back in the field.

John Keran’s run amongst the leaders came to an end after Bairnsdale, following a navigation error leaving the town (see Event Sidelines below).

From Bairnsdale, the course headed east through Lakes Entrance to Orbost and then north along the Bonang Highway to Delegate in . The ‘highway’ surface was good, but for every kilometre forwards it twisted a kilometre sideways and the special stages varied in intensity but Barry Ferguson increased his lead.

Heavy rain at Bendoc, just before the border, turned the roads into a quagmire and the epic stories of the crews’ courage and determination to get through lived for many years when 1967 Southern Cross competitors got together. Ferguson made it carefully at the head of the field, but he was overshadowed by Greg Garard who was making up for previous lost time; the Ron Phillips Holden however suffered a flat tyre as it hit a bog, and John Keran’s Volvo became hopelessly bogged and his rally was over.

Many cars elected not to attempt the bog and gave the section a miss, taking the appropriate penalty but staying in the event.

From Delegate the course headed towards the coast to Merimbula, and then up Brown Mountain to Cooma and thence to Canberra. Evan Green teetered his Cooper S on the edge of a five metre drop, with two wheels hanging over the edge and it looked to be all over. However, Ron Phillips arrived and took the time to pull the Mini back onto the road.

Doug Stewart glanced down at his safety-belt coupling (we don’t know why!!) and crashed (see Event Sidelines below).

Colin Bond amazed everyone with his drive in the Mitsubishi Colt, which took him to third place at the Canberra break.

It was foot down hard all the way for the Colin Bond/Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt Fastback – even over ‘jump up’ cattle grids. Their personal, and the car’s, stamina was repaid with a fourth outright placing

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Results are Canberra were: 1. Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson Volkswagen 166 points 2. Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina 202 3. Colin Bond/Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt 242 4. Ron Phillips/Jim McAuliffe Holden 186S 257 5. Bob Holden/George Shepheard Cooper S 267

53 crews restarted at Canberra.

Director Bob Selby-Wood promised the last night would be the toughest and it proved to be so. Points tumbled fast and cars were dropping out of the event rapidly.

From Canberra the course headed south-east through the Araluen Valley to Moruya, for a loop, and then back through the Araluen Valley to Marulan and so to the finish back at Bankstown. Two loops out of Reidsdale, near Braidwood, were made more difficult by fog patches, loose gravel, tricky corners and jumps, together with a grinding two kilometre climb up the Majors Creek Mountain which was narrow, tough and steep. Here Barry Ferguson struck his only real trouble of the whole rally – the alternator belt slipped off and he lost 17 points (4 minutes) replacing it.

Alternator trouble was catching up with Evan Green’s Mini and Ron Phillip’s Holden, slowing them on the tight stages.

The forest loops around Bodalla were tight and twisty and held some drama for crews on the stages with Kilfoyle picking up time on Ferguson. At a break at Moruya the remaining 43 crews took stock and prepared for the final dash home. Ferguson was ahead on 274 points, followed by Kilfoyle 312, Bond 374, Holden 376 and Vaughan 381.

After the break, Ferguson picked up time on Kilfoyle during the forest special stages, and then came a refuel at Marulan, followed by an assembly stage and the run to the finish.

The Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina MkII – the new model proved itself with a fine second outright placing.

Final results were: 1. Barry Ferguson/Dave Johnson Volkswagen 330 points 2. Frank Kilfoyle/Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina 379 3. Bob Holden/George Shepheard Cooper S 464 4. Colin Bond/Brian Hope Mitsubishi Colt 467 5. Ian Vaughan/Roger Vaughan Ford Cortina 482

39 finishers.

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It was a great victory by Barry Ferguson and Dave Johnson in their Volkswagen over the nation’s best rally teams

EVENT SIDELINES

• The second section of the first night was along the notorious Wombeyan Caves road, with its many corners every, so it seemed, 50 metres, and long sheer drops on one side and cliffs on the other. The average speed required to clean-sheet the 22km section was 66km/h, achieved only by Bob Holden and Timo Makinen. Many cars suffered brake problems, some to the extent of not having any effective brakes. Holden stated that is the reason he did such a good time!!!

• The third night began with an easy run to Lakes Entrance (from Bairnsdale), then on to Orbost to pick up the Bonang Highway to Delegate. But easy as it was, it was John Keran’s downfall. Navigator Steve Halloran told Keran to turn right when leaving Bairnsdale instead of left! After some 40 kilometres they realised their mistake of heading towards instead of Lakes Entrance and made a rapid return to the east (no speed limits in those days!) to arrive at Lakes Entrance . . . and trouble. A local was being pursued by the law and lost control of his car on the downhill bends on the approach to the town, and pranged with another car. The police car also lost it, then a service vehicle driven by Bob Riley swerved to miss the scene and hit a palm tree off the road. Onto this scene Keran (recognised as one of the country’s fastest rally drivers) arrived, driving in a manner which showed he was determined to pick up some, if not all, of the lost time. He swerved to miss them all, as well as the palm tree, which he expertly did, but skated over the grass verge, over a five metre embankment and into the lake!! Undaunted Keran, called on the assembled, but still dazed group, to assist him extract the now slightly crumpled Volvo from the water back onto the road and continued.

• Late in the third night, Doug Stewart glanced down at his safety-belt coupling for some reason, and a ‘dip’ sign flashed by at almost 160kph and then the Colt hit the dip. The first leap was reported to cover 17 metres, and the second (including a complete end-for-end somersault) 80 metres, resulting in three punctures. Slewing off the road, the Colt hurdled an embankment, hit it once more and then Stewart (as he described it) then lost control and the car crashed into a fence. The service crew, quickly on the scene, straightened things out, and the car made Canberra, was further repaired and continue to take out third in class (appropriately in the Modified Division!!).

John Garard/Barry Waldron Holden HR X2 186

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PHOTOGRAPHS

BEFORE …………… ………… AFTER Doug Stewart (with navigator John Bryson at the Roselands start). He was to take such a prominent part in rallying with Mitsubishi in the coming 30 years and was President of CAMS 1969 to 1971.

Full power on, Even Green/Roy Denney in the Cooper S take a wide line on loose dirt

Mal McPherson/Robin Sharpley – Renault Gordini

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