Doug Chivas

Douglas Gordon Chivas (c.1922–2004) was an Australian rally and racing car driver. Chivas drove the first Lotus Mark 6 in Australia in the early 1950s winning many races.

Career

In the 1960s and 1970s he drove for some of the most important racing and rally teams in the country, including the Mitsubishi works rally team, Alec Mildren’s Alfa Romeo team, the Holden Dealer Team and the factory-supported Chrysler Series Production teams of the early 1970s.

Chivas won the 1967 Surfers Paradise Four Hour race with Kevin Bartlett in a Mildren team Alfa Romeo Giulia Super. He registered class wins at the Bathurst 500 in 1963, 1967 and 1968 and won a hard-fought final round of the Toby Lee Series in 1971 driving a Chrysler Valiant Charger E38.

In 1972 Chivas achieved the best result for the Chrysler team at Bathurst by finishing third outright and second in class in a Charger E49.

Chivas is best remembered however for a sensational second place at the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. While co-driving with Peter Brock in the Holden Dealer Team's leading LJ Torana GTR XU-1 the car ran out of fuel and had to be pushed by Chivas, unaided (as per the rules), along part of pit lane that went slightly uphill. The exhausted 50-year-old had to be supported by pit crew after the effort of pushing the car in the hot conditions (and being flung aside by an anxious Brock), but the time lost may have cost the Brock/Chivas Torana a Bathurst victory. Chivas had been sent a message via his pit board to "GET MAX LAPS", but unfortunately went one lap too far and ran out of fuel at the Reid Park section of the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) Mount Panorama Circuit, though luckily from there most of the over 3 km back to the pits was downhill. According to popular theory, the car should have coasted into the pits without the need for Chivas to get out and push, but he tried to bump start the car just before he got to the pits hoping there was enough fuel left to re-start; the car came to a stop about 20 metres short of the pit entry.

Career results

Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1963		Ken Wilkinson	Morris Cooper	B	125	6th	1st
1965		Phil Barnes	Morris Cooper S	C	10	DNF	DNF
1966	Vern Potts	Doug Chivas, Jr.	Morris Cooper	B	119	17th	2nd
1967	Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo	Max Stewart	Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV	E	130	3rd	1st
1968	Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd	Kevin Bartlett	Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV	E	129	4th	1st
1969	Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo	John French	Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV	E	0	DNF	DNF
1970	Geoghegan's Sporty Cars	Graham Ryan	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 2 Barrell	C	129	4th	2nd
1971	Liverpool Chrysler	Graham Moore	Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38	D	124	19th	12th
1972	D Beck	Damon Beck	Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49	D	128	3rd	2nd
1973	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1	D	163	2nd	2nd
1976	City Ford	Lakis Manticas	Ford Capri Mk.I	2001cc – 3000cc	3	DNF	DNF
1977	Bill Patterson Racing	Tony Roberts	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34	3001cc – 6000cc	154	7th	6th
1978	Citizens Watches Australia Pty Ltd	Gary Cooke	Holden LX Torana SS A9X 4-Door	A	158	4th	4th

Further reading

• Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000
• Australian Motor Racing Annual 1971

External links

• Vale Doug Chivas