Bathurst 1965

[davesmith]

Over the last few days I've been going through some of my father's old slides from the 60's. He passed away in the 70's when I was a young bloke but had a keen interest in photography. Unfortunately he never had the chance to pass that on to me but I've obviously picked it up somewhere along the way, and from these shots, not only the photography.

Here's a few images from Bathurst in the good ol' days, April 1965 (about 4.5 years before I was born):

(Apologies for the watermarking, but you get the idea)

Bob Jane's Mustang coming across the top of the mountain through Skyline. Note the lack of fencing. On the other side of the track is a pretty sheer drop down the mountain.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u292/davesmithphotography/12-27-2009_004.jpg

Bob Jane again, with a pretty healthy crowd.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u292/davesmithphotography/12-27-2009_007.jpg

Spencer Martin in his Ferrari 250LM

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u292/davesmithphotography/12-27-2009_002.jpg

I've long photographed motorsport but had never made it out to Bathurst. Nearly 45 years later I photographed Bathurst for the first time and found myself standing in almost exactly the same spot as the shot above. This isn't the best photo but the only wide shot I had that shows a similar angle and just how much it has changed.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u292/davesmithphotography/DSC03202.jpg

[rwg717]

These shots bring back a lot of memories, Dave....I am about 10 years older than you and boy these shots knocked some dust off the back of my "brain box"...well done, Cheers:p

[Paul G]

Brilliant David! Back when the racing was real... Do you have more? I would pay to get these on a disc. I am a Bathurst tragic of 1973 vintage so just a bit younger than you. Your Dad captured "The Mountain" perfectly.

[dbax]

wonderful, wonderful stuff:th3::th3:

[Analog6]

Great pics, they rbing back memories.

Yes, it was a real road race then, for cars as they were sold for the road. The modern version leaves me cold. We (Mum and I ) went to Bathurst in (I think from memory) 68 through to 71 when Mum was involved with CAMS and we knew a few race drivers. It was a much better race, IMHO, in the old days with the classes/divisions of the various engine capacity cars all racing together and no souped up machines that would never, in any sense of the words, be 'street legal'.

[rookie]

Very interesting how the track has changed (safety wise) Great shots

[ricktas]

Thanks for showing us those Dave. Not only does it let us look at the race of the past, it shows how much Australia has changed in general.

[Miaow]

Great seeing such old pics Dave :)

[davesmith]

The other thing I found interesting going through the old slides is looking at photographs purely with a sense of nostalgia rather than the technical aspects of the photo itself, whether it's sharp, well composed etc. They don't have to be technically brilliant to tell a story.

[I @ M]

Thanks for sharing those Dave, the comparison of the same point on the track is excellent and also shows us how photography has progressed in leaps and bounds over a relatively short time frame. :th3:

[Helen S]

These are fabulous David. Not hard to see where you inherited you talent from... and those memories from Bathurst are terrific, too. :)

[Redgum]

Dave, those photos are simply great (1965 vintage in particular). I've got some 16mm film shot at the same time. Brings back memories. Wonderful. :)

[cupic]

Being a car nut fan these shots of your dad's are epic I trying to get footage from the great race pre 80's and its fantastic to see this old school stuff compare to today's over safety (I know that safety is paramount)but it shows all skill needed to be the best in that era TFS and yes please more from your dads collection and yours too :D


cheers

[Fantasyphoto]

Great shots Dave,

For those who haven't realised they are from the Easter meeting on the mountain, not the 500 mile production car race which was held on October 3rd, 1965 and won by Barry Seton (father of Glenn).
Here is a similar image but much poorer quality http://www.motorsportarchive.com/9Bob_Mustang_Bathurst_Easter_1965_web.jpg

My father was racing Formula V around this time and attended Bathurst as part of a pit crew the following year. I spent most weekends at places like Warwick Farm, Catalina Park, Amaroo Park and Oran Park.

[ving]

wow! SAFETY WS REALLY AN ISSUE BACK THEN WASNT IT :)

thanks for sharin those david :)

[Experiment626]

How Bathurst has changed over the years. Crazy eh! They're great pics too!