FORD MUSTANG - 1969 ATCC WINNER - GEOGHEGAN - 1:43 Scale Resin Model Car

Biante Model Cars and Spark are very pleased to present the stunning 1:43 scale Ford Mustang GTA as driven by Ian Pete Geoghegan to win the 1969 Australian Touring Car Championship.

The 1969 Australian Touring Car Championship was the first Championship to be contested over a series of heats rather than as a single race. It was Geoghegan 's fifth and final Australian Touring Car Championship victory, creating a record that would not be equalled until 1989 and with his fourth consecutive title, this feat was not achieved again until 2014!

Contested over five heats beginning at Calder Raceway in March, 1969 where Geoghegan qualified on pole position. In a three-way battle between Ian Geoghegan, Bob Jane and Norm Beechey for most of the race, engine failure forced the HK GTS 327 Monaro of Beechey to retire. This left the two Mustangs to fight for the opening race victory with the #1 Mustang 's brakes fading, Geoghegan ran wide on the final lap to allow Bob Jane 's Mustang to take the win by 5 seconds!

Geoghegan dominated the next two rounds taking wins at Bathurst and Mallala and assumed an 8-point Championship lead over Alan Hamilton in his Porsche 911 who had podium finishes in the first three races. Again, engine troubles and an accident in practice kept Norm Beechey from even starting both races.

Geoghegan took his third pole position of the season at Surfer 's Paradise but after puncturing a rear tyre on a dropped exhaust pipe on lap 8 forced the white Mustang to pit early and drop his lead against the HK Monaro of Beechey. The race was just not long enough for Geoghegan to fight back and he was only able to finish 6 th, while Beechey achieved his first race win of the Championship and the first for Holden. With Hamilton again finishing in second, Ian Geoghegan Championship lead dropped to just three points meaning the title would be decided at the final round of Symmons Plains.

Due to each driver having to drop their worst result from the five rounds, Hamilton had to win with Geoghegan failing to score in order to take the title. Pete started well, again taking pole position but disaster struck when at the one-minute signal the Mustang would not start and was still in the pits when the race began! His pit crew push started the Mustang but this meant the Geoghegan was disqualified and Hamilton only needed to win to take the title. The Monaro of Beechey and the Porsche of Hamilton battled hard but despite transmission issues the HK Monaro held on to victory allowing Geoghegan to clinch the title by a single point!

He was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame in 1999 and passed away in November 2003.

Produced is high-quality sealed-body resin this finely crafted collectable contains photo etched parts, beautifully presented detailing and outstanding finishing all round. Overall, this historically famous car of Australian motor racing is shaping up to be a real beauty and given it is produced in a limited edition, it 's one that shouldn 't be missed.

As with all Biante 1:43 scale models, these items will be produced in a limited edition and will come with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.