Many of these fans only know the series as a two make event with some dabbling by other manufacturers in the last couple of years.

But way back in the 1960s, the Touring car races had a whole range of vehicles competing in different classes in the one race.    The V8 muscle cars were in a minority with four-cylinder cars dominating the podiums.

In 1966 the Gallaher 500 (mile) held at Bathurst, on October 2, and the forerunner of the Bathurst 1000 was dominated by Morris Cooper S’s. The winners were Rauno Aaltonen and Bob Holden, followed by eight other Morris Coopers, then two V8 Chrysler Valiant automatics, another Morris Cooper and a Triumph 2000.

 It was not till 19th outright position that a Holden HD X2 appears on the list. Then 24th spot before a Ford appears on the finishers list and that was a Cortina Mark 1.

George Garth, a name many people may not remember finished with co driver Ray Marquet well down the outright list in 31st place.

The pair were driving another of the Cortina Mark 1s, highly regarded on the touring car circuit.

Earlier that year Garth, with his ex-Geoghegan Cortina GT, who now resides in Goulburn, was referred to an Australian Auto Sportsman magazine as the best private touring car entry in the National series.

Garth was an apprentice electrical fitter mechanic when he got the bug for motor racing. He had gone, like most lads of the time, to a couple of race meetings with mates and decided he wanted to have a go. “My first car was an FC Holden, a little warmed up,” he said. “I found I had a flair for driving and bought an ex-Geoghegan Cortina GT in 1964.

“I was racing just about every second weekend. I went to Warwick Farm, Katoomba, Bathurst, Towac in Orange (where I still hold the lap record), Catalina Park and Silverdale.

In his third race at Towac he scored his first outright win. George’s Towac lap record will never be broken because the circuit, like so many other others around the state was closed and redeveloped.

To help fund his passion for the sport George secured sponsorship from a Shell service station in Newcastle.

Racing usually with the number 9 on the doors and the other race identification discs, he became a popular target for motor racing photographers, known for his three and sometimes two wheel cornering. “You have to remember back then the cars were only fitted with drum brakes and radial tyres not really wider than the road tyres used on road cars today,” he said.

“Those days were pretty wild and the competition was tough. I was racing against the likes of Bob Holden, Harry Firth, John Leffler, Ian and Leo Geoghegan, Warren Weldon (who won the Bathurst 500 - a 500-mile race, or about 800 km) in 1965 with co-driver Midge Bosworth driving a Ford Cortina GT500, Peter Williamson, John Roxbrough (who won the Armstrong 500 in 1960 co-driving a Vauxhall Cresta with Frank Coad), Ron Hodgson, Jack Murray and many other drivers, well recognised in motor racing in the 1960s.

“In 1965 I achieved 15 outright firsts and seven second places in 26 starts plus 18 class wins. I also claimed five separate class and track records.”

In 1966, from 20 starts George Garth had 14 outright wins, five seconds and one third and 19 class wins.

One motor racing enthusiast, Dale Harvey, remembered the first race meeting he went to.

“It was Oran Park NSW on July 3, 1966,” he wrote in an online blog.

“I was 15 years old. Feature race on the day was a touring car scratch race over 12 laps, and the results were 1st George Garth (Cortina GT); 2nd Warren Weldon (EH Holden 179); and 3rd Bob Beasley (Austin Cooper ‘S’). I still have the program.”

Modifying

It was getting harder to compete against the newer cars, so in 1967 with the aid of sponsorship, George decided to convert the 1963 Cortina GT to a Lotus Cortina GT.

Before stripping the car down and replacing the panels with fibreglass and fitting the new engine, he had four race starts achieving three firsts and a second and four class wins.

It took until May 1968 to get the car running and most of the time was spent waiting on parts.

When George finally took to the track he had teething problems and from four starts had one first and did not finish on the other three occasions.  However he did manage to achieve four lap records, one of which only lasted an hour when it was broken by John Harvey in the next race. Garth’s racing extended well into the 1970s, contesting the Bathurst 500 and later the 1000km event in a variety of cars including a Mazda with the dealer team, a Datsun 180B SSS and an XU1 Torana.

It is 50 years since Garth’s racing commenced in the Cortina GT, later transformed to a Lotus Cortina. Last year he was invited to the 50th anniversary of the Cortina and this year he is hoping to have his original Cortina ready for the annual Touring Car Masters at Eastern Creek.

He is hunting for parts and last Wednesday flew all the way to England in this quest.