RARE Channel 7 television coverage of the very first ‘Great Race’ at Bathurst in 1963 has emerged and is available for fans to view in the lead-up to this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
The 1963 Armstrong 500 vision – with a running duration of 32 minutes – has been unearthed from the Channel 7 archive and is part of a whole host of content recently loaded onto the 7plus app covering 1963 to 1972, the 500-mile era of the race at Mount Panorama.
It is highlights vision from the on-the-day telecast and is part of a suite of content available here to watch as part of the ‘Bathurst 1000 Throwback’ Sport section on the 7plus app here.
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The material appearing on the 7plus app includes other highlights from the race day telecasts of the 1960s and early 1970s, including the 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500, Peter Brock’s first Bathurst win.
Snippets from the 1963 race day telecast appeared in ‘The Fabulous 500’ documentary hosted by the late Evan Green that aired in the 1970s, however the 32 minutes race-day highlights, viewable here, have otherwise not been seen in public since the period, nor released on DVD or aired on Seven in the modern era.
After three years of the Armstrong 500 being held at Phillip Island between 1960 and 1962, the race moved north to the Mount Panorama circuit for 1963.
The 1963 Armstrong 500 was won by Bob Jane and Harry Firth in a Cortina GT, first across the line in a field of 56 starters on Sunday October 6, 1963.
They completed the 130-lap race in 7 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds.
