Bathurst Statistics

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vnx205

Race Cam is still here, bigger and better.

Toranas are gone and are a part of history. :D

---

Touche.

However, for all the advances in technology, nothing has come close to those first few years with Willo. I'll never forget that footage of John Harvey flying past him up through Reid Park.

Cheers,
Jon

I remember seeing Williamson going across the top of the mountain with Harvey on his tail. At Forest Elbow, Harvey crawled (or what appeared to be) past the Celica. Then he must have selected the next gear because he just disappeared down Conrod. For me, they were the best years of Bathurst.

It was interesting to see where the Celica lost ground to the more powerful cars and where it held its own or made up ground.

His comments about the Volvo were also "interesting". :D

Was that the year that one of the well known drivers entered a stock standard Volvo, which was referred to by some other drivers as a "mobile chicane"?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

For me, they were the best years of Bathurst.

---

X2:):)

Some of the u tube clips of those years are fantastic:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vnx205

Toranas are gone and are a part of history. :D

---

Thank goodness.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vnx205

The only race I have watched from start to finish was the 1979 race.

Who remembers what was special about that one?

I believe that it was a world-first and is another area where the technology has improved out of sight.

---

Yep the most dramatic win ever in the best vehicle.:p Back when racing was real. Shame it was the end of the Torana. I have some on VHS and will have to get them all on DVD. Often used to watch them. 69 - 87 were the best with the 74-85 being the best.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vnx205

It was interesting to see where the Celica lost ground to the more powerful cars and where it held its own or made up ground

---

This is what makes racing interesting and why the V8s will never do it for me. Next year will be even worse with the 'Car Of The Future'.

Cheers,
Jon

I think it'll be really interesting. Lots of quiet folks in red and blue. Personally think it'll be Mercedes, Nissan, daylight, taxis.

At least everyones on an even keel with the new chassis. But I bet they'll pull the "parity" thing as soon as one of the newcomers gets in front.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

LEt's just say the insides of that Celica engine were far removed from the 500 let alone the school run models. Officially a 2 or 3T, unofficially a 151/2E.

And funnily enough if you follow the link from the comments in the video to the source page, it says that Williamson is driving a Camaro...

---

Then a couple of years after that I'm pretty sure Willo ran a 1G-GEU in later models.

I remember talking to John Smith a couple of times (open wheeler pilot and later Toyota factory Corolla driver and Willo's SIL) and he said those Celica's were far from anything ever sold in this country. :D

Yes, the yellow one was basically a Grp B engine minus turbo. The 1GGE/GGTT/GGZE were very underrated engines for their size.

The sprinters were also something with great potential but didn't get the chance. They were slotted to be homologated with the 4AGE20V, imagine that coming down Conrod at 11,000rpm.