LAURIE Fox OAM had no intention of representing Australia at the prestigious Isle of Man race in England, although he was flattered by the suggestion and his friend’s advice did prompt a trip to Adelaide for a new bike.
“I had no intention of going to England because I was tied up with my new business, but I had heard about a brand new 350cc racing bike for sale,” Laurie said.
“Charlie Walker was selling the bike at his shop in North Adelaide, I went to have a look and when I arrived he said ‘did you say you were Fox from Mount Gambier? You’re the fella who won the sidecar scramble race, you don’t want that bike’ so I followed him out the back.
“He showed me his Norton sidecar outfit, a proper racing bike, he said ‘that’s the bike you want’ and I agreed that it probably was.”
Laurie said he still clearly remembers exactly what Mr Walker said to him as he admired the bike.
“He said ‘if you buy that sidecar you will have more success than you would ever have imagined’ – and he was right,” Laurie recalled.
Mr Walker accepted a 100 pound deposit upfront and Laurie purchased the bike for a total of 350 pounds.
He went on to win the South Australian Sidecar Scramble Championships on three occasions.
Laurie recalled a race in Darley, Victoria, not long after he purchased the Norton.
“The track was at an old army camp, it was a lovely little circuit,” he said.
“I entered for the B-grade, having never raced a sidecar on the bitumen before, but when I arrived and looked in the program I wasn’t listed.
“I spoke to one of the officials and he said ‘mate, you’re not in the B-grade, if you’re from South Australia you’re in the A-grade’.
“They must have reckoned if anyone would travel that far to race they must be good, so I rode in the A grade and placed second.”
A short time later, with John Wilkinson as his passenger, Laurie entered the Victorian Sidecar Grand Prix in Ballarat and won – setting the fastest lap for the meeting.
“In all the races I rode that bike in, apart from two races I never completed, I never finished any further back than fourth in any race,” Laurie said.
Laurie was unable to complete one of the two races due to a faulty brake, while in another race an accident on the track prevented him from finishing the circuit.
Laurie remembered one occasion of improvised mechanics when he and John jammed a twig in a leaking component of the bike, preferring an unconventional fix to abandoning the race.
Laurie is working on a restoration of his 1949 Norton, a model experts in Australia are perplexed by.
“All the Norton experts in Australia said ‘you couldn’t possibly have a ‘49, they were never made’,” Laurie said.
“There were only six 1950 models in Australia, mine is a genuine ‘49.
“A 1950 model is worth around $80,000 dollars – if mine is apparently more rare you can imagine how much it might be worth, not that I’m interested in selling.”
During his long stint as secretary at McNamara Park, Laurie was an integral member of the club.
“Quite often I would be up until 3am using the duplicator and stapling programs together for race day,” Laurie said.
“Long before we had copy machines, that was how we had to do it.”
Laurie organised “100 mile trials” for the club and would plot the course on his solo bike.
“I could have been anywhere out on back roads or in the bush, no-one knew where I was and I had no mobile phone,” he explained.
“I often wonder how I got so lucky that I never ended up stuck anywhere.”
It seems luck was on Laurie’s side when he was on a bike as he was “never injured once”.
“I have never broken a bone in my life,” he said.
Never content to rest on his laurels, Laurie found the time to explore different types of motorsport.
“For a short time I took part in the local car trials, I even won a couple,” Laurie said.
“I’ve had a bit of variety here and there.”
Laurie was also busy establishing Laurie Fox Motorcycles, a company that now boasts a long history of success.
“I was doing quite well at the time, selling a few English bikes until about 1954,” Laurie said.
Laurie weathered the ups and downs of the market throughout his four decades in the industry.
“Everything started to slow down and the vast majority of factories in England folded in around 1958, mostly due to poor management,” he said.
“When I started there were eight motorbike shops in the Mount and by 1958 I was the only one left.”
Laurie explained that although he still had agencies for the remaining British bikes, Japanese models were gaining popularity.
“We were selling Honda like crazy and Yamaha and Kawasaki certainly kept us going and are still big sellers today,” he said.
Laurie sold Laurie Fox Motorcycles to Bob Sandow in 1992 and although Mr Sandow has since resold the business the pair still keep in touch.
“Bob takes me to dinner for Christmas every year,” Laurie said.
