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VALE: BRIAN SHEAD

Vale: Brian Shead

By Bruce Williams

Vale: Brian Shead

Vale: Brian Shead

Auto Action is sad to report that legendary Australian race car designer and champion driver Brian Shead has passed away after a long battle with illness.

By BRUCE WILLIAMS

Brian Shead is best known for designing, engineering and construction of Cheetah Racing Cars. However, Shead was not just a constructor of championship-winning race cars, he was also highly regarded racer and for driving Cheetah race cars to hundreds of race wins, culminating in winning the Australian Formula 2 Championship in 1979.

The first Cheetah was built for Shead’s personal use in 1960 and he raced the Mk 1 in the Formula Junior category. Over the years Shead built nearly 50 Cheetah race cars and these cars were almost solely designed, engineered, and constructed in a small factory at the rear of his long-time home in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Mordialloc.

Cheetah Race Cars were the cars to beat in Australian Formula 3 during the 1970s, and in Australian Formula 2, they were the dominant manufacturer during the late 1970s and most of the 1980s.

In the hands of the two Brian’s, Shead and long-time friend Brian Sampson, Cheetah’s were dominant in Formula 3 during the 1970’s.

Sampson’s Motor Improvements business built and supplied many of the modified Toyota Corolla and later the Toyota Celica engines that would power most of the early race-winning Cheetah race cars.

From May 1970 to February 1980, Shead competed in close to three hundred events, delivering over 100 wins, 200 plus podium places, 85 fastest laps and 30 lap records.

The highlight of his racing career came in 1979 when he won a hotly contested Australian Formula 2 championship driving one of his own Cheetah Mk6s.

From 1979 to 1988, Shead built Cheetah Race Cars which won a total of six Australian Formula 2 Championships.

Brain Shead took out the 1979 title driving his own Cheetah Mk6, in 1984/85 Peter Glover won titles in the Mk7 and Mk8 cars, Jonathan Crooke took the title in 1986 in a Mk8 and Arthur Abrahams won the 1987 title also driving in a Cheetah Mk8.

In 1988 Rohan Onslow driving a Cheetah Mk8-Volkswagen Golf, (Shead’s first full ground effects Cheetah) took out both the Australian Formula 2 Championship and the Australian Drivers’ Championship (CAMS Gold Star) which was awarded to the Formula 2 Champion for that year.

Other drivers to taste success in National and State race series driving Shead built Cheetah Race Cars included Brian Sampson, Peter Macrow, Bob Prendergast, Peter Beehag and Derek Pingel to name but a few.

In 1989 the new Formula Holden category was announced and Shead built the sole Cheetah Mk9 for the category, the car was initially driven by Peter Glover, later by Craig Lowndes and Brian Sampson in Formula Holden, this was the last new Cheetah race car built by Shead.

Not restricted to building open wheelers, Shead constructed a Cheetah Clubman for the Sports 1300 racing category. Raced by Motor Improvements’ Peter Jones, the combination won 113 races from 135 races, including three Australian titles, five Victorian titles and three NSW titles.

Brian Shead was not just a championship winning constructor and driver, he was a wonderful servant of the sport. Shead was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of Australian Formula 2 Championship and Formula Holden. He was actively involved in senior CAMS officials roles and was the chairman of the National Track Safety Committee for the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS, now Motorsport Australia) for several years.

It was for his long time commitment to the sport that in 1994 Shead was recognised for his services to Australian motorsport when he was awarded CAMS Life Membership. Instituted in 1982, the Life Membership is awarded for long-term distinguished service to motorsport. A nominee must have given long-term and distinguished service to Australian motorsport by the application of extraordinary expertise, dedication and for being a positive influence within the sport and that was certainly Brian Shead.

Until his illness prevented him from working, Brian was still active building replacement components that kept dozens of Cheetah race cars that competed in historic race meetings and for restoring historic race cars.

Auto Action wishes Brian’s family, friends and associates best wishes at this time.