Gday All,

A subject that has always been of great interest to me has been the 1968 disqualification due to oversize (non factory) valve sizes of the 2nd finishing Des West & Ron Marks HK GTS 327 Picardie Red Monaro 14D entry, This mighty red beast was clocked @ 135 MPH (Fastest Monaro in 68) & from what i understand set the pace @ the great race blowing the GTs away down conrod & at one stage was considered the actual winner due to confusion on the laps completed etc...

I think the car (14d) was a HK GTS 327 in Picardie Red, Parchment Trim & Delete stripe judging by the pics i have seen - Any comments here?

Some other interesting points that i invite for your comments are?

What dealer supplied the car 14D & any details on it?

How did Bruce Barr come to purchase oversize heads over the counter?

Were these purchased from a Holden Dealer or other?

Was this Ron Marks only drive @ Bathurst?

What became of 14D - Did it race again or was it sold?

Anyone know of the whereabouts of this interesting classic today?

Is there any books out there with this info?


Would love to here from any punters out there that can fill in gaps i wish to add there own comments on this interesting subject etc?

Cheers Brian....

There seems to be a few "claims" that the lap scorers got it wrong for a few years. 1967 had a protest at completion and the results changed.

Many years ago a fellow I met claimed his godfather won Bathurst in 1969. His godfather was Des West. He claimed they got it wrong on lap counting. As they were both HDT cars Harry just left the win to Bond. I asked Bruce Mcphee about this as he drove all but one lap so would have known who was in front of him and behind him. He told me Bond was definitely in front.

Then a few years ago the claim was that Des West won 1968 and was disqualified to cover the ARDC error. Apparently Des appealed and won the appeal but was never placed back into the history books.

Bruce and Des were good friends and visited each other for BBQs etc for many years. Bruce and Des would know the truth, and I do not know why Bruce would lie about 1969 and 1968 if his friend actually won.

If the "stories" are true and Des won 1968 and 1969, then Peter Brock would also be credited with another win.

I did ask Des about the valves and he claims they were purchased from Holden. A complete head was supplied as the other was faulty. Bruce backed this up. But it was a long time ago that I had these conversations.

Ben has also spoken with Des about this and read Des's book (I have not seen a copy) and he is of the belief that Des won 1968 and 1969. AMC Magazine has also done some investigation into this, so check their publications.

History is a very interesting thing to investigate and somethings are so well covered that sometimes the truth cannot be released for harm to others reputations.

Warren

Will reply more later but it wasn't heads, the ARDC knew they'd stuffed up lap counts again and found a way to disqualify Des but later exonerated him but didn't overturn the result. He was disqualified as he had a 3.36 rear axle. The car continued to race in the same state it ran at Bathurst, unchanged as there was nothing illegal about the car. The proof is out there in plain sight if you go looking for it. Even Bruce McPhee gives a hint in his foreward to the Steve Stathis book.

The ARDC stuffed up in 1967-1970. 1970 they short changed Don Holland a lap, he was on the same lap as McPhee and Moffat with a failing GT-HO. 1969 is a lot more complicated and not my story to tell. 1967 Harry protested as he knew he'd won but the Geohegans wete never disqualified but given second.