The incredible story of the 1980 Bathurst 1000.

[@thetaillightshow]

Weight comment is incorrect. They never listed a ute versions weight. They listed the lightest sedan weight for an XD which was the 6 cylinder base model taxi version, not the fully equipped V8 version.

[@carculture3376]

I got that information from Dick Johnsons autobiography, and he (Johnson) explains in depth about the rule. The book is a fascinating read, I highly recommend it.

[@thetaillightshow]

@@carculture3376 Johnsons books have multiple mistakes. He didn't do the homologation for the XD. Murray Carter did. Ask him and you'll find that the taxi based sedan is what was used, never a ute.

[@carculture3376]

@thetaillightshow Unfortunately, I don't have Mr Carter's phone number, so I can't ask him. And he hasn't released an autobiography, so I'm forced to use Johnson's material as a data point.

[@thetaillightshow]

Murray has done an autobiography. It's called "Cuppa Tea Motors". Also, the 3 in a row has happened 3 times. Brock also did it in 1982 - 1984.

[@thetaillightshow]

The quality of your presentation is excellent tho. Really well done.

[@MicahBell_1860]

I watched Bathurst every year with my dad. & I was one of those kids (10 at the time) who donated to Dick's new car. I had $73. My life savings. My dad would only let me donate $23. & he donated the other $50. This story brought tears to my eyes, remembering what happened. Thank you

[@banyaga-di-palawan]

This was the incident that caught my attention to the V8 scene in Australia. Supported the fund and been a DJR fan since.

[@MicahBell_1860]

@@banyaga-di-palawan my kids follow DJR now

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

I was 8 at my grandma's watching it, and I too donated $5 to him.

[@captaincrash12]

I was at that race in the paddock. Just before the crash the Morris Team were celebrating and took their time in the pits as it was revealed Johnson's car was reporting oil issues. Or the lack of pressure. I distinctly remembering the Johnson Team getting lucky that year. Long term that accident did a lot of damage to Morris leg, eventually a large contributing factor to his driving effectiveness and retirement.

[@MySteamChannel]

Great video! Holden here but love all cars & drivers of that era...we will never see the likes of it again!

[@carculture3376]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it mate! Brock, Bartlett, Morris and Johnson were all brave lads that went hard. And the cars were spectacular, the Group C machines were absolute monsters!

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

Ahhh the memories come flooding back of 8 year old me sitting in my grandmas lounge room watching the Great Race with her and my uncle, seeing that map of Queensland on the roof of the #17 Falcon made me wanna support him, then that rock.... 😢 I donated $5 that to the fund been a Dick Johnson Racing team fan ever since.

[@haydengoodall6767]

"You're all a pack of arseholes!" - (Gentleman Jim).

[@paulreilly3904]

Thanks for this mate. I've read the comments and learned that the rock was there by accident and not a malicious act. New to me and sitting here in the UK I'm a big fan of Bathurst and the whole history of the race. Great new content and well done to you, though I did have a tiny bit of difficulty getting every word, though I'm sure that's just me. Thank you

[@holden4life269]

Thank you for taking the time to make this mate , this top quality story and making if u keep up with this this channel will go places cheers

[@carculture3376]

Thank you so much for viewing and your nice comments. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@351nang]

Brought a tear to my eye, great work thank you.

[@carculture3376]

You're very welcome mate! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

[@annahaugustowicz8775]

Awesome video, well done 👍. We didn't know how lucky we were witnessing these great races. I can't really get into the modern day super car racing, but loved watching it as a youngster in the 80s and 90s on NZ television 😃.

[@JAStheACE]

Great vid mate, I grew up watching these battles on the race track. This brings back great memories to me, and very concise editing. I lived near DJ when the Blue XD was being built, man it sounded great at the time. DJ was a true hard working man trying to achieve his racing dream and through unfortunate circumstances never had the glory that was very possible on "The Mountain" . He's a legend in my mind and still continues to be involved with FORD race cars.

[@carculture3376]

Thank you very much for your kind words mate. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. That 351 Clevo would've sounded so nice in person!

[@doriankeating1963]

Great story and very well put together , hope you do many more and wishing you great success with your channel.

[@carculture3376]

Thank you so much for your very kind words. All the best, my friend

[@JeepDraw]

I was 30 y/o when it happened, that was 44 years ago. I donated, along with some friends watching the race with me. Best $40 I ever spent when he won the following year.

[@mintoxace5571]

Back when race cars and Bathurst were awesome. ❤

[@rodhope385]

Well done and thanks. Great memories as a kid. 👍

[@Dasha17177]

I will never forget this race dick Johnson is a Tru Blu bloke & a great racer who deserves all of the success he has had, as he built a team from building his own race cars to be one of the most successful teams in Australian history.

[@kingofthejungle3833]

@18:32 that is the reason that Dick Johnson's finance company is called 'First Rock.' Dick Johnson possibly the first crowd funded racer

[@melbguy1]

Great footage i've never seen of Dick's crash and his emotional breakdown after. Thanks for posting.

[@turbotorana4336]

it was never going to be called the xu2 torana it was simply a v8 xu1 torana.

[@karlsheffield1166]

Long time DJR fan, the first Rock Star of Bathurst.

[@YouCantSawSawdust]

Dick Johnson rally got lucky in 1981 with that crash stopping the race, as his engine was starting to pump oil out the back, but moreso was the fact that just prior to the crash, French had lost third gear in the Tru-Blu Falcon and Bob Morris was catching him quickly. You can't win a race just past half distance with NO THIRD GEAR in your gearbox. DJ would not have won that race. He would have probably pulled the car in.

[@mr.t-rex6972]

Great video. As for the special factory build cars for Bathurst. You need to add Harry Firth’s first special build that Ford made the 1966 Ford Cortina GT 500. As for the CAMS Homologation weight I always thought it was a 6cyl Taxi weight that was used. Still not trying to take away from your video.

[@carculture3376]

Thank you for your nice words mate. It means a lot. As for the GT Cortinas, they might make an appearance in the next video 😉 😉 The information I got on the weight for the XD in the rule book I sourced from Dick Johnsons autobiography. He wrote about it in depth and its a great read if you have the time. Thank you again for your nice words, all the best mate.

[@Pstaines439]

Awesome work mate.

[@johnbravo7542]

The guy changing Bob Morris's front right tire took it pretty casually

[@kellymcdonald3964]

Awesome job!!! Keep it up :)

[@jayannan9897]

I enjoyed that bro. Thankyou 👏🍻

[@at9370]

Good pit lane interview with Bartlett however, he soon back peddled when he found out who the driver was which was rather funny

[@carculture3376]

I still think Kev could've gotten a few lucky shots in on Ron Wanless. Hahahah

[@johnbrooks9523]

@@carculture3376 It turned out an absolute shambles. . . Kevin wanted to lead just as badly as Tricky & Brock & he biffed Brock's Commy under brakes & into Griffin's. This apparently fractured Brock's left axle which eventually snapped & then ex-boxer Ronny clobbered (sorta kinda) Kevin & took HIM out. Had there been no Channel 6 Camaro & no bastard rock, we might have seen the race of the century as the supremely gifted mechanic/racer from Queensland slugged it out to the death all day with the factory backed guy from "Holden Head Office" in Victoria. We were robbed in a multitude of ways on the day. The best consolation prize we might ever have got would have been Kevin & Ronny poking away at each other & that didn't pan out either! She was a truly bizarre chain of events which weirdly & finally put Tricky on the Australian Touring Car Championship Racing Map as he truly deserved. Moff was shit out of Ford money & Falcons & Tricky stepped up to the plate like the true champion he always was & always will be AND I'M YOUR DIEHARD HOLDEN FAN! Where would we be if it wasn't for Tricky going gangbusters with Falcons & giving Brock & Holdens something seriously competitive to race against? Tricky is LEGEND. He really gave us everything he had & he made history out of next to nothing.

[@carculture3376]

@johnbrooks9523 Absolutely spot on mate! Couldn't agree more. It was a time that was so rich in character and charisma, with both the cars and the drivers. Unfortunately we won't ever see the likes of it again at the top level.

[@johnbrooks9523]

@@carculture3376 I consider myself very lucky to have lived when I lived. I was 10 years old when Brock gave Moff a mirror full of XU-1 in 1972 & rattled Moff so much, he muffed it & miscued it & parked it in the bush, letting Brock through to win. That was seat of your pants raw racing & it enabled a piddly little LJ Torana to rise to the top of the legendary pile. I was never much of a Valiant fan, but I still feel their pain since not only did Harry & Brock beat the best GTHO PHASE 3s on the day, they also blocked the path of the E49s & the E38s that desperately needed a Bathurst win to cement a worthy place in our motor racing history. No win at Bathurst for Chrysler Australia must be heartbreaking for all concerned. I was never much interested in new cars or watching new cars racing. I could never afford a new car, so I wasn't much interested. As a kid in the '60s, I fell in love with curvey old Holdens & by 1978, I was driving them. I still own some fairly hot FCs. By 1984 I was working in the industry and "old" GTRs & XU-1s were lying around everywhere in Brisbane suburbia. You could buy a scruffy 138 LC Coupe for a few hundred bux & you could buy a crunched GTR or XU-1 for around the same money, build a car out of the 2, & sell for around 5K. We built droves of them. I bought obsolete race cars, including Peter Black's "GO EZY" 168 Powered FJ Drag car & we stuffed the engine into my mate's HR work ute. 1970s race cars were old cars by the time I paid any attention to them. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE EVER DREAMED THEY'D MAKE A MASSIVE COMEBACK & escalate in value like blistering rockets. I pulled fabulous race cars to bits, recycled the go fast parts & sent the empty carcasses to scrap. It wasn't until I started heading to Lakeside in 1984 to watch Group N, that I began to appreciate the mind boggling efforts of soon to be legends like Tricky. It is as you say. . . What we had back then was REAL! We had REAL cars driven by REAL people & it was all "PURE"! I used to bale Brocky up in the pits at Lakeside & drill him for clues on how to get the best out of our Morgan Park LJ Racer & our EH Group N Lakeside Racer. I lived just down the road from Tricky & I never knew: HE KNEW 10 TIMES MORE ABOUT RACEPREPPING HOLDEN SIXES THAN BROCKY! I never knew of Tricky's earlier massive achievements in Holdens. What we have now in V8 Supercars is certainly fast & entertaining. But, the "feeling" has gone. It is all run in secret squirrell mode, it's too expensive & it's disconnected from reality. Luckily, hundreds of our old racecars have survived & Historic Racing is alive & well. I've lived 2 racing lifetimes in one. I got to see & experience some of the good ol' days & I've seen it all revived to live again. I consider myself very, very lucky.

[@paulheywood5205]

​@@johnbrooks9523What I liked is the fact that despite being die hard rivals, KB shook hands with Dick as they shared the front row just before the race started and when the race was declared with DJ was announced the winner Brock was the first driver to congratulate Dick, brought his whole team over to congratulate Dick and Jill. Dick gave a great interview on Top Gear Australia after Peter Brock's death--definite respect there.

[@nickraschke4737]

Good video. I learned some new stuff.

[@YouCantSawSawdust]

Did you narrate this sitting on the toilet?

[@carculture3376]

Yes

[@gerard5890]

Well done , do one on the Greens Tuff Falcon about the crash .

[@ianb4801]

Probably already mentioned but here goes anyway. The rock was not thrown out by a stupid spectator. It was dislodged, by accident, by the spectators being close to an unstable bank. Pure accident.

[@bourbonslurpee]

Yep I heard that too. Apparently the guy came forward years later.

[@ianb4801]

@@bourbonslurpee witnesses came forward same day too - but channel 7 seems to have preferred "the drama"

[@GTFORDMAN]

oooh now you have to do the infamous 1992 Dick Johnson vs Jim Richards

[@the_strop_7945]

Great video buddy!!

[@carculture3376]

Thank you very much!

[@beatlemike9]

Great video mate!!

[@chuckselvage3157]

These were the days of racing in Australia. I remember the big bangers they were great todays racing is crap.

[@peterherriott237]

It’s very annoying when people make incorrect statements about this. Johnson did not REBUILD the rock car, it was a brand new shell from the factory. And the piece of film showing it was not from 60 mins but from an ABC programme called Sportsnight.

[@carculture3376]

@peterherriott237 when did it say that the crashed car got rebuilt?

[@fatsolutions]

Well done video mate

[@jbeamngdrive]

mint mate

[@carculture3376]

Thanks Josh!

[@kingofthejungle3833]

@7:18 the other thing that help Firth decide to select Brock, was that Brock's father was also a Holden dealer, and could help out with sponsorship

[@daniellebcooper7160]

I was aware that he had the Diamond Vally Speed Shop, but I didnt know that Brock snr a had 'HOLDEN DEALERSHIP'?. Did he sell Phase 4 falcons out of it as well?.

[@ayrproductions]

He wasn’t a dealer. He worked for one in the early years of Holden, but at that stage had long gone from that and had a speed shop instead.

[@kingofthejungle3833]

@@ayrproductions thanks for the correction,

[@redvraider5071]

I fn love Dick Johnson. I saw him beat Brocky at Lakeside,i think it was for that years title 80 or 81.Awsome race

[@craig8187]

Well done 👍

[@YouCantSawSawdust]

There was no statistical evidence to substantiate the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" saying. In fact, in some cases sales declined for the manufacturer that won Bathurst.

[@davdhartung9817]

Years later Johnson was helped by Ford and Edsel II when they brought in Roger Penske to shore up the team.

[@captaincrash12]

That is when the rot set in also. Which led to the cheating incident holding up the field. A major event that led to the split. The Johnson's did not like where the team eventually headed despite many wins due to their own fans conveying their own disappointment.

[@jsma9999]

Peter Brock did 3 win in a row Twice 1978 to 1980 and 1982 to 1984, but nice

[@carculture3376]

He certainly did, I did want to try and include that, but it would've given away the result of the 1981 race (for people at didn't already know)

[@bourbonslurpee]

Technically Brocky wasn't factory backed he was dealer backed. But we all know thats not !00% true. I worked with people at the port Melbourne and Dandenong Holden plants that knew some of the story it was a kind of open secret.

[@carculture3376]

Great point!! I was waiting for someone to say this!! Yes, technically, on paper, by the letter of the law, GM weren't officially funding the cars, but. Like you said, it was extremely obvious as to what was going on with under the table deals. During my research I was able to find an interview with Al Turner (he was the Head for Ford Aus racing during the GTHO days) and his tongue in cheek way of says exactly what was going on with the Holden "dealer" team at the time. I'll link it below, great watch. The interview starts at 20:30 but the whole thing is great

[@carculture3376]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnbGeqF6iZyonKMsi=cLUlOSI8-YjMkzO0

[@bourbonslurpee]

@@carculture3376 The people I knew worked on the production lines. special touches to certain body shells extra spotwellds leave off unnecessary bits.

[@carculture3376]

@bourbonslurpee Really?!! That's so cool! I love hearing things like that. It adds so many more layers to the era and how things were done. I'm sure Harry Firth took some deep motorsports secrets to the grave. Hahaha

[@bourbonslurpee]

@@carculture3376 Really!! I knew dozens of people who told me of the parts they played in building cars for HDT.

[@simonhughes7150]

Never told? I thought this was one of the best known stories of Australian Touring Car folk law! Guess you’ve got to be of a certain age. Why do I feel old all of a sudden. 😐

[@carculture3376]

I did a large amount of research to make this documentary, and all I could find in video form was small snippet productions going for less then a few minutes. Nothing indepth. The most I could find was in Dick Johnsons video autobiography "True Blue" (its on KZbin, highly recommend) where the subject got covered, but again it was only about 5 minutes of the overall video. Nothing in great depth. That's why I made this video, because I feel the full story needed to be told. But if you have access to a production that gives as much information as this one did, may I please request a link, I'd love to see it. Thank you for your comment mate.

[@veneratedmortal4369]

I had not heard that story.

[@simonhughes7150]

That story was flogged to death on TV race coverage for over 30 years or more. Still comes up occasionally. Just because it’s not on the net doesn’t mean it’s “never been told”. Like I said you’ve either got to be off a certain age, or been living under a “Rock”. Pun intended😂. Good old Dickie, love ya mate.

[@carculture3376]

@simonhughes7150 Your reply is lacking a link. So I take it that you couldn't find a production that told the in-depth story like mine did, and proved my point.

[@simonhughes7150]

Actually before someone tells me it is to be found on the web in many places,that is quite true🤫

[@simonkevnorris]

The driver that Kevin Bartlett was going to punch was Ron Wanless who was an ex boxer. Needless to say Kevin did not try and punch Ron!

[@ldnwholesale8552]

The homogation weight was never the weight of any XD. I recently weighed a very basic sedan and it was about 1320. 200 4 speed with no extras. Iron head engine. I sprint an XE, 351C, close ratio single rail, 78 series BW diff. Big brakes, full steel cage, race seat only and no others, heater etc gone and it is 1350kg So no XD or XE with full trim, heaters, etc etc was anywhere near 1250. My carwill be 2-300kg lighter using a 5 litre Windsor with CHI alloy heads etc, alloy bellhousing and a few other lighter bits. An XD XE etc ute is heavier than a pov pack sedan, not much but all that floor and reinforcing to carry 600kg is heavier. My auto air steer XF ute weighed just under 1400kg

[@Tigerfire75]

How is it an underdog story? The 1980 winner knew how to win. Heck he should have been the favorite to win.

[@jimbojones1107]

Dick is the man who's name perfectly matches his personality

[@stephenkukec9784]

Who is narrating this? I cant understand 40% of what he says!

[@Tyson-s3u]

Very few people know the truth about those wins .

[@lesterbuckman5493]

Dick and Jill are true blue Aussie battlers and a credit to themselves and Australia. There contribution to Australian motorsport his ability to turn adversity into success with nothing but talent and hard work putting it all on the line

[@petermcilroy3224]

Good times

[@michaelwyres]

How is this an "untold story"? It's been told over and over since it happened...

[@carculture3376]

Has it? I did a large amount of research to make this documentary, and all I could find in video form was small snippet productions going for less then a few minutes. Nothing indepth. The most I could find was in Dick Johnsons video autobiography "True Blue" (its on KZbin, highly recommend) where the subject got covered, but again it was only about 5 minutes of the overall video. Nothing in great depth. That's why I made this video, because I feel the full story needed to be told. But if you have access to a production that gives as much information as this one did, may I please request a link, I'd love to see it. Thank you for your comment mate.

[@ayrproductions]

@@carculture3376HDT were doing annual Bathurst films at that stage, so there was one made as part of that and is available on DVD.

[@carculture3376]

@ayrproductions Is this one of film you are referring to mate? I got a lot of fantastic footage from it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qobJl4Znqrd7bbssi=nM5u4anFz22mxuyc

[@didgereemedia194]

Dick may not have won, but he certainly made an impact that weekend. No pun intended

[@geoffmccoll4640]

How to stop at pedestrian crossing, yep stop the race for an echidna.

[@huwgrossmith9555]

Proper racing not this fake car crap of today! I hope TCR gets the 1000 theyre more relevant.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

The XD homolgated by Wilmington and Murray Carter was for the 6 cyl sedan variant. THAT is very well known KB owned his Camaro, Packer /9 was the sponsor. CAMS seemed to go out of their way to make the car uncompetitive, the 1979 car ended up racing as a 76 with drum rears. Yet rear discs were available on the 79. It also got quite a weight as well. Ford teams had a baseline as the XD was not radically different to the XC Coupe, just lighter. Though did any actually get near the mininum weight? Holden teams had to learn a new car,, Brock got it right, the rest not so much. Even then they were using setups hardly conducive for the chassis. VL GpA was the first one somewhere near right. While maybe an underdog in comparison to some others Dick was moderatly well funded with Palmer Tube Mills as a sponsor. Yes what happened was heart breaking and the whole country rightfully felt for him but the money raised put him in a far better situation to build another car. Remember these were just hotted up roadcars and the mechanicals were the most expensive part. He was never a battler after.

[@noelwebb6843]

The commentater seems to have forgotten about the early battle between, Bartlett, Brock & Johnson. It lasted for several laps & produced some brilliant racing with 3 very different cars producing similar times. Oh & no-one threw the rock, there is no somehow. The police investigated the incident & by the time the race was over they had determined that under the weight of the crowd the rock worked itself from the bank. If you your going to explain what happened in something you should first learn the facts

[@powderskier5547]

Back in the day when it was really a great race with many modified cars, not like this new supercar boring as shit we have now. I have never missed a Bathurst the last 40 years and would watch many other races throughout the year, but this season I have lost interest, how boring, mustangs and Comaro's, no more Holdens, the cars all look the same and basically have the same shit under the shells, bring back modified Group C cars, will be much more enjoyable to watch

[@paulscotchsmychannelyourch9940]

I watched it live at the time. 1980’s Did they catch the Friggen idiot? Obviously not.

[@andymills2985]

I cant belive a holden fan would throw a rock right on his race line 😢

[@noelwebb6843]

Are you for real you idiot? They rock came loose from the bank under the weight of the crowd, Peter brock also hit the rock. What everyone forgets about is the truck picking up a stranded car. Had it not been there Dick would of seen the rock & been able to avoid it, to be honest I reckon he did a brilliant job avoiding the truck.

[@Mrcraft4]

Potentially so good, but .....

[@turbotorana4336]

the weight given was not to a xd falcon ute it was in FACT the weight variant to a base model 6cyl xd sedan instead of the v8 xd sedan it was suppose to be.and after being found out later was changed but dick johnson had allready enjoyed a lot of success with the lighter car.

[@rvrski1]

The best days in history, I was a Brock fan but loved every team, privateer, driver and car. I lost interest when the 1000 went away from touring cars.

[@bourbonslurpee]

I'm a Brocky fan but I loved Comaro. Had many arguments with my dad about that "Big yank tank" and those pieces of jap junk RX7s.

[@bmcshane80]

Been to Bathurst every year from 86 to 2007, you couldnt pay me to watch it now, fucking BORING. NASCAR is where its at for me

[@ChristopherWHerbert]

Factually incorrect is a correct statement for this video

[@carculture3376]

Thank you so very much for your comment and viewing.

[@lesterbuckman5493]

Thats harsh ! what did he get wrong exactly I used to watch the series religiously and thought he nailed it ?

[@carculture3376]

@lesterbuckman5493 thank you for your nice words mate, don't let the negative comments get to you buddy, they will always be there.

[@lesterbuckman5493]

@@carculture3376 I enjoyed it very much and been it’s saved to my favourites. 👍. Unfortunately some people’s thing is to find fault in everything I am not sure why but it’s near impossible to get anything perfect as while each of us remember or see things is different because of many factors ,being told something then taking it as fact, what team there backing we all will happy to look the other way if it’s to our liking. As no doubt there would have been some a minority would have applauded the absolute moron that took out Dick with the rock ? Trophy might have sat on Pete’s mantle but highly debatable that had Dick been allowed to complete the race was odds on to have won it. Anyway I very much enjoyed have subscribed and looking forward to more content in the future. I really love the battles of the late 60’s through to the 90’s in my opinion the best area and reflected the actual cars they were based of as now there wouldn’t be an original actual production part on the car ? Maybe the badges ? but probably not be to heavy. Keep up the good work 👍

[@ChristopherWHerbert]

@@lesterbuckman5493 The question is what is right, because the list of cock-ups is too long to list

[@stevecam724]

Cheating with the weight, used a restricted engine/drivetrain? Hits a rock and gets so much "gofundme" (or equivalent) that he builds a factory and enters a two car team? Nah, I don't rate Johnson, Moffat yes, Dick no.

[@lesterbuckman5493]

Come on wake up they were all pushing the boundaries