The Toby Lee Series was an Australian motor racing series run at

Oran Park Raceway Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan south west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from February 1962 until its closure in January 2010. The track was designed and started by George Murray and Jac ...

in Sydney, between 1970 and 1975. In 1970 Oran Park, with backing from sponsors Toby Lee (a brand of shirts) and department store

Grace Brothers Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were re ...

, launched a new series of races for Group E Series Production sedans. The "Toby Lee Series" usually featured a 100 lap final round and quickly became very popular, attracting large crowds to Oran Park. The series featured a number of leading Sydney-based drivers, such as

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer ...

driver

Colin Bond Colin John Bond (born 24 February 1942) is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found succ ...

, emerging

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

privateer John Goss, Ford stalwart Fred Gibson and

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

drivers

Leo Geoghegan Leo Geoghegan (16 May 1936 - 2 March 2015) was an Australian former racing driver. He was the elder of two sons of former New South Wales car dealer Tom Geoghegan, both of whom become dominant names in Australian motor racing in the 1960s. Whi ...

and

Doug Chivas Doug Chivas (c.1922–2004) was an Australian rally and racing car driver. Chivas drove the first Lotus Mark 6 in Australia in the early 1950s winning many races. Career In the 1960s and 1970s he drove for some of the most important racing and ...

. The Toby Lee played its part in popularising production sedan racing and in establishing the passionate Holden-Ford rivalry that would endure for decades to come. After three years of racing under Series Production regulations (1970–1972) the Toby Lee Series switched to

Sports Sedans A sports sedan (also known as sports saloon in British English) is a subjective term for a sedan car that is designed to have sporting performance or handling characteristics. History The term was originally introduced in the 1930s an ...

for the 1973 and 1974 seasons. 1973 saw competitive racing with big fields. Leading contenders included

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

and Colin Bond in Torana Repco V8s, Bill Brown and Jim McKeown driving

Porsche Carrera Carrera (''Spanish'' for "race" and "career") is a brand of Porsche automobile. The name commemorates the company's success in the Carrera Panamericana race. The following vehicles have been called ''Carrera'': * Porsche 356 * Porsche 904 * Porsch ...

s, Leo Geoghegan's

Porsche 911S The original Porsche 911 (pronounced ''nine eleven'', german: Neunelfer) is a luxury sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. A prototype of the famous, distinctive, and durable design was shown to the public in autumn 1963. P ...

, and

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four win ...

's famous

Ford Mustang Boss 302 The Mustang Boss 302 is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang originally produced by Ford in 1969 and 1970, alongside its more powerful sibling the Boss 429 Mustang. Ford revived the name for another two year production run in 2012 and ...

. But when John McCormack rolled out his highly modified Ansett

Charger Charger or Chargers may refer to: * Charger (table setting), decorative plates used to fancify a place setting * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a cell or battery * Capacitor charger, typically a high voltage DC power supply ...

Repco V8 in 1974 it dominated the series. This led to a lessening of interest in the series and the fields dwindled in the second half of 1974. For its final year of 1975 a radical switch was made away from sedan racing altogether and the Toby Lee became an open-wheeler

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

series.

Max Stewart Malcolm Clarke Stewart (14 March 1935 – 19 March 1977) was an Australian racing driver. He was known as the "Jolly Green Giant" for his disposition and height. Stewart was born in Orange, New South Wales. He began his motorsport career r ...

Lola T400 After the great success of the T332 in the 1974 Formula 5000 season (18 out of 21 top 3 finishes in the US), much was expected of the new high-tech Lola T400. Described by development driver Frank Gardner as "the most sophisticated Formula 5000 ...

won the 1975 series from the Matich A53 of John Goss.

List of winners

, - ! Year ! Driver ! Car ! Team , - , 1970 , Fred Gibson , Ford Falcon GTHO Phase I , Road and Track , - , 1971 , Fred Gibson , Ford Falcon GTHO Phase II , Road and Track , - , 1972 ,

Holden Torana GTR XU-1 The Holden Torana is a mid-sized car that was manufactured by Holden from 1967 to 1980. The name apparently comes from an word meaning "to fly" in an unconfirmed Aboriginal Australian language. The original HB series Torana was released in 1 ...

, - , 1973 ,

, Holden Torana Repco V8 ,

Bob Jane Racing Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a ...

, - , 1974 , John McCormack ,

Chrysler Charger Charger or Chargers may refer to: * Charger (table setting), decorative plates used to fancify a place setting * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a cell or battery * Capacitor charger, typically a high voltage DC power supply d ...

Repco Holden Repco is an Australian automotive engineering/retailer company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and was for many years known for reconditioning engines and for specialized manufacturing, for which they gained a high r ...

V8 ,

Ansett Team Elfin Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd (formerly known as Elfin Sports Cars) is an Australian car manufacturer company that was founded by Garrie Cooper. It has been an Australian manufacturer of sports cars and motor racing cars since 1959. Elfin Sports Ca ...

, - , 1975 ,

Australian Competition Yearbook 1976 ,

, Sharp Racing Team , -

References

{{Reflist Touring car racing series Auto racing series in Australia