Harry Firth

Harry Firth
Nationality	Australian
Born	Henry Leslie Firth (1918-04-18)18 April 1918 Orbost,Victoria, Australia
Died	27 April 2014(2014-04-27)(aged 96) Melbourne,Victoria, Australia
Awards
2007	Supercars Hall of Fame

Henry Leslie Firth(18 April 1918 – 27 April 2014) was an Australianracing driverand team manager. Firth was a leading race and rally driver during the 1950s and 1960s and continued as an influential team manager with first theFord works teamand then the famedHolden Dealer Team(HDT) well into the 1970s. Firth’s nickname was "the fox", implying his use of cunning ploys as a team manager.

Firth won theBathurst 500,including its predecessor atPhillip Island,four times (twice in the final two races held at the Island and twice atBathurst). He also won theSouthern Cross Rallyand theAustralian Rally Championship.He was inducted into theSupercars Hall of Famein 2007.

Firth has often been described as a 'bush engineer', someone who could probably build a race winning engine from nothing more than a roll of wire, while leading Australian Motoring journalist and former part-time racer Bill Tuckey once wrote of Firth that as a driver, engineer and team manager, he was"As cunning as an outhouse rat".

On 27 April 2014, Firth died in his sleep surrounded by his family, he was aged 96.

Early years

Firth was born inOrbost,Victoria. After returning from service in World War II, Firth turned his attention to motorsport. He was involved in preparing the winningBMW 328for the 1948Australian Grand Prix(driven by Frank Pratt). In the 1950s Firth successfully competed inPorsche 356’s in races and hillclimbs. Firth had a great record in the Alpine Rally winning the event five times between 1953 and 1962. Firth then teamed withBob Janein aMercedes-Benz 220SEto win the1961 Armstrong 500at Philip Island.

Ford works team

AFord Falcon XLbuilt up as a tribute to the car which was driven by Firth andBob Janeto "First across the line" in the1962 Armstrong 500

A "race replica" of theFord XR Falcon GTdriven to victory in the1967 Gallaher 500by Harry Firth andFred Gibson

In 1962 the Firth Motors workshop at Queens Avenue,Auburn(Melbourne) became the base for the Ford works team. Firth and Jane drove a Ford Works TeamFord Falcon XLto victory in the1962 Armstrong 500at Philip Island. Firth and Jane recorded the races first hat-trick of wins when they won the1963 Armstrong 500driving aMk.I Ford Cortina GTat Bathurst (the race had moved to Bathurst that year due to the poor state of the Phillip Island Circuit following the 1962 race). In 1964 Firth and Hoinville won theAmpolRound Australia Trialin a Cortina GT. Firth also won the1964 Lowood 4 Hourwith John Raeburn in aFord Cortina GT.

Firth and John Reaburn finished 3rd in the1964 Armstrong 500in a Cortina GT, while Bob Jane won his 4th in a row, teaming withGeorge Reynolds,also in a GT. Firth and Reaburn also teamed in the1965 Armstrong 500,but while the winning Ford Works car ofBarry SetonandMidge Bosworthwas the Harry Firth developedFord Cortina GT500,Firth and Reaburn finished only 14th outright but won Class A for cars priced under£920 in aMk.I Ford Cortina 220.

As part of his work withFord Australia,Firth was recommended as a driver by a youngCanadianborn Aussie racing in the newTrans-Am seriesin theUnited StatesnamedAllan Moffat,and he traveled to the US and co-drove with Moffat in an Under-2 litre classLotus Cortinain two races, a six-hour race at the Green Valley Raceway inSmithfield,Texas,and a four-hour race atRiversideinCalifornia.Following the Riverside race, the American's reportedly wanted Firth to stay and help the team but Firth refused, stating that he had to be back in Australia for a rally. Harry Firth won the rally in question, the inaugural Southern Cross Rally, with navigator Graham Hoinville, driving aFord Cortina GT.

The Ford works team didn't enter any cars for the1966 Gallaher 500at Bathurst and Firth teamed with Ern Abbott in aMorris Cooper Sto finish in 6th place. The first nine finishers in the race all drove the famed Cooper S.

1967 saw Firth notch up his last victory as a driver in the annual 500 mile race at Bathurst, winning the1967 Gallaher 500with a youngFred Gibsonin aFord XR Falcon GT,the first Australian madeFord Falconto use aV8 engine.Sydneybased racer/designerFrank Matichwas scheduled to co-drive with Firth but had to withdraw due to other commitments. Firth wouldn't have minded so much on missing out on the driving talents of Frank Matich as he was always of the belief that drivers used to being able to drive their specially built race cars hard weren't well suited toSeries Productionracing where you had to be much easier on what was really a road going car. Matich then recommended Gibson (who had finished 2nd in the 1966 race in a Cooper S) for the drive, with Firth meeting Gibson for the first time at a Bathurst hotel on the Friday before the race. Firth and Gibson were actually flagged in 2nd behind their Ford works team mates,IanandLeo Geogheganbut following a re-count of the lap charts (after Firth protested the result resulting in long term animosity between himself and the Geoghegans), were correctly awarded 1st place later that night.

Firth won the1968 Australian Rally Championshipdriving aFord Cortina Lotus.That year he also led a three car Ford Australia assault on the inauguralLondon–Sydney Marathon,preparing a trio of XT Falcon GT's for the event which started on 24–25 November atCrystal PalaceinLondonand traveled throughEurope,theMiddle EastandSouth Asiabefore arriving inBombay,India on 1–2 December. From there, the teams and their cars had an eight-day boat trip toFremantle,Western Australia.The cars then traveled across theNullarbor PlainintoSouth Australiabefore finally crossing intoNew South Walesand arriving at theWarwick Farm Racewayin Sydney on 18 December. The Ford Works Team cars, which included Firth in the driving line up, survived the tough conditions of the marathon rally and finished 3rd, 6th and 8th and claiming theTeams Prize.

Holden Dealer Team

In 1969, Firth was considered by those at Ford to be 'too old' and was replaced as Ford Works Team boss by Al Turner, anAmericanmore known inDrag racingthan circuit racing. Within a short time he had crossed over toGeneral Motors Holden(GMH) to become manager of the newHolden Dealer Team,which despite the "Dealer" name (and Harry's claims on theABC'sFour Cornersprogram in 1970 that as team boss he worked for a so-called "Dealer's Council" )was actually a full works team backed byHoldenand set up by GMH executive John Bagshaw. Because ofGeneral Motorsworldwide factory ban on motorsport at the time (dating back to the1955 24 Hours of Le Mansdisaster that killed 80 people), the team's cash flow from Holden had to come through the 'back door' to avoid alerting GM headquarters inDetroit.Ironically, the HDT operated out of Firth’s Auburn workshop, the same that had once housed the Ford works team.

That year (1969) Firth was instrumental in launching the professional careers of two soon to be famous drivers – talented up and coming rally driverColin Bondand young tearawayPeter Brockwhose feats in anAustin A30had brought him to Firth’s attention. Bond andTony Robertswon the1969 Bathurst 500for the HDT in aHolden Monaro GTS350,with Des West and Brock finishing third in a similar car.

Over the next eight years the Holden Dealer Team under Firth achieved many notable race and rally victories and championship wins. Included among these are:

• 1970Southern Cross Rally-Barry Ferguson/ Dave Johnson in aHolden LC Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1971South Pacific Touring Series- Colin Bond in an LC Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1971 Southern Cross Rally - Colin Bond / George Shepheard in an LC Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974Australian Rally Championshipwins by Colin Bond in an LC Torana GTR XU-1 (`71) and aHolden LJ Torana GTR XU-1(`72 & `74) and Peter Lang (LJ Torana in '73).
• 1971 AutoliteRallycrossseries - Peter Brock in an LC Torana GTR XU-1 nicknamed "The Beast".
• 1971 Sandown 250- Colin Bond in an LC Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1972, 1973 and 1974Sun-7 Chesterfield Series- Colin Bond in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1 (`72 and `73) and the new,V8Torana SL/R 5000(`74).
• 1972Toby Lee Series- Colin Bond in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1972 Bathurst 500with Peter Brock driving an LJ Torana GTR XU-1. It was the first of Brock's record 9 wins in theBathurst 500 / 1000.
• 1973 and 1974 South Pacific Touring Series - Peter Brock in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1973 Sandown 250- Peter Brock in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1.
• 1974 Australian Touring Car Championship- Peter Brock driving both an XU-1 Torana and the new Torana SL/R 5000.
• 1975 Australian Touring Car Championship- Colin Bond driving anL34 ToranaV8.
• Holden Dealer Team drivers secured theAustralian Manufacturers' Championshipfor GMH in1971,1973and1974using the LC Torana GTR XU-1 (`71), the LJ Torana GTR XU-1 (`73), and the LH Torana SL/R 5000 (`74).

At the end of 1977, Firth retired as manager of the Holden team but continued his involvement in motor racing as National Chief Scrutineer between 1978-1981.

Career results

Season	Title	Position	Car	Entrant
1963	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	Ford Cortina GT Mk.I	Ford Motor Co
1964	Australian Touring Car Championship	10th	Ford Cortina GT Mk.I	Ford Motor Co
1968	Australian Rally Championship	1st	Ford Cortina Lotus

Complete Phillip Island/Bathurst 500 results

1961-62 were run at Phillip Island. The race moved to Bathurst in 1963.

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1960	Rootes Australia	John Reaburn	Singer Gazelle	C	159	13th	7th
1961	Autoland Pty Ltd	Bob Jane	Mercedes-Benz 220SE	B	167	1st	1st
1962	Ford Motor Company	Bob Jane	Ford Falcon XL	B	167	1st	1st
1963	Ford Australia	Bob Jane	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	C	130	1st	1st
1964	Ford Motor Co	John Reaburn	Ford Cortina Mk.I GT	C	129	3rd	3rd
1965	Ford Motor Co	John Reaburn	Ford Cortina Mk.I 220	A	119	14th	1st
1966	Dents Motors	Ern Abbott	Morris Cooper S	C	128	6th	6th
1967	Ford Australia	Fred Gibson	Ford XR Falcon GT	D	130	1st	1st

References

• The History of the Falcon GT (Stewart Wilson) © 1978
• Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000

External links

• Official website