The Ford racers secured a  victory ahead of Nissan's James Moffat and Taz Douglas in a  battle that saw  favourite Jamie Whincup run out of fuel in the final lap.

Mostert took the chequered flag in only his second Bathurst 1000 start, helped by veteran Paul Morris who crashed early in the race at turn two, a corner subject to controversial mid-race repairs.

The Ford men stole victory from Whincup at the death without having led a single lap of the race.

Whincup looked set to take victory, having been in front hours after he put on a clinic in the first part of the race, tearing through the pack from 23rd place on the grid.

Whincup pushed his car to the edge of his fuel envelope as race engineer Dave Cauchi warned he was perilously close to running out of fuel.

Mostert knew Whincup was running on fumes as he closed to within striking distance.

"The last five laps all I could think of was 'cough, you bastard, cough!"' he said.

"I had to have a crack, and we pulled it off.

"From 26th to first, it's unbelievable. Everything went our way."

James Moffat, the son of four-time Bathurst winner Allan Moffat,  could not believe his luck as key contenders Craig Lowndes, Winterbottom and Whincup fell away with late-race penalties, crashes and fuel shortages.

"I can't believe we stuck the car twice in the fence and ended up second at Bathurst," he said.

The top contenders were in a pitched battle of speed and strategy for the last hour, with teams carefully choosing when to bring drivers in for a last-minute splash of fuel.

Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes and Mostert lapped at record pace in the closing stages, pushing each other to the brink in a bid for Bathurst glory.

Their run was interrupted by a safety car on lap 150 brought out by Tim Blanchard, who lost control of his Commodore at the cutting.

Van Gisbergen pitted from the lead only to experience the cruellest twist as his car failed to restart following a last-minute pit stop.

Ford frontrunner Mark Winterbottom lost the lead to Whincup before running wide at turn two, into the path of Craig Lowndes, who spun him around with seven laps remaining.

Officials pulled Lowndes out of third place with a drive-through penalty for his part in the incident.

The mountain broke plenty of hearts on Sunday, with no pain more raw than Scott McLaughlin's.

The Volvo driver raced away to take the lead on lap one ahead of hours of error-free laps that kept McLaughlin and his French co-driver Alexandre Premat in contention for victory until Van Gisbergen attempted a bold pass and sent him into a wall.

Ford men David Reynolds and Dean Canto were equally distraught, having raced from the rear of the grid to lead the race, only for electrical failure to curtail their campaign with just over two hours to run.

The race was a protracted affair with 10 safety car interjections and a full hour's stoppage to repair damaged tarmac at turn two. The big break came after 61 laps of racing, giving teams time to freshen their vehicles.

The decision to stop the race did not sit well with team owners such as Volvo's Garry Rogers and Red Bull's Roland Dane, who said teamsshould not have been allowed to work on their cars during the break.

TO say Chaz Mostert was ecstatic after taking out Sunday's Bathurst 1000 would be a criminally massive understatement.

"It was the best feeling ever to cross that finish line... words can't describe how I feel right now," the 22-year-old said.

Mostert partnered Paul Morris to victory in one of the most dramatic and action-packed races in Mount Panorama's long history.

Moments after standing atop the podium, the emotions were still clear for all to see.

"To hold the Peter Brock trophy is unbelievable, to have a win at the Bathurst 1000 is unbelievable," he said.

"I remember it was once the case that Holden dominated Mount Panorama, now it's Ford which is fantastic."

"Hopefully we come back next year and make it a hat-trick."

Incredibly, Mostert and Morris steered their Ford to glory from the last place on the grid, a unique feat.

"We got the 10 without the zero on the end, who knew we'd go from 26th to first," he said.

Mostert, in in only his second trip torace at the famed Bathurst mountain, paid special tribute to his father in the post-race press conference.

"It's definitely an emotional day for me. As soon as I see my dad I think I'll break down crying," he said.

"All the hard work he's put in to me over the years... he was up in the mountain in the 70's and 80's, but who knew that his kid would actually win a race."