I was lucky enough to have chatted with bill for 18 months before this Bathurst icon died. In fact the day he went into
Hospital i rang him, Bill said he ring me back when he left Hospital but sadly that never happened.
While i picked his brains for the 1972 great race i started to collect pics so i thought i would share with what i discovered.
In 1972 Bill was approached by Paul Ramsay (Ramsay Health Founder) To drive a XU1 torana being part of a 2 car team
to race at Bathurst, Bill Agreed, Paul Ramsay bought 2 XU1s one in Royal purple the other in Chateau Mauve, The chateau"s car
motor had to be rebuilt due to cam failure, The Ramsay team was staying at Orange.and it was left to an apprentice to drive car up to orange.
but on outskirts of Orange just on Dusk the car Hit a Roo and ended up in a ditch, now the Ramsay team had only the Royal Purple car to Race.
Bill Qualified 18th on grid, But on Lap 20 he drifted off the dry line and slid driverside into ditch and bounced back onto track facing the wrong way
Now a lot of people over the years thinks bill rolled it but thats not the case. After the race the car was towed to Bills Place and on behalf Of Paul Ramsay
was sold To a Pannel Beater at Silverwater NSW, Here the car was repaired and used by beater for 12 months before being sold and it end up on
south coast NSW.. This is where i can find no more info on car.
So iam hoping someone here may own a 72 Royal Purple xu1 that does not know its got racing History, as i would like to reunite The GMH factory warranty
records to the car, I also have proof that this race car had its First 1,000 mile GMH Service at Suttons Motors Homebush .
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bill 3.jpg 79.03K
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Paul book.png 417.37K
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paul 1.png 737.99K
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22c crash.jpg 54.75K
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DH3 - Copy.png 728.99K
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