Holden, who still sits third in the 'most starts at Bathurst list, with 31 behind Jim Richards (35) and Peter Brock (32) will be a guest at this year's event.

The 1966 Bathurst race was naturally a far cry from the Supercars of today, for Holden and Aaltonen took the win as members of the three car international BMC Works Team driving Morris Cooper S types.

During the 50's and 60's Holden was a household name in Australia, in the same grain as the late Peter Brock in the 70's and 80's.

As a child he had multiple medical problems, including the debilitating poliomyelitis, which all but crippled him, and he walked only with the aid of sticks .

His next door neighbour had a bike, and he wanted to ride it badly, but he could not get permission from his mother, so he persuaded his friend next door to leave the bike propped up against the fence. Of a night Bob would sneak, stacked some boxes against the fence and climbed over and would ride the bike around and around the block.

He eventually became quite proficient as a cyclist, and later doctors said the cycle exploits were beneficial in him recovering from the polio.

In the late 60's driving a BMC Factory Cooper S, Holden won an International Total Rally based in Bathurst.

In the 70's motorsport was even more expensive, and due to the cost factor he mainly raced small-engined touring cars as the name Holden became synonymous with Ford Escorts.

The 80's saw him building and racing Toyota Corolla's and Levin's, and won his class at Bathurst in the 1986 World Touring Car Championship round.

From a not so large workshop located at Manly Vale on Sydney's north shore Bob ran his mechanical repair business and his racing team. In those days he ran 2 litre Ford Escorts in touring car championship events, and a Lola T440 Formula Ford. The T440 won two Australian Formula Ford Championships, in 1980 with Stephen Brook and then the following year with Formula Vee champion Phillip Revell.

Now 83 - and you would never know it - Bob has had three bouts of cancer, and lives with his partner Colleen on a rural property near Taree. From an extremely large shed at the rear of the house, he still prepares race cars, including several of his old cars that have been purchased by friends of his. He has also continued racing competitively in one of his old cars a Toyota Corolla AE82 in Heritage Touring Cars where he is still winning races.