16 replies to this topic

[Torston]

Today we lost another stalwart of our racing DNA. John Martin has passed away.

 

John was one of the very great drivers of the 1950s and 60s, but never received the recognition or coverage of the more colourful ones. I saw him race at Parramatta Park and have stayed in touch for a long while. He will be truly missed by the cognoscente.

[Dick Willis]

Sad news indeed, John was under recognised except by those with a close interest in the sport. In recent years he had been a keen follower of the earlier groups of Historics in NSW.

[ellrosso]

RIP . Very sad news.

[Ray Bell]

I posted this on the 'Mentioned in Passing' thread without seeing this thread...

But as Dick says, he was under-recognised by many, his greatest legacy being the times set in his performances in the Lola. His Warwick Farm record stood from (I'm sure) 1963 until the class capacity limits were changed and it could be beaten by cars with 200cc greater capacity and six or seven years of newer tyre development. Even Pete Geoghegan, with wider wheels and newer tyres on the same car and throwing it around like he meant it, didn't match his time... as we fully expected him to.

He remained in touch with a lot of his motor sporting friends, attending many 'old and bold' lunches and events and turning out for major Historic meetings.

Not only that, he was outgoing and always ready to talk about racing and the past.

I was not aware he raced at Parramatta Park, no doubt in a TC. Other cars included a Lotus 11, the Lola of course, and the Lotus 23 so well-pictured by Lindsay above.

[eldougo]

Sad news such a lovely man always had a smile or a word or two to say.......RIP.

[John Ellacott]

He also drove the Lotus 15 for Leaton Motors a few times after Frank moved on.

I have a photo that I will try and post later.

[TerryS]

Nice things are written about most people when they die, but sometimes these can be through rose coloured glasses.

To me it is more interesting to look at things written about them when they were actually competing.

Such is the case with John Martin. Here is a bit on him from the Racing Car News 1964 Annual which covered about 30 top drivers. I quote:

"John Martin has come a long way from the old MG TC days and can always be counted on for a good performance. In 1963 his Lola took second place in the Australian Tourist Trophy and third in the NSW Sports Car
Championship. He also drove a Daimler Coupe into third place in the NSW Gran Turismo Championship. John is 34 years of age, single and owns a used car business in Sydney".

It is such a pity that the Lotus 23 accident brought to a close a very promising career.

[Ray Bell]

A career only just rekindled too...

He had sold the Lola to Frank Demuth and taken a sabbatical from racing. Frank raced it until the ATT in November 1965, then traded it on the Geoghegan Lotus 23B as it crossed the line winning that race.

It was only after Frank raced it for a while that John bought the 23B, racing it only two or three times before his horrific crash at the Farm.

[TerryS]

A somewhat similar article to the RCN one in post #7.

This is from the 1964 Australian Motor Racing Annual. Bill Tuckey listed the top 20 Australian based drivers.

Here is his bit on John Martin:

"A not-rich owner of a used car business, he is the paradox of Australian motor racing in that he has not yet been put into a sponsored car. It was a great shock in motor racing circles when he did not get the expected seat in Alec Mildren's cars after Gardner returned to Europe, for Martin had twice absolutely stunned Gardner with the way he stayed with - and occasionally outdrove - him in the twin cam Lotus 23. For Martin's car is a front engine 1960 Lola with 1100cc Climax; in this he put up staggering performances against modern 1500cc rear engine sports cars. He also drove some amazing races in his Lotus XI, setting lap times on several Australian circuits that are still two or three seconds faster than anyone has ever done in a similar car. He is a brilliant driver, an entertaining talker, and has yet to realise his outstanding potential."

[Ray Bell]

Bill must have missed is drives in the Lotus 15...

These are the ones John mentioned above.

Something else memorable about John was the way he was always surrounded by good looking girls when he turned up at Warwick Farm.

[seldo]

I knew Marto well, having worked both with and for him. Always happy, smiling, I never heard him utter a cross word, and even when something wasn't going right there was never a drama.
Loved a pretty girl and was quick to chat them up, but was always careful with a quid - an associate used to say that that Mart's version of giving a girl a spray was to put the hose on her...
Yes - an exceptional steerer who should have gone much further, but in those days sponsored drives were few and far between, so his talent sort-of wilted on the vine, especially after the big accident at the Farm.
But, having made it to 90, he lived a very full life.
Another goodie gone...

[cooper997]

This photo of John, with Ian Geoghegan appears in Bill Tuckey's 1964 'The book of Australian Motor Racing' - shown at the 1963 Armstrong 500, Bathurst drivers' briefing. John shared a Morris Cooper with Des West that year.

 

 

My condolences to John's family and friends.

 

Stephen

[Ray Bell]

The funeral will be held next Tuesday, November 8, at 10:00am...

It will be at the Southern Chapel of the Northern Suburbs Crematorium. Those present will then be able to attend a celebration of John's life at the Sydney Flying Squadron, McDougall St., Kirribilli.

[Ray Bell]

It was not a large funeral, like Frank Matich's, but there was quite a number of motor racing people there...

Naming a few - Ray Eldershaw, Barry Carr, Peter Molloy, Brian Caldersmith, Sam Johnson, Ray Berghouse, Fred Vogel, Bob Cutler, Brendan Samuels, others I can't recall.

John's two daughters, Sarah and Emma, really do look like their father, tall-ish and slim and smiling like he did.,,,



Included in the Eulogy Sarah read were these lines about John's racing

For a time motor sporting enthusiasts felt was all too brief, John raced cars.

He began racing at places like Mount Druitt and Parramatta Park, where his MG TC – which was bored out to 1350cc – was among the fastest. In June, 1955, he won both of his Parramatta Park races despite an incident that saw him forced off the track and bounding across the grass, all the while with his foot hard down on the accelerator.

Not that his racing was dotted with such feats – in fact, he was more noted for his smooth and very fast driving.

From the MG he progressed to the much more refined Lotus 11, then came an opportunity for a sponsored drive in the Leaton Motors Lotus 15, a very fast 2½ litre car he only drove for a short time.

When the lovely Lola 1100 imported by David McKay became available, John bought it and proceeded to show what a rapid and mature racing driver could do with a car which had finesse and speed to match his own.

Preparation of the car was the work of the dedicated Barry Carr, who didn’t mind putting in the effort because he knew he’d be rewarded by the results John would obtain.

In 1963 John and the Lola set a class lap record at Warwick Farm which was to stand longer than any other record in the history of the circuit – and which was only beaten when the class capacity limit was extended over eight years later to allow bigger cars in.

Others saw his abilities and wanted him to drive their cars. He raced a Skoda Felicia in the Bathurst 6-hour race with Clyde Hodgins, driving almost all of the race and winning their class, and shared a Mini Cooper with Des West in the Armstrong 500 of 1963. He also raced Clyde Hodgins’ Daimler SP250 on occasion.

Yet in his caryard there was no indication of his prowess on the track. He was able to separate his work and his motor racing into different compartments in his life. The dedicated enthusiast when a race meeting was on, yet seemingly oblivious of it all in his working life. No race car in the showroom, no pictures from the circuit on the wall, no trophies on the desk – that was another John Martin.

Even so, his enthusiasm for the sport showed even when he wasn’t competing. After selling the Lola he took some time off from racing, but he was there at the track when the racing was on and always in touch with his friends in the sport. This would continue long after, too, as he attended luncheons for the ‘old and bold’ even into his final years.

To those who knew him in the sport, he was always one of the nicest people, always ready to talk about those days, always willing to spend his time showing that he truly loved it.

After a sabbatical of over two years he bought the Lotus 23B. This would become his final fling, a really rapid car which would match his undoubted skills.

But John only raced it for a few meetings before something went amiss with devastating results. A long stay in hospital, several operations, an even longer stint recovering, those who knew him saw that he was badly hurt and understood why he would never race again.

* * * * * * * *

A car company once advertised that they ‘did their talking at the race track’. Fifty and more years ago Johnny Martin did his talking there too. And many today remember every word he said.

The girls were too young to know about John's racing, having been come along over five years after his retirement. But they did know that he went to England during that 1964/5 layoff and it was revealed by someone that John had been given a drive of a Jaguar over there and had apparently beaten Jack Sears. I think this was in E-types.

The grieving widow, Joan, came into John's life even later than the girls, having married him only 33 years ago... here she is with Sarah:



John Martin, May 19, 1926 - October 26, 2016

[Ray Bell]

John Ellacott's photo of John Martin in the Lotus 11 at Warwick Farm:

[bradbury west]

Interesting that it is on wobbly webs, Ray. Did it arrive with them? Mr Schagen will no doubt help with chassis origin details.
Roger Lund

[cooper997]

Another great photo from John Ellacott.

 

Most of John Martin's Warwick Farm races in this car appear to be with #11 attached. However carrying #55 appears to relate to the May 1961 meeting.

 

Marc's book has this as the ex Ashdown chaasis, first raced in Australia by Don Swanton.

 

Stephen