One of the original twelve founders of the Sports Car Club of British Columbia (SCCBC), Mike Balfe was born in 1916 in the heart of Vancouver, Mike got his education locally, progressing to second year university before joining the BC Electric Railway Company, Substation Division, in 1937.From this department, after spend-ing World War II in India and England on radar, he moved to Industrial Safety in 1949, staying with this branch until he left in 1955 to become assistant manager of Leverington Motors, a position he held for many years.

His first motorized vehicle was a water-cooled Scott motorcycle in 1936 which was subsequently replaced after the war by a Standard 8 and this in turn by his famous MGTC bearing the num-ber 7. With this car he entered the very first SCCBC race at Abbotsford in 1950, then ventured into do-it-yourself streamlining by adding the blue tea box tail for the July 1951 Bellingham race, entering all events during 1952, includ-ing the trip south to Gray Field at Fort Lewis, US Army base, near Tacoma. The high point of his foreign events was a fifth overall against Ken Mile's MG special, a Porsche and two Oscas in the 1953 Pebble Beach Road Races in

MIKE BALFE - Inducted 2004

Pioneer - Sports Car and Road Racing

Balfe victorious Bellingham 1951 (SCCBC Archives)

excerpt from SCCBC Pit Pass, 1958 – edited by Tom Johnston, 2004

Mike Balfe, 1960s

Carmel, California. This was followed by production Triumphs in I955 and ‘56 and an Electron in 1957. His trophies include SCCBC club champion for 1952 and the Kennedy Trophy for 1951 and 1953.

Mike was Secretary-Treasurer from the inception of the SCCBC until 1953, became Vice-President in 1955 and 1957 and then finally President for the 1958 season.

Of interest were his trip in 1950 with the Roy Shadbolt entourage to Pikes Peak and also assisting the MG officials with the endurance run of the then new MGTD as well as Col. Goldie

Gardner’s record breaking attempt on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1951.

He met his wife Evelyn in 1953 and combined their motoring honey-moon with a family visit in Ottawa and also managed to take in Watkins Glen Road Races that trip as well.

During 1957, his main interest in club activities, apart from racing, was in assisting in the establishment of a firm foundation for the International Conference of Northwest Sports Car Clubs (ICNSCC), later to become International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC), to which group he was the SCCBC representative. Mike’s years of safety training with the BCER was carried over into the SCCBC where he was a pillar of strength and reliability through the growing pains of the early events.

Mike was a major force in the development of the Westwood Racing Circuit. Tragically in practice for the inaugural event, 26 July of 1959, he crashed his Triumph and suffered serious injuries. Balfe recovered and went on to be long time member of SCCBC