The ‘Hardie Ferodo 1000’ was born in 1973, following Australia’s change to the metric system. The decision to lengthen Australia’s top marathon event followed conferences with manufacturers, entrants and leading drivers.

It was a gamble. And it was a gamble that paid off with increased overseas interest, better prizemoney and stronger fields. The 1000 has produced a breed of more skilled drivers who know the value of tactics, and it has helped produce better cars and components.

Race rules were changed to comply with touring-car regulations and classes were changed from the old CP units to cubic capacity — under 1300cc; 1301-2000cc; 2001-3000cc and over 3000cc.

Interest centred on the clash between the new Falcon Superbirds and the established Torana XU1s.

It was mandatory to have two drivers per car and Ford entered Allan Moffat and Ian Geoghegan in one car with Fred Gibson and Bo Seton in the back-up machine.

The Holden Dealer Team also entered two cars — Colin Bond/Leo Geoghegan and Peter Brock/Doug Chivas.

Practice brought the first surprise when John Goss and Kevin Bartlett, in the McLeod Falcon, took pole position with the best time of 2 mins 33 secs. But the experts were still predicting the Fords would not last and were tipping Toranas to clean sweep.

At the start it looked as if Goss/Bartlett could steal a march on all the works cars. With Goss at the wheel, the Falcon quickly set up a good lead which held for nearly half the race. But after Bartlett had driven and been replaced by Goss, the Falcon hit a slower car trying to avoid a pile-up and split an oil line.

With Goss sidelined, Gibson/Seton out earlier and Bond/Geoghegan hanging back for some reason, the race settled down to a works duel between Moffat/Geoghegan and Brock/Chivas, with the Torana still looking to have the edge.

Then, late in the race, Chivas coasted down the main straight out of petrol. He finally managed to push the car to the pits, losing three and a half minutes in the process.

Brock took over and chased Moffat, but could not bridge the gap and the Falcon ran out a 40-second winner, giving Moffat his third and Geoghegan his first Hardie Ferodo in the closest finish yet.

The extra distance took its toll on the field, 11 cars dropping out in the final 33 laps.