John Hall was born in 1939 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He moved west, and by the time he took his 1957 racing driving instruction at Abbotsford Airport, he was living in North Vancouver. The car used for driver training was a 1953 Sunbeam roadster, his instructor was fellow Pioneer, Arleigh Pilkey.

John started racing in 1958, the year before Westwood Racing Circuit opened. His first actual race cars were MGA 1500 roadsters. Running the number 82, John was one of the top MG drivers in the area in 1959. At the very first race at Westwood, in the race for class G production, he grabbed the lead on the first turn and held it for the ten laps. A notoriously unreliably MGA Twin Cam followed but produced limited results.

In the early 1960s, John raced a series of Porsches, the most significant being the ex-Dave Tatom 1957 Carrera Speedster. With this car, John scored wins in class B. One of his most memorable results in the Carrera was in the 1965 Player^’s Pacific. After winning the production event, John joined the feature for the second heat and moved from the rear of the grid to a fourth place finish in the rain. The Carrera currently resides in a private collection

JOHN HALL - Inducted 2001

Pioneer - Sports Car and Road Racing

Hall leads Laurie Craig, Westwood, 1966  (SCCBC Archives)

By Vince Howlett, 2004, edited by Tom Johnston, 2004

John Hall, 1960

in Victoria.

John started Westward Power Engineering, specializing in race, rally, and gymkhana car preparation.

John Hall is best remembered for his Mustangs. Initially he took over the 1965 Fogg Motors car after driver Bob McLean was tragically killed at Sebring in 1966. Jamie Moore, McLean’s brother-in-law, co-builder and team owner decided to continue with the car and selected Hall to drive. That year,

John won 32 of 36 sedan races. In 1967, the arrival of the Chevrolet Z-28 Camaro caused the team to look for a newer faster car.

By 1968, John had moved on to the new Boss 302 Mustang. This car, with a standard 302 cubic inch engine, carried John to first place in the Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs (CASC) Canadian Touring Championship. Good results were also experienced at tracks up and down the Pacific coast and in numerous Trans Am races. For the 1969 season, the car was fitted with the legendary Tunnel Port 302 motor leading to many successes in Trans Am and other races.

John and his crew were reunited with the '68 Mustang at the 1998 Seattle and Portland Historic races.

His last competitive event was the Kelowna Hillclimb in May, 1972, after Ford withdrew from racing.

John also established John Hall^’s Car Craft in North Vancouver, which is now run by Dave Dunbar, his former racing mechanic.

John now lives in Penticton and heads up Princeton Light and Power Co. Ltd. He enjoys golfing.