Frank Gardner (racing Driver) - Career

Career

Frank was born in 1931, not 1930 as is often quoted. He changed his date of birth on documents which permitted the under-age Gardner to gain a racing licence. He sailed to England late in 1958 following his ownership of a Mobilgas service station in Avalon on Sydney's northern beaches, and a fabled career driving Jaguar XK120s, a C-Type (XKC037) and D-Type (XKD520). Both latter cars were insurance write-offs and repaired by Gardner and his friends.

Unlike most racing drivers, Frank Gardner was born into a very poor family. His father moved the large family to Ulladulla on the south coast of NSW where he was a fisherman. When his father was killed after being hit by a drunk driver, Frank went to live with his unmarried uncle Hope Bartlett - a legend in Australia and New Zealand as a racing driver and golfer.

Hope put Frank under his guidance and bought him up to be an automotive engineer. Frank always preferred engineering cars to driving, and went to England to join Jaguar, but hated the Midlands in the middle of winter and joined Aston Martin as a racing mechanic.

He was a member of the team which won Le Mans in 1959. Gardner told team boss John Wyer he needed to run a Calotti gearbox. Wyer was affronted by the young 'colonial', but swapped the gearbox on one of the cars - and it won - while the other broke down.

He joined the Jim Russell Driving School where he prepared the cars, then became the 'star pupil driver' because he was unknown in England as a driver. He was later the first person employed by Jack Brabham in the new MRD F1 racing team - soon to become Brabham.

In 1966 Gardner finished second in the 1000 km Spa round of the International Manufacturers Championship. In 1967 he also finished second in the European Trophy for Formula 2 Drivers and second in the British Autocar Formula Two Championship. In 1970 he was fourth in the European Formula 5000 Championship and then won the championship the following year.

He won his class at Le Mans in 1961 sharing a works Lotus Elite with David Hobbs.

Gardner also travelled to the United States and drove in the Sports Car Club of America's newly established Trans-Am Series in 1966, finishing the last race of the inaugural season at the Riverside International Raceway 4 hour race in 4th place outright and winning the Under 2L division driving a Lotus Cortina. Gardner was among a number of Australians who drove in the early years of the Trans-Am, including Allan Moffat, Harry Firth and Horst Kwech. In 1968 he had his first and only NASCAR start at Rockingham driving a Ford.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Frank Gardner had two second place finishes in the Australian Grand Prix – in 1966 at Lakeside behind Graham Hill and 1972 at Sandown behind Graham McRae. In between there was a third in 1967 at Warwick Farm in his home town of Sydney behind British Formula One champions Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark.

Gardner finished third in the 1967 and 1972 Tasman Series. He won the British Saloon Car Championship title on three occasions, 1967 (Ford Falcon Sprint), 1968 (Ford Cortina Lotus & Ford Escort) and 1973 (Chevrolet Camaro), and was runner-up in 1970 (ford Mustang Boss 302). In 1975 he finished second in the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst with Bob Morris in a Holden Torana SL/R 5000 L34.

Frank Gardner was the winner of the 1972 New Zealand Grand Prix, which was run under Tasman Formula regulations (which incorporated Formula 5000 cars) and was the first round of the 1972 Tasman Series, at Pukekohe driving a Lola T300-Chevrolet. He was extremely proud of winning the New Zealand title because Hope had won it in the 1930s.