For the 1962 race the division of classes was changed from engine capacity, used in the previous two Armstrong 500's, to the purchase price of the vehicle on the Australian market, the intention being to allow the public to make comparisons according to their potential financial circumstances rather than approximating cars of equivalent vehicle performance. An upper limit of £2000 was established to prevent the race from becoming dominated by sports exotica. In terms of actual cars entered the changes saw the Renault Gordinis move up from Class D to Class C, while the Volkswagens dropped from C to D. Volkswagen would break through for their first class victory this year.
Class B was for cars with a purchase price of between £1051 and £1250. The class was dominated by the new Ford Falcon XL but also feature Austin Freeway and Holden EJ.
In a pointer towards the future the race results outright order was dominated by the new XL series Ford Falcon were three of the first four cars home, led by the factory supported car of defending race champions Harry Firth and Bob Jane. On the same lap as Firth/Jane was the Class A winning Studebaker of Fred Sutherland and Bill Graetz, who won the class by four laps, defeating the factory supported Ford Zephyr being driven by Geoff Russell and David Anderson, denying them of a third consecutive class victory. The performance of the big Studebaker was noteworthy in that while Larks continued to be entered into the race until 1968 this was as close as they would get to an outright victory. In Class C one of the Renault Gordini's won despite being the victims of the new class structure with Rex Emmett, John Connolly and Brian Sampson racing to a four lap victory. Sampson in particular would become a fixture of the race in the next two decades, which after demolishing the 1974 field only to blow their engine, would finally win the race outright in 1975 as Peter Brock's co-driver. There are some reports that the Class C winning Renault Gordini driven by Emmett, Connolly and Sampson was disqualified after the race along with the second placed Morris 850 in Class D driven by Allen and Hooker. However their original placing are still shown in the list of official results. This is likely due to the scrutineers taking days to finalise their results followed by protests by the entrants at their exclusions. The completed results were widely published before the disqualifications were finally enforced thus many subsequent publications show an incorrect finishing order including Bill Tuckey's "Australia's Greatest Motor Race". This would make the Morris Major driven by Edney and Fayer the correct winner of Class C. Jim McKeown, an emerging star in small bore touring cars, and George Reynolds took their Volkswagen to the Class D victory, beating the leading Mini by a lap. Reynolds too had an outright victory in store in just two years time in 1964.
Aftermath
The toil placed on the cold mix bitumen surface by the race, with the largest entry the race had seen, overwhelmed the Phillip Island racetrack. Dangerous potholes formed all around the circuit, leaving a hefty repair bill, and an ominous threat to the future growth of the race. Staying at Phillip Island, as attractive as other factors presented, was plainly impossible and the search began by the promoters for a new home for the increasingly popular endurance production car race. Earlier the same year the Bathurst Six Hour Classic had been held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst, and that circuit immediately entered speculation.
