Henry Leslie Firth, OAM (18 April 1918 – 27 April 2014) was an Australian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and team manager. Firth was a leading race and rally driver during the 1950s and 1960s and continued as an influential team manager with first the Ford works team and then the famed Holden 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 the Bathurst 500, including its predecessor at

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...

, four times (twice in the final two races held at the Island and twice at Bathurst). He also won the Southern Cross Rally and the Australian Rally Championship. He was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame in 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"''. Firth was awarded the Medal of the order of Australia on 26th January 1999 for services to Motor Racing as a driver, team manager and engineer. https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/887108 On 27 April 2014, Firth died in his sleep surrounded by his family, he was aged 96.

Early years

Firth was born in Orbost, Victoria. Firth enlisted in the Australian Army on 23 October 1939 and was assigned to the 1st Corps of Signals. He was discharged at the end of the war on 3 October 1945. https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=421086&c=WW2 After returning from service in World War II, Firth turned his attention to motorsport. He was involved in preparing the winning

BMW 328 The BMW 328 was a sports car produced by BMW from 1936 to 1940. Its body design is credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II (although technically the car was designed by Fritz Fiedler). Specifications Aw ...

for the 1948 Australian Grand Prix (driven by Frank Pratt). In the 1950s Firth successfully competed in

Porsche 356 The Porsche 356 is a rear-engine sports car, and the first ever production Porsche model. The 356 is a lightweight and nimble-handling, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door available both in hardtop coupé and open configurations. Engineer ...

’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 with Bob Jane in a Mercedes-Benz 220SE to win the 1961 Armstrong 500 at Philip Island.

Ford works team

In 1962 the Firth Motors workshop at Queens Avenue, Auburn (

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

) became the base for the Ford works team. Firth and Jane drove a Ford Works Team Ford Falcon XL to victory in the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Philip Island. Firth and Jane recorded the races first hat-trick of wins when they won the 1963 Armstrong 500 driving a Mk.I Ford Cortina GT at 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 the

Ampol Ampol Limited is an Australian petroleum company headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. Ampol is the largest transport energy distributor and retailer in Australia, with more than 1,800 Ampol-branded service stations across the country . Amp ...

Round Australia Trial in a Cortina GT. Firth also won the 1964 Lowood 4 Hour with John Raeburn in a

Ford Cortina GT The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although off ...

. Firth and John Reaburn finished 3rd in the 1964 Armstrong 500 in a Cortina GT, while Bob Jane won his 4th in a row, teaming with George Reynolds, also in a GT. Firth and Reaburn also teamed in the 1965 Armstrong 500, but while the winning Ford Works car of Barry Seton and Midge Bosworth was the Harry Firth developed Ford Cortina GT500, Firth and Reaburn finished only 14th outright but won Class A for cars priced under £920 in a Mk.I Ford Cortina 220. As part of his work with

Ford Australia Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of Automotive industry in the United States, United States–based automaker Ford Motor Company. It was founded in 1925 as an Austral ...

, Firth was recommended as a driver by a young

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

born Aussie racing in the new

Trans-Am series The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

named Allan Moffat, and he traveled to the US and co-drove with Moffat in an Under-2 litre class

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford Motor Company, Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, w ...

in two races, a six-hour race at the Green Valley Raceway in Smithfield,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and a four-hour race at Riverside in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 a

. The Ford works team didn't enter any cars for the 1966 Gallaher 500 at Bathurst and Firth teamed with Ern Abbott in a Morris Cooper S to 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 the 1967 Gallaher 500 with a young Fred Gibson in a

Ford XR Falcon GT The Ford Falcon (XR) is a full-size car, full-sized car produced by Ford Australia from 1966 to 1968. It was the first of the second generation of the Ford Falcon (Australia), Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XR), the luxury-oriented ...

, the first Australian made

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

to use a

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

based racer/designer

Frank Matich Francis Anthony Matich (25 January 193511 May 2015) was an Australian racing car driver. A highly successful motor racing competitor in the 1960s and 1970s, Matich built his own range of Matich sports cars and open wheel cars, mainly to sup ...

was 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 to

Series Production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

racing 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, Ian and Leo Geoghegan but 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 the 1968 Australian Rally Championship driving a Ford Cortina Lotus. 1968 CAMS AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, www.snooksmotorsport.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
/ref> That year he also led a three car Ford Australia assault on the inaugural London–Sydney Marathon, preparing a trio of XT Falcon GT's for the event which started on 24–25 November at Crystal Palace in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and traveled through

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

before arriving in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, India on 1–2 December. From there, the teams and their cars had an eight-day boat trip to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The cars then traveled across the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

into

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

before finally crossing into

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and arriving at the Warwick Farm Raceway in 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 the ''Teams 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, an American more known in

Drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

than circuit racing. Within a short time he had crossed over to General Motors Holden (GMH) to become manager of the new Holden Dealer Team, which despite the "Dealer" name (and Harry's claims on the ABC's ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'' program in 1970 that as team boss he worked for a so-called "Dealer's Council")Bathurst - The Big Three' 4 Corners 1970
/ref> was actually a full works team backed by

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

and set up by GMH executive John Bagshaw. Because of

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

worldwide factory ban on motorsport at the time (dating back to the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans disaster that killed 80 people), the team's cash flow from Holden had to come through the 'back door' to avoid alerting GM headquarters in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. 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 driver Colin Bond and young tearaway Peter Brock whose feats in an

Austin A30 The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin Motor Company, Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin 7, Austin Seven" and was Aust ...

had brought him to Firth’s attention. Bond and Tony Roberts won the 1969 Bathurst 500 for the HDT in a Holden 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: * 1970 Southern Cross Rally - Barry Ferguson / Dave Johnson in a Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1. * 1971 South 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 1974 Australian Rally Championship wins by Colin Bond in an LC Torana GTR XU-1 (`71) and a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 (`72 & `74) and Peter Lang (LJ Torana in '73). * 1971 Autolite

Rallycross Rallycross is a form of sprint style motorsport held on a mixed-surface circuit (racing), racing circuit using modified production touring automobile, cars or prototype racing cars. It began in the 1960s as a cross between rallying and autocross ...

series - 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 1974 Sun-7 Chesterfield Series - Colin Bond in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1 (`72 and `73) and the new, V8 Torana SL/R 5000 (`74). * 1972 Toby Lee Series - Colin Bond in an LJ Torana GTR XU-1. * 1972 Bathurst 500 with Peter Brock driving an LJ Torana GTR XU-1. It was the first of Brock's record 9 wins in the Bathurst 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 an L34 Torana V8. * Holden Dealer Team drivers secured the Australian Manufacturers' Championship for GMH in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

using 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

Complete Phillip Island/Bathurst 500 results

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Harry 1918 births 2014 deaths Australian rally drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Bathurst 1000 winners People from Orbost Racing drivers from Victoria (state) Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers