An impressive field of about 70 cars started the event with crews from Scotland, New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Guinea and all states of Australia. Six major "works" or semi-works teams were entered - Ford and British Leyland, each with three cars, Mitsubishi with four cars, Volvo with a single entry for Keran, Holden via a single entry from the new Harry Firth lead Holden Dealer Team, and Renault through the four car Waltons Rally Team. There was also a single entry from the Datsun Team that would become a major force in the event in subsequent years. Being the first Cross after the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, ten cars were entered that had done the Marathon, including the Austin 1800s for Cowan, Green and Garard. All of ten finished the event.
| No. | Entrant | Driver | Country/ State | Co-driver | Country/ State | Car |
| 1 | Mitsubishi (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. | Colin Bond | NSW | Brian Hope | NSW | Colt 1500SS |
| 2 | Waltons Rally Team | Bob Watson | Vic | Jim McAuliffe | Vic | Renault R16 TS |
| 3 | British Leyland Aust. | Andrew Cowan | Scot | David Johnson | NSW | Austin 1800 |
| 4 | Waltons Rally Team | Mal McPherson | Vic | Robin Sharpley | Vic | Renault R16 TS |
| 5 | British Leyland Aust. | Greg Garard | NSW | Peter Mulder | NSW | Austin 1800 |
| 6 | Taylors of Medindie | John Taylor | SA | Graham West | SA | Morris Copper 'S' |
| 7 | Bill Beverley Motors | Bernard Marant | New Cal | D. Scornet | New Cal | Mazda 1200 |
| 8 | Holden Dealers Team | Barry Ferguson | NSW | Roger Bonhomme | Vic | Holden Monaro |
| 9 | Swedish Motors Pty. Ltd. | John Keran | NSW | Peter Meyer | NSW | Volvo 144S |
| 10 | New Guinea Motors | Allan Montgomery | PNG | Bill Rudd | PNG | Bellett GT |
| 11 | I. Katan Peggemar Mobil Djakarta | A. Arsjad | Indo | A.M. Panggabean | Indo | Holden |
| 12 | British Leyland Aust. | Evan Green | NSW | Roy Denny | NSW | Austin 1800 |
| 13 | Waltons Rally Team | Bruce Collier | Vic | Lindsay Adcock | Vic | Renault Gordini |
| 14 | Ford Motor Co. | Frank Kilfoyle | Vic | Doug Rutherford | Vic | Cortina GT |
| 15 | Ford Motor Co. | Ian Vaughan | Vic | Bob Forsyth | Vic | Cortina GT |
| 16 | Alto Ford Pty. Ltd. | Bob Holden | NSW | George Shepheard | NSW | Lotus Cortina |
| 17 | Mitsubishi (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. | Doug Stewart | NSW | Nigel Collier | NSW | Colt 1500SS |
| 18 | Waltons Rally Team | Peter Janson | Vic | Neville Price | Vic | Renault R16 TS |
| 19 | Ford Motor Co. | Tony Roberts | Vic | Mike Osborne | Vic | Cortina GT |
| 20 | Bill Beverley Motors | Bill Beverley | Qld | Brian Gemmell | Qld | Mazda R100 |
| 21 | Swift Motors | R.N. Luckhurst | L. Barron | Toyota Corolla SL | ||
| 22 | Purnell Bros. | Doug Chivas | NSW | Brian McIlvenna | NSW | Valiant Pacer |
| 23 | Auto Centre | Henk Kabel | Qld | Rob Dancer | Qld | Toyota Corolla SL |
| 24 | VW Motors Pty. Ltd. | Lloyd Robertson | Qld | B. Lindsay | Qld | V.W. |
| 25 | E.L. Bogunda | Errol Bogunda | Qld | H. Gillespie | Qld | Holden EH Special |
| 26 | Bullock Motors | Bob Bullock | NSW | D. Hughes | NSW | Volvo 122S |
| 27 | Kays Rent-A-Car | Max Stahl | NSW | Jeff Beaumont | Vic | Renault R10 |
| 29 | Leach Motors | L. Ricarda | Arg | Holden HR 186S | ||
| 30 | Mitsubishi (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. | D. Hansen | NSW | B. Fields | NSW | Colt 1100F Fastback |
| 31 | Mrs. L. Keefe | Lynn Keefe | NSW | Carol Waldron | NSW | Hilman Hunter GT |
| 32 | Marshall Motors | David Mackay | NSW | John Bryson | NSW | Mercedes Benz 280SE |
| 33 | J. Mullins | Jack Mullins | NSW | Peter Brown | NSW | Daihatsu GT |
| 34 | Datsun Rally Team | Bruce Wilkinson | Vic | Ian Inglis | Vic | Datsun 1000 |
| 35 | B. Cooke | Barry Cooke | NZ | Guy Faulkes | NZ | Renault R10 |
| 36 | Birchwood Racing Team | Jon Leighton | Vic | Brian Allery | Vic | Ford Fairmont |
| 37 | A. Dombrovskis | A. Dombrovskis | NSW | John Trumpmanis | NSW | Fiat 125 |
| 38 | O.A. Jackson | Ossie Jackson | NSW | J. Johnson/Arthur Jackson | NSW | Volvo 122S |
| 39 | Ateco P/L | Lionel Williams | NSW | Bob Lumby | NSW | Holden |
| 40 | MG Car Club Newcastle | Peter Houghton | NSW | Mick Nielsen | NSW | Peugeot 404 |
| 41 | B. Lidbury | Brian Lidbury | NSW | John Fowler | NSW | Isuzu Bellet PR20 |
| 42 | Hills District Car Club | R. Franks | NSW | B. McElhinney | NSW | V.W. |
| 43 | Trevor Mason Developments | J. Hennessy | NSW | J. Dean | NSW | Daihatsu GT |
| 44 | Corin Motors Pty. Ltd. | Grahame Elliott | NSW | Wayne Gregson | NSW | Peugeot 404 |
| 45 | MG Car Club Newcastle | A. Smith | NSW | TBN | Renault Gordini | |
| 46 | D. White | Dan White | NSW | Jim Londgregan | NSW | Fiat 850 Coupe |
| 47 | N.W. Rochester | Nick Rochester | NSW | R. Boorman | NSW | Vanguard |
| 48 | W. Taylor | Wendy Taylor | TBN | Mini Deluxe | ||
| 49 | K. Garner Towing Service | Ken Garner | NSW | G. Papworth/W. Gamble | NSW | Holden EH 179 Premier |
| 50 | Horsley Bros. Pty. Ltd. | Mal Horsley | NSW | Keith Bateson | NSW | Lotus Cortina |
| 51 | Dr. A.J.S. Adams | A. Adams | NSW | D. Pateman | NSW | Holden GTS 327 |
| 52 | Mitsubishi (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. | Barry Lloyd | NSW | Tony Browne | NSW | Mitsubishi Colt |
| 53 | T.J. Souminen | R. Harvey | Qld | John Souminen | Qld | Renault TR16 TS |
| 54 | B.J. Ross | P. Eedy | NSW | B. Ross | NSW | Cortina GT |
| 55 | C. Mecak | Garry Mecak | NSW | R. Kelly | NSW | Cortina GT |
| 56 | A. Crossey | Tony Crossey | NSW | John Collins | NSW | Peugeot 403 |
| 57 | R.A. Johnson | Bob Johnson | NSW | John Sproule | NSW | Datsun 1600 |
| 58 | M.S. Daddo | M. Daddo | NSW | A. Fleming | NSW | Morris Cooper |
| 59 | Willys (Aust.) P/L Qld. | Jan Myers | PNG | Ann Rogers | PNG | Mitubishi Colt |
| 60 | MG Car Club Newcastle | Dave Boddy | NSW | Neil Faulkner | NSW | Falcon 500 V8 |
| 61 | Bankstown District Car Club | Bruce Cheeseman | NSW | Graham Pinnell | NSW | Morris Cooper S |
| 62 | Miss A Ross | Ann Ross | NSW | Pat Nixon-Smith | NSW | Volvo |
| 64 | Borderford P/L | Terry Gilltrap | Qld | N. Byrns | Qld | Cortina GT |
| 65 | Lunds Garage | Charlie Lund | Qld | R. Lauge | Qld | Mazda R100 |
| 66 | J.E. Osborne | John Osborne | Qld | Murray Coote | Qld | Cortina GT |
| 67 | R. Fraser | Ron Fraser | NSW | R. Cain | NSW | Peugeot 403B |
| 68 | W.E. Gregory | W. Gregory | NSW | C. McKenzie/P. Gard | NSW | Holden Kingswood |
| 69 | V.W. Motors Pty. Ltd. | C. Philp | Qld | Don Gibson | Qld | VW 1500 |
| 70 | Leads Electrical Pty. Ltd. | R. Lutz | NSW | Roger Dunkley | NSW | Holden HR |
| 71 | Dr. A.D.N. White | David White | NSW | L. Turner | NSW | Mazda 1500SS |
| 72 | A. Hayward | Alex Hayward | NSW | Jim Nelson | NSW | MG Y Tourer |
| 73 | R. Luckhurst | R. Luckhurst | Qld | M. Finlay | Qld | Hillman Imp |
Number 21 was not listed and numbers 28 and 63 were listed as non starters. Additionally it is believed that cars 11 and 29 did not start.
