<P> Spectator areas have spread along the track over the decades but there are a number of private properties bordering the track so spectators are unable to access all trackside vantage points . Spectator vantage points have also become less intimate to the track over recent years, with increased run - off size and debris fencing being installed around the track due to increasing Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile standards . </P> <P> During its history, the race has been conducted for production saloon cars, Group E Series Production Touring Cars, Group C Touring Cars, Group A Touring Cars, Group 3A Touring Cars, Super Touring and currently Supercars . Until 1996, more than one class competed in each event . In its early years, the Bathurst 500 / 1000 was generally a stand - alone event, occasionally becoming a round of a national series such as the Australian Manufacturers' Championship, but never part of the most significant touring car series in Australia, the Australian Touring Car Championship . Since 1999, the race has been run exclusively for the Supercars category, and is run for championship points . In 1999 and 2000, it was the final round of the championship and decided the championship winner on each occasion . </P> <P> Many marques, including Morris, Jaguar, Nissan, BMW and Volvo, have competed in and won the event in Bathurst . However, the race is best known for the presence of the traditional rivals of Australian motorsport, Ford and Holden, who have won all but six of the races at Bathurst . Due to the size of the Ford and Holden rivalry, for 1995 to 1996, for the 1997 and 1998 Australia 1000 races and from 1999 to 2012, Group 3A and later V8 Supercars rules mandated that only Fords and Holdens were allowed to compete in the race, using their Falcon and Commodore models respectively . In 2013, V8 Supercars' rules changed and other marques began to enter the race, including the return of past winners Nissan . Holden has the most overall victories with 30, with Ford next best on 20 and Nissan the only other multiple winner with two . </P> <P> The race was originally known as the Armstrong 500 . It was first held on 20 November 1960 on the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria, over a 500 - mile (800 km) distance . The race was claimed by the organisers, the Light Car Club of Australia, to be' the world's premier production saloon car race' . The intention was to determine which cars had the best combination of performance and reliability in five classes based on engine capacity . It was also a showcase for the Armstrong company to promote its shock absorbers and related products . Entry was limited to standard, unmodified production saloons built or assembled in Australia . All cars had to complete the first 100 miles without stopping for fuel, oil or a driver change . Any mechanical problems in that time had to be attended to by the driver with no assistance, using only the tools that came with the car . There was no official outright winner, only class winners . Frank Coad and John Roxburgh in a Vauxhall Cresta, were the first to complete the 500 mile race distance . It was the only Vauxhall in a field of 45 cars that included N.S.U.s, Simcas, Peugeots, Morris, Austins, Fords and Standard Vanguards . </P>

Who has won bathurst more ford or holden