1966 Lowood 4 Hour Explained

The 1966 Lowood 4 Hour was an endurance race for production sedans held at the Lowood circuit in Queensland, Australia on 27 March 1966.^[1] The race, which was organised by the Queensland Racing Drivers Club,^[2] was the third annual Lowood 4 Hour.^[3] It was open to cars priced under $6000 in Australia, provided that 100 examples of the model had been manufactured.^[4]

The 34 starters^[3] competed in four classes based on vehicle retail price with an additional class for cars with automatic transmission.^[5] Class winning cars were Morris Mini Deluxe, Morris Cooper, Ford Cortina GT500, Volvo 122S and Holden HD X2 179. Officially, only class placings were recognised but the unofficial "line honours" winner was the Scuderia Veloce entered Volvo 122S driven by David McKay and Bill Orr.^[3] Initial reports had the Firth / Seton Ford Cortina GT500 listed as taking line honours,^[6] but this was later corrected.

Results

Position	Drivers	No.	Car	Entrant	Laps
	Class A : Up to $1720
1	M Schneider, M Brewster		Morris Mini Deluxe	Marque Motors	93
2	Joe Camilleri, L Gould		Morris Mini Deluxe	J Camilleri	91
3	H Beiers, I Beiers		Morris Mini Deluxe	H&I Beiers	90
4	J Humphrey, J Osborne		Morris Mini Deluxe	Humphreys Golden Fleece Service Station	90
5	Harrison		Ford Anglia
?	Williams		Fiat 850S
DNF	Kennedy, Perrett		Morris Mini Deluxe
DNF	Gary Shoesmith, Wolders		Vauxhall Viva		76
	Class B : $1721 – $2200^[7]
1	Bill Stanley, Digby Cooke		Morris Cooper	Marque Motors	99
2	Max Volkers, Graeme Perry		Ford Cortina 1500	R O'Neill's Parking Station	98
3	B Tapsall, B Gates		Datsun Bluebird SS	B Tapsall	98
4	Ron Park, Paul Zacka	31	Holden EH	R O'Neill's Parking Station	97
?	Brown	37	Datsun Bluebird SS	Scuderia Veloce
?	Hughes		Morris Cooper
?	Bailey		Isuzu Bellett
?	Stewart		Isuzu Bellett
DNF	Woodford, Dellit
DNF	Lionel Ayers, Warren Blomfield		Toyota Corona	Swift Service Station	44
DNF	Hodgson, Reynolds			Griffith Brake Service
DNF^[8]	Grimson & Mitchell		Ford Cortina
	Class C : $2201 - $3200
1	Harry Firth, Barry Seton	51	Ford Cortina GT500	Ford Motor Company	106
2	Bob Holden, Ron Haylen	58	Morris Cooper S	B.M.C. (Australia)	105
3	Don Holland, L Stewart		Morris Cooper S	Don Holland Motors	103
4	P Brown, J Sediatis		Ford Cortina GT500	P Brown	102
5	R Page, B Tatham		Prince Skyline GT	R Page	102
6	M Bailey, J Hicks		Prince Skyline GT	M Bailey	100
?			Morris Cooper S
?			Morris Cooper S
DNF	Sachs		Chrysler Valiant
DNF	John French		Morris Cooper S		92
DNF	Beasley, Standfast	62	Morris Cooper S		78
	Class D : $3201 – $6000
1	David McKay, Bill Orr	70	Volvo 122S	Scuderia Veloce	107
2	Ron O'Neill, L Daly		Ford Cortina Lotus		102
	Class E : Automatics only, unlimited price
1	I Knowles, Glyn Scott^[9]		Holden HD X2 179^[10]	M McDonald	88
DNS	Glyn Scott		Ford Fairmont	Ford Motor Company	-

Notes & references

Big battle at Lowood, Brisbane Courier Mail, Saturday, 26 March 1966
Volvo Wins Lowood Four Hour, Sports Car World, July 1966, page 46
Des White, 4 Hours at Lowood, Racing Car News, May 1966, pages 24–25
Lowood, Australian Motor Sports, May 1966, pages 50–51
Lowood Four Hours, Modern Motor, June 1966, page 65
Ford 2 Win at Lowood, Brisbane Courier Mail, Monday, 28 March 1966, page 14
The Modern Motor report gives the Class B minimum as $1722, the Class C minimum as $2202 and the Class D minimum as $3202
Modern Motor does not mention which class the Grimson & Mitchell Ford Cortina was competing in. As Racing Car News states that there were 12 starters in Class B but only makes reference to 11, it has been assumed that this was the 12th car.
Racing Car News reports that Glyn Scott replaced a sick driver & Courier Mail reports that Class E was won by I Knowles & G Scott (Holden)
Racing Car News lists the Class E Holden as an "X2" and Modern Motor indicates that it was a "179", thus meaning it would have been a Holden HD