Holden Motorsport ‘bag man’ Joe Felice has died

VALE Joe Felice: Former long-time Holden executive, motorsport manager and motorsport enthusiast, Joe Felice has died.

Felice was a marketing executive at Holden during the brand’s golden era and was Holden’s motorsport representative during 1969-79.

Born in Malta, Felice was raised in Melbourne and trained as an automotive engineer. Following his recruitment by General Motors Holden he had stints in the US, attending university in Michigan to learn more automotive skills, as was the company’s policy at the time.

Felice worked under Holden’s Director of Sales, the legendary John Bagshaw, who was regarded as a ‘mover and shaker’ at Holden. Bagshaw was responsible for establishing the Holden Dealer Team and invigorating the Holden brand with hero cars such as HQ SS, GTS models, Torana GTR XU-1 and SLR 5000.

Regarded as Bagshaw’s ‘Mr. Fixit’ man-on-the-ground, Felice was the conduit between Holden and the various race teams running Holden products, including the Holden Dealer Team (HDT).

During the Cloak and Dagger era of Holden’s racing program, Felice managed Fishermans Bend’s ‘under the counter racing-slush fund’ which was the way Holden was able to fund a clandestine circuit racing program.

GM headquarters in the US had banned any form of direct motorsport involvement and the ‘slush fund’ provided the resources for ‘any form of circuit racing’ that it was not supposed to be a part of. Some of this was in the form of ‘advertising money’ supplied via Holden’s advertising agency.

Felice was heavily involved during the Group C era which required Homologation of a minimum number of road going variants of cars that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship, Australian Manufacturers Championship and the Bathurst 500/1000.

Along with several others, Felice was a key member of the team that successfully developed the Torana SL/R 5000, L34 and A9X after the cancellation of the-then secret Torana XU-1 V8 as a consequence of the ‘Supercars Scare’.

Talking to AUTO ACTION several years ago Felice explained, “The plan was always to replace the XU-1 with an SL/R 5000,” he recalls. “But the SL/R 5000 was only ever an interim car. We knew it wasn’t good enough. “It was only a road car initially. It was an interim move from XU-1 over to a V8.”

After the release of the SL/R 5000 Torana, Holden set about homologating the stronger L34 in time for the Bathurst 1000 in 1974. Felice recalled that it was a tough task getting the upgrades past the engineering department at Holden.

He had to overcome a change of engineering management when American GM engineer-George Roberts took over the role at Holden.

“Roberts was anti-racing and wouldn’t even approve rear disc brakes for the L34. It also had the small Banjo-diff’ which was designed for the FJ and it had shitty little axles.” Felice told AUTO ACTION.

Felice revealed he used smoke and mirrors on the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS now Motorsport Australia) to accept the A9X as a variant of the troublesome L34.

Colin Bond in the recently developed HDT SL/R5000 L34, on his way to victory in the 1974 Philip Island 500K-the final round of the Manufacturers Championship. Peter Brock won the ATCC using both the XU1 and SL/R5000, with Holden taking the ManChamps with 65 points from Ford’s 59 points. Auto Action Archives

“We couldn’t fix all those problems until the A9X.” he said. “To be honest, I pulled a swifty with CAMS. I homologated it as an evolution of the L34, which meant we could just put a standard 308 engine in the nearly 500 road-going A9X but we could use the L34 engine for racing. It was a much better car altogether.”

The A9X’s racing record in ‘78/79 justified the big change. “When you look at its results, it was the best Torana ever in racing,” he said.

According to Felice, the hatchback version of the Torana SS A9X was preferred because HDT boss Harry Firth “found he could fit bigger rear tyres”.

The new A9X was rushed through the homologation process and won first time out at the 1977 Sandown 500 with Peter Brock winning in his privateer A9X hatchback. Despite the early success, the new weapon failed at Bathurst in 1977, a race dominated by Allan Moffat and his Ford Dealer Team Falcons, resulting in the famous 1-2 across the finish line. The first Holden Torana home was the privateer entry of Peter Janson and Larry Perkins.

However, in 1978-79, with the Holden Dealer Team now under John Sheppard’s management, and with Brock driving – backed up with strong performances from privateer racers like Bob Morris, Alan Grice, Peter Janson – the A9X dominated, winning Bathurst and the Australian Touring Car Championships.

With the A9X, Felice and his team had refined the L34, addressing its engine, drivetrain, and suspension issues, making it one of Australia’s most revered and collectable cars ever built.

Felice moved from Holdens Head Office in 1979 and took up a position as a Holden District Manager in South Australia.

Over the past few years Felice had been living in a low care nursing home in Adelaide, he was still interested in the sport and was a regular member of a lunch group of motorsport people.

Felice is survived by his sons Brent and Christian, and his grandchildren. AUTO ACTION passes on our thoughts and best wishes to Joe’s family and friends.

Bruce Williams.

Main image caption: Joe Felice seen here with one of his ‘lead privateers’ the Captain Peter Janson, who delivered great results for the General across several seasons, including two Bathurst podiums in the A9X. Third in 1977 and second behind Peter Brock in 1979. Image by Ian Smith Autopix.

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