Nissan Bluebird

[Rob 18]

That's a title that should get everyone exited, a topic about a bloody Bluebird

Probably it's most historic moment in Australian Motorsport was when Fury claimed pole with that awesome lap for the 84 Bathurst 1000 with a 2.13 something lap.[8D] It was also a competitive ride for Fury for a couple of years in the ATCC & come within a whisker of winning the 83 ATCC after hounding Moffat & the RX7 for the duration of the 83 series, & being helped along with points bonuses for being (I THINK) an under 3 litre touring car & while Moffat was winning, Fury was taking home more points for finishing 2nd.[}]

After all that dribble, it's probably time I should ask the quetion:

Q1. When & where did the little Nissan first take an outright win in Australian Motorsport[?][?]

Q2. How round wins did it achieve in the ATCC[?][?]

 

[Seton Fanatic]

1. 1983 Amaroo AEC, George Fury

2. One

 

[Rob 18]

1. Incorrect SF but fairly close

2. 100% correct.

 

[Seton Fanatic]

1982 Amaroo AEC?

 

[Rob 18]

Actually, it wasn't an AEC round SF. It was 1983 though...

 

[Seton Fanatic]

Bloody hell, Rob. Ah, I know the answer. This comes from memory. Fred Gibson at a Better Brakes round at Amaroo.

 

[Rob 18]

Bloody hell SF, you got it!!

Freddy Gibson was indeed correct taking the 3rd round of the 83 Better brakes series at Amaroo Park.

Fred not only gave Nissan it's 1st win in Australian Motorsport, it was also the 1st win for a turbo charged touring car in Australia & the 1st win in the world for Nissan's Bluebird..

While were on Fred Gibson, when he won that round at Amaroo in 1983, it had ended a long drought for Fred. When was the last time he won a round or meeting in Australian Touring Car Racing??
What was he driving?? & where did this take place???

 

[Beejay]

Adelaide 250 in 1973 when the Superbird made its debut?

 

[Beejay]

Or did Fred win a Rothmans 500 at Oran Park in 1978 when he got into the A9X?

 

[Rob 18]

It's an interesting question about Gibbo isn't & I didn't realise it was such a long time between drinks Beejay.

Your 1st answer is indeed correct, way back in 73..

 

[Beejay]

And it was a good race for Ford. Of course it wasn't the debut of the Superbird in total. Goss ahd been racing the Superbird through the ATCC of that year. Ford had held back the factory Superbird racers and didn't start building them until the ATCC was over. They nearly shot themselves in the foot with that one as by that time the Ford factory was in the middle of a two month strike! For whatever reason, there were no Hardtop shells to be had so they were stuck! They commandeered Howard Marsden's own orange GT Hardtop and used it as a test hack. The strike eventually ended six weeks before the Adelaide 250 and the cars only just made it. Even then, the orange hack was used in the first practice session. But it all worked out in the end. Raceday was wet and the HDT put hand-cut intermediates in while the Fords went for full wets. The hand cut tyres were a disaster, with Bond losing it and crashing and Brock getting rid of his. The Fords strolled off into the distance, out handling the Toranas in the wet. Moffat was delayed with a flat battery, but the Superbirds finished 1-2-3, Gibson winning from Bartlett and Moffat.