The 1946 New South Wales Grand Prix was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia 7 October 1946. The race was 25 laps of the challenging course, of the 22 cars that started the race, just nine would finish the 96.5 miles. The fastest lap time of 3m 20s would go to Frank Kleinig in his Hudson Eight Special, while the fastest overall time would go to Jack Murray in his Bugatti Ford. The winner would be Alf Najar in his MG TB Monoposto, the field would be led by MGs taking first, second, and third, followed by an Alfa Romeo Ford, a Bugatti Ford, a Jaguar SS100, and the final finisher a Delahaye 135.
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| Alf Najar, Grand Prix Winner |
The rest of the field that did not finish was more eclectic, ranging from a Terraplane Six Special to a Willys Jeep Monoposto. The Sydney Morning Herald estimated that 27,000 had people gathered to watch the race. The race was the first major race at the circuit since the War in the Pacific had ended and the following year would host the 1947 Australian Grand Prix.
The photos below show the glory days of privateer gentleman racers in their custom Ford V8 powered Bugatties and Delahaye 135s.
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No. 9, Bill Murray in his Hudson Special
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| Alf Najar in wining MG TB racing car |
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Bill Conoulty doing some last-minute repairs on his Austin 7 Comet
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| Ron Ewing's Buick Special |
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Bill MacLachlan in his MG TA
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| John Crouch with his Delahaye 135 |
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Keeping score, Grand Prix Bathurst
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| The pits, Frank Kleinig's No. 1 Hudson Eight Special in the foreground |
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Belf Jones in a Buick Special in front of Bill MacLachlan in a modified MG TA
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| No. 8, Alec Mildren in His Ford V8 Special, cornering next to Jack Nind in his MG TB Special |
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| Warning flag by Track Official |
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Keeping up with the lap count
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| Spectators |
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Ted Gray in his Alfa Romeo Ford in front of Frank Kleinig in a Hudson Eight Special
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| No. 21, Alf Najar next to No. 22, Jack Nind |
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| Frank Kleinig's Hudson Eight Special in the pits |
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| Jack Murray driving his Bugatti Ford |
Photos via the State Library of New South Wales
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