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Vale Bill Buckle

WELL-KNOWN Australian automotive figure Bill Buckle has died at the age of 96.

Buckle, who passed away yesterday, founded Bill Buckle Autos in 1961, following in the footsteps of his father’s Buckle Motors business.

Among the car designer/dealer’s most renowned creations was the Buckle Couple, as well as producing the Goggomobil Dart.

Buckle’s own racing career included four successive starts in the Bathurst Great Race, being the 500-mile editions from 1964 to 1967.

His debut came alongside Brian Foley in a Citroen ID19.

Competing in a 56-car field, the duo turned ninth on the grid into 10th at the flag.

It remains the French marque’s only top 10 result in Bathurst 500/1000 history.

His other three attempts in the Mount Panorama classic came aboard Toyota machinery, with Neil McKay in 1965, Alan Mottram in ’66, and Dick Thurston in ’67.

Perhaps most notable though was his role in the 1968 race, when he gave future champion Bob Morris his first shot at the Mountain.

With Buckle hanging up his helmet, he handed Morris his ATCC debut at Warwick Farm in September 1968 in a Bill Buckle Autos Toyota Corolla.

Morris made his first Bathurst 500 start the next month, and the wheels were set in motion for a career that would net a Great Race crown in 1976 (with John Fitzpatrick) and the 1979 ATCC championship.

Bob Morris at the 1970 Bathurst 500, when he partnered Peter Brock. Pic: an1images.com / Terry Russell

Morris reflected on his Bathurst debut in the 400th edition of Motorsport News in 2010.

“I was only very young, and Bill Buckle flew me down to Melbourne to try out the car,” he said.

“We go to the track and I drive the car, and they seem happy with me, so I flew back to Sydney feeling pretty sure they’re going to give me the drive.

“The car didn’t have a roll cage in it. I was a bit concerned about that, because those little cars back then were like tissue paper structurally.

“As a driver I was always very safety conscious; I always tried to make sure I had the proper safety equipment in my cars, so I asked them whether or not they were going to put a roll cage in it for Bathurst.

“It was only later I found out that I almost didn’t get the drive because I’d asked for a roll bar – I think they must have thought I was a bit soft!

“I did get the drive, and that was my first Bathurst. It was an experience.

“The Corolla had about 60 horsepower, which was nothing compared to the 300 or more the Monaros and Falcons had. The speed differential was enormous.

“You’d come out of a corner and onto a straight, and then try to get over to one side of the track so you’d be out of the way as the bigger cars flew past.

“But they would be coming up on you so quickly that it was hard just to find a gap to get across – it was almost like trying a cross a busy road on foot!”

Buckle was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2014.

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