1979 Repco Reliability Trial
Photos by Ray Berghouse, Chevron Group
These images appeared in the Chevron Group's Challenge book, a copy of which was provided to each crew after the event. The negatives of these images are lost, hence the reproductions displayed on this page were scanned from the book, Some of the smaller, lower light level images did not scan well. All effort has been made to restore them to the best possible quality.
The Renault 16TS of Birrell / Smith / Nixon at the end of Beechworth stage, finished in 27th position.
The Datsun P510 of Caudle / Drew / Elsden, in Tooborac, finished in 66th place.
Kevin Cafe, Robert Gurney & Anthony Dawson (Ray Berghouse)
The Datsun P510 of Easton / Rayner / Bell, going through Narrogin, finished in 70th position.
The Boys / Vonthien Ford FIOO, in Tooborac, finished in 36th place.
John Darby, John Clark & Colin Stewart (Ray Berghouse)
Graham Stockley & Kevin O'Neil (Ray Berghouse)
Grahame Heaton, Robert Shepherd & Brian Mann (Ray Berghouse)
Kevin McDiarmid, Peter Travis & David Phegan (Ray Berghouse)
David Sheridan & Richard Reid (Ray Berghouse)
Grant O'Donnell, Garry Geissler & Andrew Gibson (Ray Berghouse)
The Mazda 323 of Parsons / Parsons, here in Tooborac, rolled near Bundaberg.
Paul Caddey, Cyril Mulach &
Terry Hanrahan (Ray Berghouse)
The Quill / Quill / Ellis Holden Commodore, shown at Tooborac, later blew the motor at Kunnunurra .
The Peugeot 504 of Saville / Fyvie / Harris crashed in W.A., Fyvie and Harris died.
Howard Reynolds, Ted Herbert & Lloyd Herbert (Ray Berghouse)
The Johnston / Marsh Mazda ran out of late time at Kunnunurra.
Murray Cleworth, Kim Ballestrin & Bob Comely (Ray Berghouse)
The Datsun P510 of Kaitler / Kay / Harper, here in Tooborac, retired in Perth with a broken piston.
The Hunt / Barnes / Haynes Datsun 180B retired with a broken rear end.
The Fritter / Kelly / Fritter Datsun 180B, in Tooborac, retired near Cockelbiddy
The Datsun 120Y of Ellis / Wall, here in Tooborac, broke the rear end in W.A.
The Holden EH of Duyvestyn / Kirk/ Comley, shown in Tooborac, hit a kangaroo in W.A.
Greg Cleaves & John Stone (Ray Berghouse)
The Stanley / Harrison Volvo 244DL heads into Tooborac. retired in W.A. with broken rear end.
The Japanese team of Ohta / Ohnuma / Kobayashi in the Toyota TE 61. in Tooborac, broke sump, ran out of late time in Perth.
The Murray / Myers Peugeot 504 in Tooborac, broke the rear end near Broken Hill.
Graham Alexander & Graeme Sedgwick (Ray Berghouse)
Wal Glass, Hamish Loftus & Graeme Brittliff (Ray Berghouse)
John Coleman & Greg Boot (Ray Berghouse)
Geoff Kennett, Graeme Stewart & Bob Nye (Ray Berghouse)
The Walsh / Whitby / Wunderlich "Grey Ghost" shown near Broken Hill, broke the crank near Newcastle.
The Ford Cortina of Fury / Bonhomme / Suffern passing the Penny / Kennard / Brown Torana near Good Parla, finished in 25th position
The Kipling/ Potticary HT Holden ute. blew the motor in Western Australia.
Doug & Sian Mulholland / Mulholland (Ray Berghouse)
Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, fresh from opening the Sydney Motor Show, stopped off to survey the remaining cars at the Showground.
Barry Ferguson with Peter Brock and the crews of the first two Commodores, at the official presentation.
Brisbane gave the Repco competitors the biggest reception of all, at the Brookside shopping Centre.
The Townsville showgrounds, where thousands of people visited during the day to view the Repco entrants.
The Leyland P76 of Maloney / Vitnell / Daley, near Broken Hill, finished in 39th position.
Wayne Herdy, Pat O'Kane & Brian Gramenz (Ray Berghouse)
The Garner / Madden / Corban Holden Torana LX, in Tooborac, finished in 78th position.
Tom Hayden, John Phillis & Richard Hogan (Ray Berghouse)
The Ford Escort of Hall / Smith / Lott, completing Beechworth, finished in 88th place.
The Ingerson / Wilson / MacCulloch Peugeot 404, in Tooborac, finished in 49th place.
The Mazda RX4 of Boaden / Atkins / Pritchard, plunging through the NT, finished in 51st position.
The Ferrier / Smith Honda Civic, out of the S.A. water, finished in 87th position, passing the FJ Holden of Webster / Jolly / McIntyre undertaking a dry out.
The Hurrey / Geddes Toyota Celica, shown near Broken Hill, finished in 18th position.
The Chrysler Lancer of Nicholson / Crawford, in Tooborac, finished in 48th place.
Dave Colless, Ray Johnston & Richard McCoy (Ray Berghouse)
Bob Bird & Roger McKinnon (Ray Berghouse)
The Foden / Baker / Young Leyland P76, completing Beechworth, finished in 43rd place.
Mick Myers, Mick Myers & Mal Sinfield (Ray Berghouse)
Doug Minett, Doug Chapple & Don Watson (Ray Berghouse)
The Kahler / Partridge / Simeon Mazda RX4, near Rockhampton in this picture, finished in 41st place.
The Toyota Celica of Nalder / Richards / Boyd, shown near Mt. Isa, finished in 6th place
Max Roberts, Eric Waterson & Tony Carroll (Ray Berghouse)
The 2.5 Riley of Jones / Jones / Webber, entering Tooborac, finished in 75th place.
The Holden Commodore of Goldsbrough / Flanagan / Grounds, in Tooborac, finished in 32nd position.
The Finlay / Sullivan / Macleod Holden Commodore, in a N.T. wash, finished in 17th place.
The Datsun 18OB SSS of Clarke / Davis / Burge, near Good Parla, finished in 16th place.
The McGubbin / Kelly / Guyatt Holden Monaro GTS, entering Geraldton control finished in 23rd position.
John Miettunen, Russell Morgan & John Suominen (Ray Berghouse)
The Beveridge / Heaney / Jarman Volvo 244 DL, here in S.A., finished in 19th position, first women's team.
The Potter / Bain Mazda RXJ Coupe, completing Beechworth, finished in 58th place.
The Holden Commodore of Lockhart / Dunstan / Finlayson, entering Tooborac, finished in 33rd place.
The de Vaus / Faulkner / Bateson Peugeot 504, near Broken Hill, finished in 24th place.
The Holden Monaro GTS of Meehan / Gifford/ Gardiner, negotiating Kuipto, finished in 53rd place.
The McArthur family in the Ford Falcon XY, entering Tooborac, finished in 83rd position.
The Datsun 180B SSS of Rowney / Wilson / Tyson, through Narrogin, finished in 15th place.
The Lloyd / Dick / Crockenberg Mitsubishi Colt, on a N. T. dirt road, finished in 31st place.
The Davis / Eather / Toner Datsun 180B, near Mt. Isa, finished in 10th place.
The Loader / Hill / Neale Mitsubishi Lancer, over a causeway near Port Hedland, finished in 7th place.
The Murray / D'Albora / Murray Holden Commodore, rearing from the S. A. waters, finished in 29th place.
The Holden Commodore of Jackson / West / Jackson, first Commodore privateers home, finished in 13th place, seen here near Good Parla.
The Ford Escort turbo of Bryson / Cable-Cumming, entering Tooborac, finished in 92nd place.
The O'Shanesy / Dean / O'Shanesy Fiat Mirrafiori, through Tooborac, finished in 60th place. 5
The Volvo 242 GT of Johnson / Vanderbyl, rushing through Maralinga, finished in 30th place.
The Taylor / Hunt Rover 3500, at Kuipto, finished in 59th place.
The Portman Stanza, at Sydney Showgrounds, limping home.
The Mizel / Hall / Fricker / Mortimor Chevy Blazer, outside of Mt. Isa, finished in 12th position.
The Ford pickup of Clyborne/Hayes, entering Tooborac, finished in 69th position.
The Datsun Stanza of Portman / Thompson / Hammond, in Narrogin, finished in 22nd place.
The Wilson / Baker / Freeze Mercedes-Benz 280S, through Tooborac, finished in 47th position.
The Tholstrup / Perry Chevy C20 pickup, entering Tooborac, finished in 67th position.
Terry McTighe, Ian Sheridan & Robert Wilson (Ray Berghouse)
The Dunkerton / McKay / Jones Volvo 244. completing Beechworth, finished in fourth position.
The Carr/Morrow / Gocentas Ford Cortina, going through Narrogin, finished in 5th position.
The Porsche 924 of Barth / Kushmaul, in Beechworth, finished in 9th place.
The Koseki / Takaoka Suburu Leone, on the causeway near Port Hedland, finished in 44th position.
The Watson / Harrowfield Peugeot Diesel, completing Beechworth, finished in a creditable 11th position.
The winÂning Commodore on the dirt roads of northern S.A.
The winÂning Commodore during gatework near Broken Hill
The winÂning Commodore on the Narrogin special stage in W.A.
The Holden Commodore of Ferguson / Bell / Boddy, near Good Parla N.T., continues on it's crashingly successful run.
The Holden Commodore of Ferguson / Bell / Boddy, near Good Parla N.T., continues on it's crashingly successful run.
The winning Brock / Philip / Richards Holden Commodore, showing its preparation through S.A. waters.
The Brock / Philip / Richards Holden Commodore, near Mt. Isa, finished in 1st place.
The Aaltonen / Mehta / Lake Holden Commodore, completing Tooborac, finished in 3rd place.
Nicholas Penny, Andrew Kennard & David Brown (Ray Berghouse)
The Porsche 911 of Herrmann / Rainsford, completing Beechworth, finished in 8th place.
The Audi 1OO 5E of Behret / Schmidt / Schmidt, waterlogged in S.A., later hit a kangaroo and retired.
Greg Walker & Mel McCann (Ray Berghouse)
Jim Reinders & John Lewis (Ray Berghouse)
Richard Moore & Phillip Sethna (Ray Berghouse)
Fullagar family (Ray Berghouse)
Norm Sparkes & Barry Clayton (Ray Berghouse)
Allen Barnes & Jason Smith (Ray Berghouse)
Joe Richardson, Alan Daniel & Bruce Fullerton (Ray Berghouse)
Peter Webster, Trevor Jolly & Rod McIntyre (Ray Berghouse)
John Gough, Ken Hutton & Tony Bishop (Ray Berghouse)
Dick Bray, Kevin McMahon & Leo Smith (Ray Berghouse)
Tony Koch, Bill Darling & Albert Koch (Ray Berghouse)
Harold Rayner, Barry Campbell & Robert Loader (Ray Berghouse)
Greg Lunney, John Stanmore & Garry Tyler (Ray Berghouse)
Mal Bolch, Vin Keane & Malcolm Owen (Ray Berghouse)
Peter Roggenkamp, Terry Adair & Michael Eakin (Ray Berghouse)
Neil Turner, Keith DonoÂhue & John Sparrow (Ray Berghouse)
The Holden HR of Lahiff / Beath, which finished 50th, show the art of opening and closing gates.
Rod Jones. Trevor Seaman & John Giddings (Ray Berghouse)
Ross Neilson, Jim Stewart & Russell Tyrie (Ray Berghouse)
Peter Glover, Peter Burke & John Hather (Ray Berghouse)
The Volvo 242 GT of Jensen / Johnson / Wellington, at Geraldton, rolled near Kempsey.
The Hilton / Bourke / Pattenden Toyota Celica, here in the Northern Territory, broke the suspension near Sydney.
The Mason / Hicks / Morley Holden Commodore, shown in Kuipto, retired after Darwin.
Peter Pittaway & Deane Boston (Ray Berghouse)
The Citroen CX 2400 of Cowan / Reddiex / Beaumont, shown near Port Hedland, broke a drive shaft near Good Parla.
The Bond / Riley l DawsonÂDamer Ford Cortina, shown at Narrogin, broke the engine near Mt. Goyder. Inset, the Cortina at Geraldton after rolling outside of Perth.
Geoff Sawyer, Leslie Shadwick & Robert Mortimer (Ray Berghouse)
The Quill / Quill / Ellis Holden Commodore, shown at Tooborac, later blew the motor at Kunnunurra .
Eril Mitchell, Allen Rowe & Geoff York (Ray Berghouse)
The Porsche 924 of Barth/ Kushmaul, here into the Nullabor, went on to finish 9th outright, while the VW Beetle of Suth/ Gros/ Suth was to run out of late time into Darwin.
Terry Kuss, Terry Wraight & Russell Knight (Ray Berghouse)
The white Mazda RX2 of Hayden/ Phillis/ Hogan finished in 72nd place after having a soaked engine, while the yellow Holden Torana of Hargrave/ Hutton/ Trinks hit a bull in W.A. and retired.
Graham Haslam & Peter Fuller (Ray Berghouse)
Robert Bolton & Bill Ebzery (Ray Berghouse).
Graham Wallis, Dave Cochrane & Richard Davies (Ray Berghouse)
Peter Glennie, Mike Shaw & Ken Amos (Ray Berghouse)
The Mazda RX7 of Lundi / Elliott near Broken Hill, retired at Perth with rear end problems.
The Moore/ Belmont/ McCarthur Leyland P76, in Tooborac, broke suspension after Adelaide.
The SAAB Turbo of Corr/ McKimmie/ Johansson retired with transmission problems at Geraldton.
The Datsun P510 of Williams/Sutton/Brock, near Broken Hill, dropped engine in Kalgoorlie and retired.
The Stewart/ Parry Holden Commodore lost clutch in Sandfire, W.A.
Rudolf & Carl Ruyter (Ray Berghouse)
The Ford Falcon of Hodgson / Houghton / Mitchel, shown near Broken Hill, broke rear end near Perth.
Rob Barkell & Tom Breese (Ray Berghouse)
Graeme Phillips, Philip Drew & Dan Prentice (Ray Berghouse)
Anna Kurnuszko, Fran Lillie & Jean Jones (Ray Berghouse)
Tony Goss & Greg Moresi (Ray Berghouse)
Gary Cuthell & Stephen Harris (Ray Berghouse)
George Harris, Bruce Ross & Geoff Boyd (Ray Berghouse)
Gordon Mills, Steven McDonald & Robert McCulloch (Ray Berghouse)
Jim Taylor, John McCulloch & Max Taylor (Ray Berghouse)
Robin White, Chris Austin & Phillip Hogarth (Ray Berghouse)
Jon Leighton, Richard Mason & Frank Cohn (Ray Berghouse)
Bill Stevenson & crew (Ray Berghouse)
Spectators at Kuipto special stage' assist the Mulligan/ Byrne/ Heaney Escort after it stalled and broke the starter motor.
The Blok/Thompson Falcon ute, a replacement vehicle, retired with a broken axle
The Perkins VW, at Kuipto, later, rolled in the Flinders Ranges
Terry Madgwick & Justin Hanna (Ray Berghouse)
The Falcon XC of Carter/Stephens/Draper ran under protest from Perth, failed to make the results. Photo: Ray Berghouse , Chevron Group
The Warmbold/Willemson/Schleuter Audi 100, at Tooborac, later retired in S.A. with broken suspension. Photo: Ray Berghouse , Chevron Group