History of Bob Jane Racing

Number 7

From humble roots in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, Bob Jane grew up to be a tough and determined young man. In the early 1950’s he started his love of racing as a champion cyclist.

In the late 1950’s, he started his first business, Bob Jane Autoland, which specialised in spare parts for Jaguar and Alfa Romeo. Through this venture, he realised his undeniable passion for cars. Before long, the glamour and excitement of the motor racing world took hold and he never looked back.

He first entered competitive racing in 1956. By the early 1960’s, it seemed Bob left everybody in his dust as he sped his way to the top of Australian sedan racing. In 1961 he and co-driver, Harry Firth, won the Armstrong 500 (later known as the Bathurst 1000) at Phillip Island, an achievement they were to repeat in 1962 and 1963 at Bathurst. Bob then teamed up with George Reynolds to again win in 1964.

In 1962 and 1963 Bob won back-to-back Australian Touring Car Championships, a feat he was to able repeat when he won in both 1971 and 1972 again. Overall, after 38 Australian Touring Car Championship career starts, he finished on the podium an impressive 21 times.

Fast track to the year 2000, Bob Jane was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame. This recognised his wonderful contribution to Australian touring car and Supercar racing by a range of its top stars from more than half a century of ‘tin-top’ racing in this country.

Bob firmly believed the difference between winning and losing lay in choosing the right equipment, especially tyres. He soon became recognised as a tyre expert and it wasn’t long before he was inundated with enquiries about tyres – not only within the racing fraternity but the public as well.