1964 Australian Touring Car Championship

The 1964 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Appendix J Touring Cars and Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The championship, which was the fifth Australian Touring Car Championship, was contested over a single race staged at the Lakeside International Raceway in Queensland, Australia, on 26 July 1964. The race was won by Ian Geoghegan, the first of his five Australian Touring Car Championship titles. Geoghegan drove a Ford Cortina GT in what was the first Australian Touring Car Championship victory for a Ford driver and the first time that a Jaguar driver did not win the title.

For the first time the race was held at a circuit within easy reach of a major city. Lakeside's proximity to Brisbane ensured a large crowd as for the first time the race appeared wide open with many fancied runners. The Jaguars had faded, although Bob Jane's Mark 2 was a potential front runner, partly due to the rise of the Ford Cortina in either its GT specification or the Lotus-tuned version, of which only Jim McKeown's was ready in time for the race. For the first time Holden was a front runner with the S4 version of the EH. In the lead up to the race Ian Geoghegan rolled and destroyed his Cortina and a factory test car was driven up from Melbourne to get him back into the race.

Qualifying consisted of four ten lap heats, with cars sorted based on engine capacity. Only twenty places were available on the grid, with times from the heats deciding which drivers qualified for the race. The first heat, for cars up to 1300cc, was won by Peter Manton, just ahead of Brian Foley and Ron Clarke. John French, Steve Harvey, Richard Arblaster and Brendan Hare also qualified. The second heat, for cars between 1300 and 2000cc, saw McKeown take victory of Geoghegan after the two collided early on. Harry Firth, Glyn Scott and Brian Michelmore were the other qualifiers. The third heat was for cars between 2000 and 2600cc and was won by Barry Seton ahead of Des West, Bob Lidgate and Malcolm Bailey. Bruce Neville and John Reilly both crashed during the heat, while Warren Weldon suffered gearbox problems. The final heat was for cars over 2600cc. Jane took an easy win ahead of Brian Muir, Norm Beechey and Clem Smith. Despite qualifying for the race, Lidgate withdrew to allow Weldon on to the grid. McKeown gained pole position ahead of Geoghegan, Jane, Muir, Beechey and Manton.

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