The path that was built using picks and shovels has since evolved into a world renowned track with debris fences and corporate boxes, while the ERA Type B which Englishman Peter Whitehead drove to victory on Easter all those years ago is a far cry from the cars which will fill the grid this Sunday.

But the diversity of cars, teams and drivers who will take part in the second edition of the Bathurst 6 Hour across the classes, creating the ‘races within the race’ evokes memories of earlier action at the Mount.

It is something which delights Bathurst 6 Hour media manager and race caller Richard Crail.

“It’s not just the cars who can win outright, there are smaller cars throughout the classes as well. There’s a real relevance to what is being sold in the market nowadays in what’s being built for this race, which I think is a massive, massive tick in the box for it,” he said.

“It really goes back to the roots of Bathurst this race, we are probably guilty of using that term for a lot of events at Bathurst, but it really does.”

Crail points to the Class I entry of South Australian outfit Stephenson Motorsport – a Hyundai Excel X3 – as an example of how Sunday’s race reminds him of the past at Bathurst.

“It’s the smallest car in the field. It’s a 1.4 litre, four-cylinder car – basically a shopping trolley you can go and buy for $5,000 – and it’s a 15-year-old car,” he said.

“But it’s been put together, the owners are from Australia and have just had this dream to race at Bathurst. So they got this Hyundai Excel racing car, they are coming to Bathurst and they are going to be on the grid and that’s what this race can do.

“You’ve got those guys doing it, then at the front of the grid you have got the really top race teams, professional race teams, with good budgets and great drivers, some with V8 drivers competing, doing it at a very high level to try and win it outright.

“This race, more than any other, gives a taste of both ends of the spectrum and they can compete on the same field. I think that’s part of it’s appeal.”

In total 152 drivers have nominated to race at the 6.213 kilometre circuit in Sunday’s Bathurst 6 Hour, with the 66-car field including 35 different models of vehicle representing 18 different brands.

BMW is the most numerous marque with 13 entries representing different eight models.

The 2017 Bathurst 6 Hour starts at 11.30am on Easter Sunday.