Hamilton is etched in history as part of Ford’s legendary 1-2 finish in the 1977 Bathurst 1000, co-driving the second-placed Moffat Ford Dealers Falcon alongside Colin Bond.
It was one of just three career Great Race starts for Hamilton, who had debuted alongside Moffat in the factory Ford team in 1969 and then returned in Bob Skelton’s Torana seven years later.
It was earlier in 1969 that Hamilton almost wrote himself into the history books as an Australian Touring Car Champion with Porsche.
Almost unthinkable today, the nimble 911 was classified as a touring car in that era and Hamilton ultimately lost the title to Ford Mustang driver Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan by a single point.
In the first ATCC to be held over a series of races rather than a single event, Hamilton scored a third and four seconds from the five rounds and tallied more points than Geoghegan.
However, a ‘drop your worst round’ regulation worked in Geoghegan’s favour, earning the burly Sydneysider a fourth straight crown.
Hamilton later described the narrow loss in metres rather than points, as the man he chased home in the final round, Norm Beechey, suffered a mechanical failure 30 metres after the flag.
Those extra points would have given Hamilton the title.
“It was the battle of David and Goliath and a hell of a lot of fun,” Hamilton reflected in 2021, having largely fronted a one-man team against Geoghegan’s established outfit.
“My car was very little removed from a standard road car. It had standard 911 S brakes, wheels, gearbox, and basically a standard engine.
“In those days the 911 S had 178 horsepower off the showroom floor and my engine had 204bhp.
“The Mustangs and Holdens were running probably 400bhp those days, so I was up against it, but that was half of the fun.”
Hamilton’s on-track exploits in Porsches came amid a bigger association with the brand.
The Hamilton family was the importer for Porsche cars into Australia for over 40 years before the factory took over in 1992.
A four-time Australian Hillclimb Champion, Hamilton’s driving exploits were curtailed courtesy of a major crash in the 1978 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown.
He continued in the sport as a car owner, finding Gold Star success with Alfie Costanzo at the wheel.
There was also a succession of memorable Hamilton-owned Porsche race cars, driven to great effect by Moffat, Colin Bond and Alan Jones in the early 1980s.
Underlining his importance to the brand, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and Porsche Cars Australia today issued a statement extending its condolences to Hamilton’s family and friends.
Moffat’s official social media account is also among those paying tribute.
Discussion about this post