Bob (Bob or Bobby, wife Kathy would say - his name is Bob, not Robert) was small in stature, a gentle, slightly built, quiet man who possessed a dignity which seemed hard to believe when combined with the dirty finger-nails of a career of motor-tinkerer, but Bob was the 1965 Canadian Driving Champion, the first ever from the West.

Bob worked as a mechanic for one Ford dealership, and his car was sponsored by another, Fogg Motors. Bob then went on to work for Duecks as a new car preparation mechanic. Duecks were good to Bob. They gave him eleven days leave in order to enable him to fulfill the heavy national schedule. They also wholeheartedly congratulated him on his numerous wins. Bob gave much of the credit for his success to his mechanic, Brian Dunlop.

Of all the tracks Bob raced on, Westwood, his home track, was close to his heart, for it gave him the training ground to better things. In a television documentary, Bob was described as the “King of Westwood.”

Bob felt a champion should work for his wins. In 1965 he attended every national race, traveling 57,000 miles by jet, private plane and road to compete in five provinces (including on one busy

BOB McLEAN - Inducted 2003

Pioneer - Sports Car and Road Racing

McLean at Westwood in Lotus 23B, 1965  (SCCBC Archives)

Bob McLean

Excerpts from Canada Track & Traffic January 1966 and May 1966, edited by Tom Johnston, 2004

weekend, a race in Alberta and a race in Ontario). But he probably earned more money than any Canadian sports car driver that year. He won $5,261 and his expenses were $2,600, not counting tires and engine maintenance.

Driving a Mustang, he won the Western Canadian Sedan Championship, competing in seven of the nine races. He was the West's Formula Junior Champion and in the 1962-1963 season he won 19 out of 22 starts in the Cooper single-seater.

Bob was born in Australia. He was however, a Canadian competitor. He

started racing in 1957, and all of his experience came on Canadian racing circuits. Bob was one of western Canada's leading sports personalities, and his interest in promoting car racing showed the western public the fine quality of racing which went on throughout the country.

Bob was proud of his achievements, but he possessed a great deal of consideration for those who came to see him race. He once said “I owe it to the racing fans and myself to appear in a competitive car”. Bob carried the style of a champion, always willing to share his knowledge with others. When he talked of retiring, he said “I will then try to help someone else, and pay back the sport for what it has given me.”

Bob died on March 26, 1966 when his Comstock Ford GT-40 crashed and burned while racing in an endurance race at Sebring, Florida.