Short answer: Harry Firth and Bob Jane won the first Bathurst endurance race at Mount Panorama—the 1963 Armstrong 500—in a Ford Cortina GT.
Yes, the event began at Phillip Island (1960–62), but 1963 was Bathurst’s debut, and the pair finished first across the line.
It was a class-based race with no formal “outright” trophy then, yet history rightly treats Firth/Jane as the inaugural Bathurst victors.
Proof that light, tidy and well-driven can humble the big bruisers—until someone turns up with a V8 and a grudge.
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