last ten years or so of his life that he told
me to call him Eddie – I still always called
him Mr Thomas or Mr T, it was a special
thing for all of us kids.”
In mid-1965 as Eddie closed in on the ten-
second barrier, it became obvious that a
new dragster was needed to keep up with
the demands of better slicks and ever-
increasing horsepower, and so he built one
from a set of plans he saw advertised in a
US hot rodding magazine and went on to be
the first racer in the country to go into the
tens, and then the nines and the eights. At
the same time, he was also the first man to
break through the 150mph barrier.
“I remember when we went out to Calder
Park Dragway to test the old car before he
built the new one and the four of us were
out there just before Christmas in the
boiling heat with no shade, and there were
Dad and Eddie both in their collars and ties,
Eddie driving the dragster,” Robbie said.
“We push started him down the main
straight going the wrong way and he was
smoking the tyres and going through the
‘esses’ sideways, he never had forgotten his
speedway background! I was sitting in the
car watching and I wish now that we had
had a camera!”
Come 1966, a US
drag racing team
visited
Australia
for Dragfest, a
time which many
credit as a huge
advancement and
coming of age for
the Australian drag
racing
industry.
Unlike today, where
top
Australian
drag teams are
up
to
speed
with
American
developments,
in the 1960s Australian racers were many
years behind.
Despite this, Eddie proved himself to be
highly competitive against the US visitors
despite running methanol, an achievement
which is fondly remembered by many who
knew him even today.
With the close of Riverside in late 1966,
Eddie went on to have a quiet period until
Calder Park opened in 1968, but once he
came back to face the new breed of Top
Fuelers – including Graham Withers’ ‘Ampol
GT’ and Ash Marshall’s ‘Scorcher’ – he
showed that his old style car still had plenty
of merit with a best time of 8.55 seconds.
Unfortunately, the car would break its
crankshaft on that run and with the building
pressures of an expanding business, Eddie
decided that it was time for retirement
following a remarkable four year career
on the track which many say changed
Australian drag racing forever.
GREATNESS
LARRY
‘BIG O’
ORMSBY
From on-track success to playing key
roles in the development of the sport
from behind the scenes, the ‘Big O’ is
a legend of Australian drag racing.
Larry Ormsby rose to prominence in the late 1960s
with a series of GT and GT HO Falcons in Street, Stock
and Pro Stock – with his performances bringing him to
the attention of the legendary Al Turner and earning
him full Ford Motor Company factory support – before
moving on to a series of rear engine dragsters.