Sir Jack Brabham living legend on ABC.

[Pis-ton broke]

I just watched a doco on the ABC about Sir Jack Brabham. I was unaware of his great succuss and the cars he built and the live he lead. Did anyone else see it?

Interestingly Murry Walker said that Jack was the pioneer of the rear engined race car. And that the Brabham race car was designed and built in the UK with Melbourne made engines (repco engines) , and raced succussfully.

Unforunately it seems that Jacks succuss is overlooked in Australia and that when Jack travels overseas he gets the royal treatment and has a massive fan base in other countries.

Jacks not very well, and i was wondering is there some great way of acknowledgement , maybe at a State or Federal level for this great Australia pioneer.

[Geez Louise]

Oh bugga...I missed it. Hopefully I can catch it online or a re-run.

[dave351cid]

ahhh.. thanks for the tip. i just got home from a work callout. good thing about haveing to get satalite for my digital tv. i have just tuned into ABC west oz , just in time to catch the start.

[eleanor67]

I seen it to. I also had no idear of how much he did for the sport being the first and only car builder and driver to win the championship.

ABC will be re running it on saturday at 1 pm. not sure if it's on 2 or 22 though.

[Neale]

Im pretty sure as they said in the doco, that Sir Jack has been named a national living treasure. which is a pretty high accolade, plus considering he has also recieved the Australian of the year, a Knighthood & OBE. Im not sure there is anything else that he could get.

If you want to do a little more reading about Sir Jack, check out his web page. It has some interesting stuff
http://www.jackbrabham.com/index.html



Sadly we have so many great people from Australia involved in motor racing that are better known overseas than in Australia. His son David is another great example of being a hero in America & Europe but unknown in Australia.

One guy that I always thought never got the recognition in Australia that he deserved was Frank Gardiner.
They say Peter Brock was the best driver in Australia, but Frank would have to be one of the best Australian drivers in the world along with Sir Jack Brabaham.
Just check out his results overseas against the best drivers in the world.
In many different cars & categories & also racing, testing & surviving some of the most dangerious cars ever to hit the track (e.g. early GT40's, Porsche 917 & the F5000's)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_G...(racing_driver)

[wrongwaynorris]

A true legend of the sport and woefully underacknowledged in his home nation .

"Interestingly Murry Walker said that Jack was the pioneer of the rear engined race car. And that the Brabham race car was designed and built in the UK with Melbourne made engines (repco engines) , and raced succussfully."

Murray is wrong Auto Union pioneered rear engine racing cars long long before Jack built his and it was revived by John Cooper in the late 50's .

[ET-BA-XR8]

Have met Sir Jack (a few years back at an historics meet), and he is truly a living treasure. Nothing pleases him more than to see his cars preserved and still unleashed on the race tracks in historic events.

If you grab a DVD called 'Wide Open Road' (a 3 part doco by ABC) there is an excellent interview in the 'extra features' on him. It's the most absorbing of the DVD set.

His health has been failing for a few years, but it's in his character to be a fighter, as evidenced on the track in his career.

Originally Posted by Neale

Sadly we have so many great people from Australia involved in motor racing that are better known overseas than in Australia.

So true, and not just drivers. Brabham's mate and brilliant mechanical engineer Ron Tauranac is a case in point.

[jphanna]

Jack Brabham is an absolute legend, and i glad i met him at the classic adelaide rally some years ago.

but for Frank Gardiner....i was a kid at Adelaide International Raceway when i first saw him with his Chev CORVAIR. he was so dominant in that thing that they changed the rules to ban it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_G...(racing_driver)[/QUOTE]

[TMC]

I saw the doco and was surprised by his achievements. A definite overlooked Australian legend of motorsport. He's really a Don Bradman of motorsport.

I also didn't know that McLaren was from NZ. They were great mates.

[jcxr]

Another driver who you would like to read about is Tony Gaze.
Aussie formula one driver and real life hero. Fighter pilot, captured during the war, these blokes are heros, not your sporting wanna be's

[god of speed]

although he didnt share the same success as these guys, possum borne should also not be forgotten

[jcxr]

Originally Posted by god of speed

although he didnt share the same success as these guys, possum borne should also not be forgotten

Kiwi I believe.

[music189]

many years ago there was a grand prix legends meeting something like that anyway, at Calder Park .Sir Jack was racing then, I can still remember him blowing everyone of the track

A true Aussie legend and world beater

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

Unforunately it seems that Jacks succuss is overlooked in Australia and that when Jack travels overseas he gets the royal treatment and has a massive fan base in other countries.

Jacks not very well, and i was wondering is there some great way of acknowledgement , maybe at a State or Federal level for this great Australia pioneer

His success has hardly been overlooked:

Originally Posted by Neale

Im pretty sure as they said in the doco, that Sir Jack has been named a national living treasure. which is a pretty high accolade, plus considering he has also recieved the Australian of the year, a Knighthood & OBE. Im not sure there is anything else that he could get

perhaps he is currently more appreciated in other countries, so be it. Found that bit where (his present wife?) whinged about that a little hard to stomach. The public can't be ordered to worship you.

Of course he is a legend, when I was a kid you either got labelled as fangio or brabham if you liked to go fast.
Murray Walker's quote was interesting.... in future Ill be yelling out ........Brabham every time some idiot puts their wheel in the dirt and sprays up some stones!

[Neale]

Originally Posted by ET-BA-XR8

So true, and not just drivers. Brabham's mate and brilliant mechanical engineer Ron Tauranac is a case in point.

True that!! when you look at some of the world class cars that he has designed.

Another great engineer & driver is Frank Matich.

Its sad that people have sutch short memories & these guys are only known by a few of us.
I remember going to the Muscle Car Masters one year, & there was a massive line of people waiting to see Harry Firth, & I herd a couple of guys say "why do all of those people want to see that old guy"

Im guilty of it aswell in some respect. I was at a historic race meeting with a friend who was a bit of a signature hunter.
She spotted a driver in a race suit & went up to him & asked "who are you & what car did you drive". He replied quietly " I used to race sports cars & open wheelers mainly, I will write my name down for you".

His name was Vern Schuppan. So when I got home I looked up who he was & he was a big name in Europe & was the first ever Australian to win the famous LeMans Race. I nearly walked past him without a second thought.

If anyone is interested. A great race meeting is comming up in late November called the Tasman Revival. You can see all the cars & some drivers from the Jack Brabaham era in action.
http://www.tasmanrevival.com/

[buggerlugs]

Was a great show. Love Australian Story. Never mentioned what happened to his first wife. Loved his last comment, "I wan't to die without an enemy in the world, I'm going to out live the B#stards !! " Geez, you can catch it on ABC IVIEW. It will be on their web page for about 4 weeks.........

[Geez Louise]

Thanks buggerlugs...will do

[sudszy]

never given it a seconds thought til now, but the aussie vernacular; "lets take it for a fang" or "fanged it" has its origins in Juan Manuel Fangio.

i suppose take it for a Brab just doesnt roll of the tongue so well.

[phillyc]

It's the second time i've watched the show. I've enjoyed it each time.

His book makes for good reading too

Yes, it's a shame that more is not thought of about Sir Jack aka Black Jack, indeed as motor racing as a whole in this country.

Jack is a living legend ;)

[foxtrot3]

Hi. Its a pity no mention was made of Phil Irving who had a very big part in designing the engine, Another smart Australian racing driver/engineer who also had a big part to play in the history of Vincent motor cycles including the Vincent HRD Black Shadow. Cheers MD

[RASER]

When will Jack say thankyou to Phil Irving?

[Pis-ton broke]

Originally Posted by Neale

that Sir Jack has been named a national living treasure. which is a pretty high accolade, plus considering he has also recieved the Australian of the year, a Knighthood & OBE. Im not sure there is anything else that he could get.

yeah thats pretty good . shame about his kiwi mate.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by jcxr

Another driver who you would like to read about is Tony Gaze.
Aussie formula one driver and real life hero. Fighter pilot, captured during the war, these blokes are heros, not your sporting wanna be's

Wooden ships, Iron men. Bloody motorsport hero. Him and Carroll Shelby.

[outback_ute]

The Australian Story show will be replayed on ABC1, Saturday (tomorrow) around midday or a bit after, so there is another chance to catch it. I think it is a re-run from 2009 or so, with the added note at the end about Sir Jack being made a national living treasure.

Originally Posted by sudszy

Found that bit where (his present wife?) whinged about that a little hard to stomach. The public can't be ordered to worship you.

Back in 2009, there should have been a big celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of Sir Jack's first world championship win. Instead the Australian Grand Prix organisers were almost shamed into inviting him down at the last minute (a couple of weeks out from the race). There was a bigger deal made at the Sebring ALMS race, where they had David Brabham re-enacting his father pushing his out-of-fuel car across the line. This was later copied at the Gold Coast Indy race.

http://blogs.courant.com/autoracing/...mans-seri.html

They (the Australian Grand Prix people) have another chance in 4 years time, and this time it will also mark the Brabham car & Repco engine as well.

[aussiblue]

I only just became aware that Ron Tauranac passed away in July of this year,

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...anac-1925-2020

An engineer who built dominant racing cars, Ron Tauranac founded Ralt and teamed up with Jack Brabham to design F1 championship-winning cars