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A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF

Kenneth John Harper 20.08.1925 - 16.09.2012

You are warmly invited to join the family for refreshments after the Commemorative Service.

East Malvern RSL - 26th September, 2012 3 PM

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KEN HARPER’S TRUBUTE ORDER OF SERVICE AND MUSIC Running Sheet Music: La Cumparsita - Buena Vista Cuban Players 2:37 mins Kim Harper - Introduction Lee Harper Reads: Olive’s Eulogy Music: La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong and Satch Domino 3:26 mins Bob Watson Music: Un Homme et Une Femme 2:42 Lee Harper Kim Harper Music: We’ll Meet Again - Vera Lynn 3:00 Ken Harper Tribute Eulogy written by Olive Harper delivered by Lee Harper

Ken was born and grew up in Malvern. His parents had a dairy in Hunter Street. After school he

worked in the dairy. He had three elder sisters, Maisie, Doris and Phyllis. His father was estatic

when he was born and always called him Boy.

Doris the middle sister was 15 and she left school and looked after her baby brother whilst her

mother worked hard in the dairy, washing cans and making clotted and scalded cream. They later

had a milk bar in Waverley Road and his mother had the little kiosk at the East Malvern Golf Links

just across the road from the milk bar. Ken often minded the shop after school, probably it was

where he developed his notorious sweet tooth and love of ice cream.

During the depression years, some of the dairy customers who couldn’t afford their milk, offered

free lessons to Ken. He was taught piano, violin, dancing and elocution. He was a very busy boy.

He said later that he would have loved to have learnt to play the drums! He hated wearing the

black patent leather dancing shoes he had to wear for dancing. The family hated the awful sounds

he produced trying to play the violin. He said some of the kids went to school barefoot in winter.

He didn’t have much time for play or sport but he liked speed skating, on wheels, of course!

Ken did his apprenticeship at Melford Motors in South Melbourne and went to night school after

work! Frank Dunne, who was at Melfords at the same time, always says that Ken was promoted to

the “SILK DEPARTMENT”. I think that means tuning? He fully qualified and then later went on his

own working at his parents place in Alma Road Chadstone and then Ellis Road where many of you

knew him. Syd Fisher and Frank Presser worked with him there.

Syd Fisher and Ken operated a Mobil Service Station in Barkers Road. Ken’s sister Phyllis asked Ken

if her son John Chambers could be apprenticed to him. Ray Whelan was also apprenticed when Gil

Davis joined them. What a funny, funny fellow. Every lunch hour was a comedy festival. They

were a great team. Competition was keen.

Ken met Olive, (also known as Lee for singing purposes) outside the movie theatre in Waverley

Road, near the East Malvern station. Her girl friend Pam said, “oh look, there’s Ken Harper in his

little blue sports car!” He drove them home, hood down, top half of the body freezing, feet on fire

from a very hot floor sporting a hole through which could be seen the road rushing by fast. They

became engaged and were married at St. Andrew’s Church in Burke Road. Three years later they

were overjoyed when son Lee was born and again so happy when little brother Kim arrived.

Goodbye red MG.

Ken was delighted when the boys later began to take an interest in motor sports. A great sharing

of interests and support and a lot of work for Ken which was readily given and appreciated.

Quite a few parties took place at Ellis Road over the years. Every car club night, the girls would

gather together and produce a fabulous supper. It was always a very late night. Some of the

parties were fancy dress and themed. Come as a Movie Title etc. Claire Palmer made a very good

Charlie Chaplin. Ian Barnes and Dorothy, Mangaret and Ken McConville and too many to mention

from the car clubs were always present. They were great times!

Ken and Olive liked to play tennis every Saturday morning with their friends Frank and Phyl and

Chris Dunne, Thelma Hill, Anne Hall, Claire and Alan Palmer until something called age started to

intervene; not in every case of course!

Not very long ago, Ken joined OMNI. Older Men, New Ideas. He looked forward to going every

second Friday and having a chat. He also used to look forward to the 1st of July when he and Olive

would set off to Queensland by car to enjoy a warmer and sunnier winter. The long drive never a

bother.

On Friday, early evening on the 14th September, this year , he was relaxed and happy and looking

forward to an excellent Thai dinner in a lovely little restaurant at Nobby’s Beach in Surfers with

close friends Ken and Nola Ford.

On the way, he suffered a minor stroke and then a major one in the ambulance going to the Gold

Coast Hospital. He did not regain consciousness and the hospital took care that he suffered no

pain. He died at one o’clock on Saturday morning the 15th of September. Ken according to his

wishes, was cremated on the Gold Coast. We will scatter his ashes at a family ceremony at Phillip

Island Race Circuit.

Mum would like to thank you for coming today and for all the beautiful cards, emails, gorgeous

flowers and especially for the pleasure that knowing you gave to Ken. She is quite humbled by the

wonderful support of her friends and neighbours. So many people have been telling her stories of

times when Ken helped them. Former customers have expressed how much they appreciated the

way he looked after them and how he always took time and trouble to explain to them about

whatever their problem was, how best to correct it, and how not to spend more than necessary.

He hated people being over charged or exploited, particularly ladies on their own and he looked

out for them. They were always bringing him cookies which he liked. She can’t say how much she

will miss him, after 62 years; it’s beyond words.

Apart from making friends with every dog on the street or in the park, and driving fabulously well,

this is what he did best. That was Ken’s way of living and he leaves a huge gap for all of us. He

would want us now to enjoy his celebration and each other, so please do.

Thanks

P.S. drive carefully

Ken Harper Bob Watson’s Eulogy: Hello everyone. Again, thanks for coming. First, I want to thank a number of people for their important factual contributions: Graham Hoinville, John Gowland, Alan Baker, Michael Browning, Jeff Whitten and Hal Moloney. I first met Ken back in the early 1960s, when the competition between the Ford and Holden rally teams was at its peak, but Ken’s career in rallies had started much earlier than that. After World War 2 motor sport blossomed in Australia, particularly Victoria, and there were plenty of race meetings and rallies to watch. Ken became a spectator, then an official at rallies, sparking his passion for that branch of motor sport. His first competition car was an MG TC, and he joined the Australian Motor Sports Club to compete in trials, as rallies were called in those days, and motorkhanas. Ken McConville was the President of the club, and the two became close friends. The MG TC was the backbone of Australian motor sport at that time, and Ken made sure his ran better than most. In 1953 Ken stepped into the Big Time. He was offered a drive in the Redex Round Australia Trial by Norman Hamilton, the importer of Porsche motor cars, in a 1300cc 356 model. This was the very first Porsche to be imported into Australia, accompanied by a second car, a silver cabriolet. Ken shared the introduction of the Porsche marque into Australia with his good friend Ken McConville. Together they did laps of Albert Park lake to demonstrate the two cars to prospective buyers under the eye of Norman

Hamilton, and then the pair drove the cars to South Australia to do more demonstrations and compete in various motor sport events. The Redex Trial was huge. The adventurous nature of the 10,400 km event captivated Australia, and was front page news throughout the country. Thousands of people gathered at every point around Australia to see the cars. It was the longest motoring event in the world since the 1908 New York to Paris trial. There were 192 starters, including every well known trials driver in Australia. Gelignite Jack Murray, radio star Jack Davey, Jack Brabham, Lex Davison, Stan Jones, Eddie Perkins, Peter Antill, Ken Tubman and a host of others. Young Ken Harper was in there competing with the very best. Ken said “the Porsche looked more like a toy than a real motor car”. He said “Remember, this was well before the first VW arrived in Australia, and we knew nothing about air cooled rear engine cars. They even sounded funny”. The crew had all sorts of adventures in the low slung Porsche, including blowing up the oil cooler and two brake hoses. They finished the event, but as Ken said “we had our share of troubles, believe me”. “There were very few metric tools available and we had little experience with the cars for this type of event. It was a journey into the unknown”. Ken mounted a second fuel tank on a roof rack. He wanted to drill holes in the roof to secure the roof rack, but Hamilton baulked at disfiguring his only demo car further. Instead, the rack was mounted on rubber and held down by clamps. However the dewy mornings early in the trial made the roof slippery and the rack and fuel tank began sliding backwards off the roof. “Norman and I had to hang on to it each with one arm out of the window until we got to Mackay.” said Ken. By that stage they had also hit a kangaroo, causing the lights to point to the ground. “That night we threw the roof rack away and bolted one bloody big driving light in the middle of the bonnet”. Throwing the roof rack away also deprived them of the spare fuel tank. They were running desperately short of fuel on the run to Hughenden, when Ken spotted a four gallon petrol tin in the middle of the road. “ Bloody 40 or 50 cars had gone ahead of us, you know. It had fallen off someone’s pack rack but it was FULL. So that got us to Hughenden”. Ken commented later about the Redex: “We probably travelled further than anyone else in the event. We had to drive from one side of the road to the other to cross the ruts on an angle, so we covered more distance”. They eventually finished the trial, which many others did not. Ken went on to compete in a further six Round Australia Trials, finishing ninth in a Standard Vanguard in 1957 and equal second, one point behind the winner in the 1958 Ampol, again in a Vanguard. The last was the Mobil 1 Trial in 1995 when he drove a beautifully prepared Ford Mustang accompanied by his son Kim, finishing third in his category. Ken’s record of seven Round Australia trials is only bettered by Gelignite Jack Murray, Jack Witter and Ken Tubman who ran in 9 events, and Ray Christie, who did 8. Ken’s skills as a motor mechanic saw him join the official Ford team in 1961. The Ford Falcon had started badly in Australia, showing many weaknesses, and

Ford wanted to show that the redesigned model was indeed suitable for local conditions by running a high profile rally program. John Gowland, Ford team manager at the time (great to see you here today John) confirms that Ken was a foundation member of the Ford Australia motor sport team in the early 1960s and prepared cars for the East African Safari, several Round Australia Trials, Mobil Economy Runs and the Falcon 70,000 mile durability run. He also prepared official Ford cars for Victorian and national rally championship events and the 1968 London to Sydney marathon. In the sixties it was not uncommon to have six official Ford entered cars in a round of the Victorian Championship, and success earned a full page advertisement in all of the major daily newspapers. The leading drivers were Harry Firth, Frank Kilfoyle, Ken Harper, Geoff Russell, Don Opie and the Hughes brothers, Doug and George. There were Anglias, Cortinas and Falcons, covering every segment of the market. This was before the start of the National rally championship in 1968, so a state championship was the ultimate prize. Ken was fairly innovative, and we in the opposing Holden Dealers team –Tony Roberts and myself- noted with interest Falcons with gear levers sprouting from the floor instead of the steering column indicating that the normal three on the tree gearbox had been replaced by a four speeder, and an electric winch mounted on the front bumper. We were never that smart. The Falcon re-launch program also covered the newly introduced production car race at Phillip Island – the Armstrong 500- in 1960, 1961 and 1962. Ken drove factory Ford Falcons in these races, finishing second in class in 1962. Ford also organised a 70,000 mile endurance run at the You Yangs proving ground near Geelong. Falcons were driven continuously for a week around the ride and handling track by almost every racing and rally driver in the country. The carnage was massive, but it all helped restore the Falcon’s reputation thanks in part to Ken’s preparation skills. In 1962 Ford Australia sent a team of Ford Falcons to East Africa to contest the famed East African Safari. Ken’s good friend GRAHAM HOINVILLE tells this story of some mayhem during one of the team’s reconnaissance runs: They had three Ford Zephyrs, loaned by the local Mombasa Ford dealer on the proviso that the cars be returned in good condition. Ken and Graham were in the lead car, when Graham who was driving, went right instead of left and the car ended up in a creek, badly damaged. Ken and Graham abandoned the car and climbed in with the following crew, which had three people. Further on the front suspension of the second Zephyr collapsed, so it too was abandoned. The third car then contained 8 people – three in the front and five in the back – and that is how they arrived back in Mombasa. The dealer who loaned the cars was not impressed, particularly when the boys could not accurately pin point where the broken down cars were. They did know they were somewhere in Tanzania. On another Safari recce run in a Zephyr, the boot lid kept flying open every time the car went through a creek due to body distortion, requiring a stop to

close it again. This happened many times, with lots of time wasted. It occurred again when Ken was driving, but it so happened that an indigenous person was walking by, so Ken shouted, “hey mate, could you close the boot?”. The native misunderstood, taking this as an offer of a lift, so he climbed into the boot. Despite attempts by the crew he would not budge, and stayed there until they reached his village many miles up the road, where he jumped out. Ken and Des Scott were put out of the rally when they had a head on accident with a car travelling in the wrong direction on the rally course. Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville were the only Falcon to finish, in 16th place. As well as being a fast driver, Ken could also be very gentle on the throttle if required, and won the Bendigo to Bundaberg Mobil Economy run in 1964 driving a Ford Falcon 170 automatic. He was assisted by the then Ford team manager Les Powell who shouted the Holden team drivers (myself included) drinks until the early hours of the morning while his own drivers were getting valuable sleep. Ken was pretty good at this economy driving. He drove a Falcon with 200 cubic inch engine from Sydney to Melbourne on one tank of fuel, with a Police observer alongside him to make sure nothing shifty happened. He then drove a Falcon V8 from Adelaide to Melbourne on a single tank full, accompanied by motoring journalist Chris deFraga. The car achieved 31.6 miles per gallon. The 1968 London to Sydney marathon was a huge event for Ford Australia. Ken was chosen as the stand by driver if one of the selected team members became ill. After helping to prepare the Ford Falcon team cars in Melbourne he travelled to London to ensure the cars were in good shape before the start. He then did a route survey from London to Istanbul, quite an arduous exercise carried out in two Ford Zephyrs supplied by Ford UK. In six days they covered the marathon route from London to Istanbul and back to London, with only one overnight stop in Istanbul. Ken then flew with team manager Stuart Turner and the Ford support team in a chartered jet to Bombay, and then later in the Australian section from Perth to Sydney in two twin engine light aircraft chartered from Stillwell Aviation. In the early 1960s another rally legend and also life member of the Historic Rally Association, the late Gil Davis, went to work for Ken. This got Gilbert interested in rallying, and led to another distinguished rally career, including winning the Victorian Championship. Gil learned his trade so well from Ken that he later joined Harry Firth’s Holden Dealer team as one of its leading mechanics. In 1970 Ken switched his energies to smaller Fords, preparing the first twin cam Escort to come to Australia for Peter Robertson. This was a beautifully prepared car. For the next few years he prepared Escorts under the Ken Harper Rally team banner for private customers including Len Shaw, Len Mackay, Robbie Dawson and John Dixon, with considerable success. The establishment of the Historic Rally Association in 1992 brought Ken Harper, Gil Davis and many other former rally people, back into the sport they loved. The club runs rallies as they were in the 1960s and 1970s, providing low cost motor sport for those who had dropped out for financial and other reasons. The club’s membership now stands at around 800.

Ken was able to compete again in events like the BP and Alpine rallies, in which he had so much success in the early days, and he loved it. By now his sons Kim and Lee were also regular rally competitors, which I am sure stimulated lively conversation during family gatherings at Ellis Road. Kim’s spirited driving of his Escorts also provided Ken with plenty of repair work to fill in his old age. To digress slightly, Kim Harper and I have had differences of opinion on the merits of Ford Escorts versus Datsun 1600s over the years. It is my view that making a decent rally car out of a Ford Escort is equivalent to building the Sydney Harbour bridge out of plasticine. Yet Ken Harper could do it. At age 76 Ken won the 2001 Forest Rally in the Wangaratta area driving the beautiful Mustang he had prepared. How many drivers win a rally at age 76? I want to conclude with an extract from an article written by Ian Fraser, well known motoring journalist, which was published in the British magazine Porsche World in 2008. Fraser was rear seat passenger in a Porsche driven by Ken in a rally. “We came scorching over the crest at a wonderfully ridiculous speed, to be confronted by a series of steep downhill esses which prompted the navigator to grasp at securely fixed objects in the cockpit and croak through a desert dry mouth “-this is it- this is the Big One”. “The driver said nothing. Crouched in the back of this early split screen 356 Porsche, I couldn’t see enough to be afraid, but the sudden onset of a very stressful atmosphere made for sweaty hands. Better vision would have informed me that the driver, Ken Harper, had missed a gearchange, and we were in neutral and relying on his talent to counter the effects of gravity, centrifugal force and the Porsche’s chassis design deficiencies”. “Ken was so busy skilfully guiding the Porsche around the many corners that he had no time to delicately balance the engine and gearbox speeds to get the crash gearbox into a gear, so he made the right decision to leave it in neutral and try to slow down whenever there was a short stretch of straight road”. “Despite navigator Ken McConville’s pessimistic outlook for our future, Harper’s consummate ability at the wheel got us safely on to level ground to continue the rally. It was a superb piece of driving in a car in which he had little experience”. Ken’s last rally was the 2009 Alpine, at age 84. He finished 66th in a field of 115. Ken Harper was a much loved member of the Historic Rally Association as well as the wider motor sport community, and a very dear friend of mine. His ready smile, sound advice and sheer presence will be sorely missed. Ken, you were a legend, and a lovely bloke.

LEE’S TRIBUTE TO HIS FATHER I WOULD LIKE TODAY TO SHARE SOME RECOLLECTIONS WITH YOU, AND TO GIVE

YOU A SENSE OF WHAT A PRIVILEDGE IT HAS BEEN TO BE KEN HARPERS SON.

FIRST OF ALL, KEN WAS A VERY SMART GUY. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE HE

MARRIED OLIVE. IN BETWEEN MOTOR SPORT COMMITMENTS, KEN SOMEHOW

MANAGED TO FATHER TWO SONS, WHICH IS WHERE MY STORY BEGINS.

LIKE ALL FATHERS OF SMALL BOYS HE HAD TO PUT UP WITH A LOT. LIKE THE

TIME I WANDERED OFF AS A SIX YEAR OLD FROM HOME IN MALVERN, ONLY TO

TURN UP 5 HOURS AND 9 KILOMETERS LATER AT MY GRANDPARENT’S HOUSE IN

MT. WAVERLEY - OF COURSE KEN WAS ON A CAR RALLY AT THE TIME AND

MISSED ALL THE EXCITEMENT!

OR THE TIME I PUT A TOMOHAWK IN KIM’S HEAD – BECAUSE HE PUSHED ME

OFF THE GARAGE ROOF - AND KIM HELPFULLY FILLING THE PETROL TANK OF

THE HILLMAN WITH WATER – NOW THERE WAS A PRE-LOVED BARGAIN KEN

MOVED ON WITH A GENEROUS DISCOUNT! OR THE DAY WE DROPPED THE

MATCH INTO THE LARGE BOX OF GUY FAULK’S NIGHT FIRE CRACKERS AND

SKYROCKETS SITTING ON THE DINING ROOM TABLE. “TO SEE WHAT WOULD

HAPPEN”.

THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THIS MAYHEM KEN REMAINED REASONABLY GOOD

NATURED AND PATIENT. THE GRUMPY OLD MAN PHASE STILL FAR OFF IN THE

FUTURE.

HE DID DRAW THE LINE HOWEVER AT SOME OF THE MORE EXTRAVAGANTLY

BAD BEHAVIOUR.

LIKE THE ARROW I BRILLIANTLY SHOT FROM 20 YARDS INTO THE LEG OF 5-YEAR-

OLD CHRISTOPHER BUTNER FROM 3 DOORS UP. HE WAS ON OUR BACKYARD

SWING AT THE TIME, AND KIM AND I WERE DEBATING THE PHYSICS OF ARROW

TRAJECTORY AND MOVING TARGETS.

THAT PARTICULAR INDESCRETION BROUGHT OUT “THE STRAP”. A DEVICE, I

RECALL, WHICH WAS ALSO USED TO HOLD UP KEN’S TROUSERS. (KEN WAS A

GREAT ONE FOR “THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB”). HE ALSO

COMMANDED RESPECT AS A PARENT – WE KNEW NOT TO PUSH OUR LUCK TOO

FAR!

ONE OF THE GREAT ADVANTAGES OF BEING KEN’S PROGENY WAS OF COURSE

HIS MARVELOUS WORKSHOP, AND HIS ENGINEERING ABILITY. OTHER KIDS BILLY

CARTS WERE FRUIT BOXES ON PRAM WHEELS.

OURS WERE RALLY-PREPARED LIGHTWEIGHT ROCKET SHIPS ON BALL BEARING

WHEELS, WITH DOWNFORCE, REAL HANDLING AND SERIOUS STREET “COOL”.

OTHER KIDS’ NINJA STAR KNIVES WERE PATHETIC TINNY TOPS FROM BAKED

BEAN CANS. OUR STAR KNIVES WERE ¼ INCH PLATE STEEL AND TOTALLY

DEADLY.

THE TYRE TUBES IN THE RUBBISH PILE LED TO AN EVER MORE SOPHISTICATED

SERIES OF CROSS BOWS AND SLINGSHOTS. SO GOOD IN FACT WAS THE MARK 2

STEEL SLINGSHOT, THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LODGE A LARGE NUMBER OF

GALVANIZED STAPLES WITH INCREDIBLE ACCURACY INTO THE WEATHERBOARD

SIDE WALL OF THE AFOREMENTIONED BUTNER RESIDENCE, 3 DOORS UP THE

ROAD.

OLIVE, OF COURSE TOOK A VERY DIM VIEW OF THIS BEHAVIOUR AND KEN

SUPPORTED HER, AS WELL HE SHOULD.

BUT THE WORK SHOP WAS SECRET MEN’S BUSINESS, AND THE INNER BOY IN

DAD WAS IRREPRESSIBLE. IT IS PROBABLY DUE TO HIS ENGINEERING

EXCELLENCE THAT KIM AND I AND A LARGE NUMBER OF NEIGHBOURHOOD

CHILDREN SURVIVED TO ADULTHOOD.

THE HOUSE WAS MUM’S DOMAIN, AND THE GARAGE WAS KEN’S. BUT FOR

HALF AN HOUR OR SO ON WEEKDAYS THE TWO WORLD’S COLLIDED –

LUNCHTIME IN THE KITCHEN WAS

HEAVEN FOR A KID ON SCHOOL HOLIDAYS. MY OLDER COUSIN JOHN WAS DAD’S

APPRENTICE – GIFTED, ENTHUSIASTIC, GREEN AND MERCILESSLY TORMENTED BY

THE

LEGENDARY GIL DAVIS. EMPLOYED AS A MECHANIC, GIL

MUCH PREFERRED HIS OTHER ROLE AS STAND UP COMIC AND REPOSITORY OF

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. HIS SWEARING WAS ENCYCLOPAEDIC, HIS DIET

SUICIDAL. WHILE OLIVE LOOKED AFTER KEN WITH CHICKEN AND SALAD,

GILBERT WOULD DOWN 3 “FOUNR N’ TWENTY” PIES, 2 COFFEE SCROLLS, 2 CANS

OF COKE AND 3 CIGARETTES – ALL THE WHILE HOLDING COURT ON SOME

HILARIOUS AND OUTRAGEOUS TOPIC.

AFTER LUNCH PROVED JUST AS ENTERTAINING FOR KIM AND I. COUSIN JOHN

WOULD DO SOMETHING GOOFY LIKE SWALLOW A BIG MOUTHFULL OF PETROL

WHILE SYPHONING A TANK, OR STEP ON HIS OWN FINGERS.

MEANWHILE GILL WOULD DISAPPEAR FOR AN HOUR OR SO INTO THE OUTSIDE

DUNNY WHERE HIS GROANS OF CONSTIPATED AGONY WERE PUNCTUATED BY

CRIES SUCH AS “SOMEONE PLEASE SHOOT ME” OR “MY ATOMIC PILES ARE IN

MELTDOWN”.

DESPITE THE CHILDHOOD ELOCUTION LESSONS DAD HAD. AN ENDEARING WAY

OF PRONOUNCING TWO WORDS WHICH PEPPERED A LOT OF HIS

CONVERSATION: “INGIN” AND “FULCON” – AS IN FORD FULCON 500. IN 1966,

KEN BOUGHT THE VERY FIRST “MUSTANG-BRED” XR “FULCON” TO ROLL OFF THE

GEELONG PRODUCTION LINE – THE ONE WITH THE V8 “INGIN”. I THOUGHT AT

THE TIME WE WERE MOTORING ROYALTY!

TIME MOVED ON AT ELLIS ROAD, AND THE MISHAPS GOT MORE GROWN UP. I

ALLEGEDLY MISPLACED A LARGE QUANTITY OF 303 RIFLE BOLTS FROM THE

MELBOURNE HIGH CADET UNIT, IN A HEROIC PERSONAL ANTI-VIETNAM WAR

GESTURE. POOR OLIVE AND KEN HAD TO ENGAGE A BARRISTER TO SAVE ME

FROM A FIRING SQUAD.

KIM , IN THE MEANTIME WENT FERAL AND BECAME A JACKAROO. HE LIED

ABOUT HIS EQUESTRIAN PROWESS, WAS THROWN ON HIS FIRST WEEK INTO A

GATEPOST, RESULTING IN A PROLONGED LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THUS

GIVING DAD A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY TO SET A NEW LAND SPEED RECORD

IN THE “FULCON” ON THE JOURNEY TO THE JERILDERIE HOSPITAL.

WHEN KIM CAME TO HE SAID HIS NAME WAS “BOB” – A DELUSION HE

PERSISTED WITH FOR SOME YEARS.

THE SIXTIES AND EARLY SEVENTIES MUST HAVE BEEN TERRIFIC FOR KEN – HE

LOVED HIS WORK AND BUILT A VERY DECENT MOTOR REPAIR BUSINESS, HE WAS

ON THE TOP OF HIS GAME AS A DRIVER AND BUILDER OF COMPETITIVE CARS.

HE DID THOUSANDS OF MILES AROUND AUSTRALIA AND THE WORLD, AS BOB

HAS ALREADY MENTIONED. HE AND OLIVE TORE DOWN THE OLD CALIFORNIAN

BUNGALOW AND BUILT THEIR GROOVY MODERNIST COURTYARD HOUSE. AND

IN A GESTURE TYPICAL OF KEN’S GENEROSITY, HE TRUSTED A NEIGHBOURS JUST

QUALIFIED ARCHITECT SON WITH THE COMMISSION.

KIM AND I WERE IN THE WORLD NOW, AND OUT OF THE HOUSE. I WAS

PRETENDING TO BE AN ANTIQUES DEALER WHILE KIM WAS AN ILLEGAL

INSTRUCTOR IN VAL D’ISERE TEACHING A TEENAGE DIANA SPENCER HOW TO

SKI. THE WORLD HAD MOVED ON FOR KEN, TOO. HE STOPPED COMPETING

AND LARGELY STOPPED PREPARING RALLY CARS – MAYBE HE THOUGHT HE WAS

TOO OLD. HE KEPT ON WORKING LIKE HE ALWAYS HAD, FIXING REGULAR ROAD

CARS FOR THE MANY CLIENTS WHO RELIED ON HIM FOR YEARS.

I THINK HE HAD A BRIEF FLIRTATION WITH GOLF, BUT BEING TRULY

AMBIDEXTROUS, HE COULDN’T REALLY SORT OUT A

SWING WITHOUT CARRYING RIGHT AND LEFT HANDED CLUBS. NO SUCH

DISADVANTAGE HOWEVER WITH THE SOCIAL TENNIS KEN AND OLIVE ENJOYED

EACH SATURDAY MORNING. HE COULD JUST STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE

COURT SWITCHING THE RACQUET FROM HAND TO HAND WITHOUT EVER

PERFECTING A BACKHAND TECHNIQUE.

AN APARTMENT IN SURFERS’ PARADISE WAS PURCHASED, STARTING A LONG

TERM LOVE AFFAIR WITH GOLD COAST HOLIDAYS. KEN EVEN SPOKE OF MOVING

THERE PERMANANTLY AND STARTING A TINNY HIRE BUSINESS. NOW THIS

REALLY RANG ALARM BELLS FOR ME, AS IT DID OLIVE. SHE TOLD ME THAT THE

DEFINITION OF A CULTURAL ACTIVITY IN SURFERS WAS A TOPLESS BICYCLE RACE

DOWN CAVILL AVENUE!

THANK GOD COMMON SENSE PREVAILED, BECAUSE SUDDENLY, AROUND HIS

65TH YEAR, KEN DECIDED HE WASN’T OLD AT ALL. HE BORROWED MY 1967

MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE TO ENTER A RALLY.

HE ALSO BORROWED KIM AND I TO JOINTLY NAVIGATE FOR HIM – DON

QUIXOTE WITH 2 SANCHO PANZAS. THE OUTCOME OF COURSE WAS

PREDICTABLE – HE TOTALLY TRASHED MY CAR, BROKE MOST OF IT, FAILED TO

FINISH, AND LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT. THE SLEEPING GIANT AWOKE, AND

THERE WAS NO STOPPING HIM.

FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS, KEN HAD ENORMOUS FUN. HE BUILT A HARDTOP

MUSTANG FOR HIMSELF AND PAINTED IT FIRE ENGINE RED – TO LET EVRYONE

KNOW HE MEANT BUSINESS. HE BUILT 2 ESCORTS FOR KIM AND BITS AND

PIECES FOR OTHER HISTORIC HEROES.

WE COMPETED TOGETHER AND FORMED A CLOSENESS I CONSIDER

PARTICULARLY PRECIOUS, AT A TIME IN OUR LIVES WHEN MOST FAMILIES ARE

LOSING GENERATIONAL CONNECTIONS. KEN WAS REALLY BUSY – THERE WAS

ALWAYS AN EVENT LOOMING, A CAR TO REPAIR, AN IDEA TO GO FASTER, A WAY

TO MAKE SOMETHING STRONGER. HIS INTEREST KEPT HIM PHYSICALLY FIT AND

MENTALLY ALERT. SITTING BESIDE HIM IN THE DARK AND THE DIRT IN THE

MIDDLE OF A FOREST SOMEWHERE, I CAN REMEMBER BEING IN AWE THAT A

MAN IN HIS EIGHTIES HAD SUCH CONSUMATE CAR CONTROL AND CONFIDENCE

IN HIS OWN ABILITY.

HE BECAME A ROLE MODEL TO A YOUNGER GENERATION OF CAR ENTHUSIASTS

AND EARNED THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION THAT HAS BROUGHT MANY OF YOU

HERE TODAY TO CELEBRATE HIS LIFE.

IN 2003 AT THE AGE OF 78 KEN DECIDED HE WANTED TO DO HIS EIGHTH ROUND

AUSTRALIA. THE REDEX RE-RUN WAS A 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE

LEGENDARY EVENT THAT STARTED DAD’S LONG-DISTANCE RALLY CAREER, IN

THAT IMPROBABLE AND NOW IMMACULATELLY RESTORED EARLY PORSCHE YOU

PASSED ON THE WAY IN HERE TODAY. HE HAD THE MUSTANG, HE HAD HIS

FRIEND RIC BAINBRIDGE TO NAVIGATE, HE CERTAINLY HAD THE ENTHUSIASM.

WHAT HE LACKED WAS THE ABILITY TO JUSTIFY THE EXPENSE ON A RETIREMENT

INCOME. “IT’S JUST NOT FAIR ON YOUR MUM” HE KEPT SAYING.

I REMEMBER SITTING AT DINNER WITH A BIG TABLE OF MY FRIENDS IN

LAUNCESTON – ALL OF US COMPETITING IN TARGA TASMANIA AT THE TIME –

WHEN I ASKED IF ANYONE WAS INTERESTED IN SPONSORING MY DAD AT 10

CENTS A KILOMETER. WITHIN 24 HOURS KEN HAD A BUDGET OF $9,000 AND A

SMILE BIGGER THAN HIS V8 “INGIN”.

THAT LITTLE STORY SUMS UP FOR ME THE REGARD IN WHICH KEN HARPER WAS

HELD, AND THE AFFECTION HE INSPIRED IN ALL HE MET.

KEN DIED LAST WEEK IN HIS BELOVED SURFERS PARADISE AT THE END OF A

WONDERFUL TEN WEEK HOLIDAY. HE DIED TRULY HAPPY AND CONTENTED,

SUDDENLY, WITHOUT PAIN OR SUFFERING OR DISTRESS. HE DIED VERY MUCH

AS HE LIVED.

PLEASE DON’T MOURN FOR KEN, BUT BY ALL MEANS – MISS HIM. I KNOW I DO –

AND ALWAYS WILL.

MY BROTHER WILL FOLLOW NEXT, WITH A FINAL TRIBUTE.

Ken’s Eulogy: Kim Harper He could BUILD them He could FIX them He could make them go faster And he could DRIVE them KEN LOVED CARS PAUSE Ken wanted to be a mechanic from a very young age. He didn’t want to sell them He didn’t want to be the head of GHH He wanted to fix them and he wanted to RACE them He achieved this goal for most of the 70 years that he worked in the trade It’s hard to image old Ken as being hi-tech especially if you saw him fumble with a mobile phone or worse a Macintosh But in the 1930’s he was exactly a hi-tech kid. The horse in the stable in the diary in Malvern which was used to pull his father’s milk float was just too low-tech compared to the possibilities and sex appeal of the internal combustion engine. Ken was lucky; he never had any doubts about what he wanted to do and about what he would be best at

I want to talk a little about what it was like growing up at Ellis Rd for Lee and me in the sixties The house then was a pleasant Californian bungalow just like the others in the street except for a larger-than-usual, recently-built garage at the end of the drive. In this garage great things were done and at its peak there were 4 mechanics at work stumbling over each other servicing cars and also doing the fun stuff i.e. BUILDING RALLY CARS But our household was also a creative one with a mother who worked in the rag trade during the day and who was a singer in a band at night. She was of course a very sharp dresser At some point it occurred to me that my parents were a lot more interesting than my fellow school friends parents where. It seemed that most of THEIR fathers worked in a bank, an insurance office or the public service and for sport would watch someone play football or cricket on weekends; the MOTHERS stayed home, cut lunches and made scones Lee and I might have bought our lunches at the School Tuck Shop and gone without scones but a lot more happened at OUR place. Try this for a Saturday: There is a car rally on, probably a Victorian Championship event; it could be The Blue Ribbon, The Akademos, The Expert’s whatever. The car in the drive is a current model “works prepared” (that is prepared at Ellis Rd) Ford Falcon, Ken is the driver and Michael Flanagan the navigator. There might be 1 or 2 other Falcons there from the Ford team and the crews. Ken and his mechanics are doing the last minute jobs and the navigators have their maps out comparing notes. The tension builds and eventually they head off to the start then into the forests. PAUSE INSIDE; Olive starts her long preparation for a singing gig. First a considerable time is spent in the bathroom followed by an even longer time sitting straight-backed in front of the dressing table where she starts her hair and make-up. For some time now she has been doing her breathing exercises taking in DEMONSTRATE long breaths through the nose and breathing out slowly through the lips Then, after much breathing she starts working through the scales to warm up her beautiful voice. A glass or 2 of sherry was often helpful to steady the nerves and relax the throat we were told. It was fun to watch Mum do this, Lee and I would often sit on the bed and keep her company. However, the best part was when she finally “gowned up”. Olive had some wonderful dresses, as entertainers do, but my favourite was a sleeveless, red, diaphanous, skin-tight “mermaid” dress that ballooned out at the bottom with layers of red tuile underneath. She looked like a beautiful mermaid in a red dress, and she was OUR MUM

Our maternal grandmother lived next door and when Olive went off in a taxi Nan would come in to feed us and babysit us. Olive had regular gigs on the HIT channel 7 Saturday night live variety show called “Sunny Side Up”. On those occasions Lee and I were allowed to stay up to watch Mum sing on our black and white Astor TV. The 3 of us watching would swell with pride and clap loudly along with the live studio audience. Mum would be first home, late, and no doubt we got kissed goodnight as we slept in our bunks and we may have stirred when we heard a rally car come up the drive at 3 or 4 am or we may have just slept through it all. PAUSE The next morning, early, Lee and I had a ritual: Get the keys to the rally car, get in and SWEEP IT FOR LOLLIES. PAUSE Oh the smell of a rally car, how evocative to young boys, how do you describe it? Pause Its part machine, part man and part nature Its oil and petrol and upholstery, its sweat, intensity, and concentration, its eucalyptus and mud or dust. I looove this smell. It only took about 10 or 15 minutes for the early morning SUGAR HIGH to hit. Lee and I would either clear off on our scooters or bikes or, if we were feeling really sweet we would get into the kitchen to cook Mum and Dad breakfast in bed, by now it is probably 7 or 7.30 am PAUSE How they must have dreaded the opening of their bedroom door and the tinkle of the breakfast trays after just a few hours’ sleep. Olive tells of one SPECIAL breakfast that I alone produced on one of these mornings, PAUSE again the opening of the door and the dreaded tinkle of the breakfast tray. They pretended to be asleep but I persisted and eventually there they were, propped up in bed, Ken and Olive, the rally driver and the glamorous singer. On the tray that morning, lovingly prepared by son number 2, were buttered toast and 2 bowls of LESS than lukewarm tinned Oyster soup! What a MARVELOUS breakfast. How I loved to watch them eat my offering and how surprized was I when they didn’t feel like seconds, ………...coz Dad LOVED oysters! This pattern continued through the 60’s and into the seventies. The WORKS Falcons and Anglias were replaced by orange Mrk 2 GT Cortinas then after Ford Australia pulled out of rallying the Escort Twin Cam and GT 1300’s where being built for privateers. At one stage the garage and driveway at Ellis Rd was a production line of Rally Escorts. These little cars were game changes, Ford had made an error pulling out of rallying just when they had a vehicle that was a winner but Ford got an almost free ride as the Ken Harper Ford Rally Team (which was just a collective of privateers under Ken’s name) started to win events. Some help came in the form

of sponsorship from Ford and Hertz and other providers but the team ran on the smell of an oily rag to great success. By now Lee and I are adolescents and were able to help out on service crews cleaning windscreens and lights and other tasks suiting our lack of mechanical knowledge PAUSE why learn? Dad fixed everything at our place. Eventually the owners of these cars, who were all young men left the sport to start families and run businesses and the rally side of Ken’s business changed to a more normal mechanical workshop business and Ken lost touch with the rally scene and no longer competed in motorsport. During the 80’s Ken’s work life probably got very dull. No longer a Hi-Tech young man Ken found himself a bit out-of-the-loop with the more modern cars fitted with computers and chips and things he didn’t know how to fix. This limited Ken to work on older cars which were steadily being replaced by more modern cars. He plodded on, he was never a quitter. The 1991 Alpine Rally directed by Simon Brown re-ignited Ken’s interest in motorsport. Simon’s plan was to pick up on the emerging European trend of running a few historic cars at the back of this Australian Rally Championship event. The 3 of us entered this event in Lee’s 67 convertible Mustang, no roof, no cage and not really much in the way of seat belts either. As Lee mentioned we DNF’ed and that car was never quite the same again. Humble beginnings perhaps but now the Alpine Rally is purely for Historic Cars and is run by this club. It was not much later that the Historic Rally Association (the HRA), this club was formed and Ken was an early member. It was decided that the 3 of us should pitch in and buy and build a rally car with the upcoming Mobil 1 Round Australia in mind. This event did not run in 1994 but did in 1995 directed by Bob Watson so by then the big red 69 Mustang had done a Targa, a Dutton rally or2 and numerous HRA events and was well sorted. Clubs and club membership can be truly a wonderful thing. They connect and re-connect people from various backgrounds and periods to share a common purpose. They can make lonely people less lonely, they can encourage people to put-in, volunteer, find a purpose and give and receive camaraderie. The SHARED interest is a wonderful connection and it comes without many strings attached. This club did much for Ken, he loved it. Once he got back into the rally business, that is building cars, fettling them and of course DRIVING them he became much more engaged with life and much more active. For the last 20 years Ken had a reason to get up and get into his garage every day. Thinking of the best way to make something or fix something kept his mind ticking over all the time. Physical work kept his body lean and fit right up to the end. If ever there was a case study for the axiom US IT DON’T LOSE IT, it was Ken. The HRA was a great tonic to Ken as it is for many here today. How GREAT it must have been for him to grow old being respected and constantly recognised for his past and current achievements by so many, to still be able to compete in rallies and to be given “legend” status. How GREAT to be still contributing to the

development of cars and engines for me and how GREAT to have such a close connection with his sons right to the end. Ken truly made the most of his later years and was proud of his ability to compete and finish his last event, the 2009 Alpine Rally at age 84. Here was the circle completed, and this was truly a remarkable achievement, it was hot, it was dusty and it was long, PAUSE of course it was, it was an Alpine Rally. Dave Gallacher navigated for Ken on that event and said “Ken really got quite quick after a 150 kilometre warm up”. I really hope someone can trump this 84-year-old -rally-driver record, it would be a good thing PAUSE and look around Dan Murphy are you here? I’m relying on you!! The only frustration Ken had with the club was his inability to remember people’s names, he was bad at this all his life and it only got worse so if Ken ever couldn’t remember your name please forgive him and understand that it tortured him. For instance Ken would ask “Kimbo what’s the name of the guy with the crappy Datsun 1600”, “oh Dad that’s Bob Watson” “yes of course it is heap of rubbish” he would say. To finish up my two stand-out rally experiences with Ken (and his last Alpine that I just mentioned also has to be up there) but my best 2 are;-

1. Placing third outright in the Challenge section of the 1995 Mobil 1 Round

Australia. 19,000 k in 19 days visiting all those famous outback towns that

previous Round Australia events had been to. These events were legend

in our household, as boys we had heard all the stories many times and

were no doubt conceived between these epic trials, it was in our DNA.

The original plan was that the 3 of us would go but there was insufficient

room in the back to be comfortable on such a long event so we drew

straws and I won.

Without doubt that was the best driving I had ever witness Ken pull off,

he was at least 10% faster than any previous event that I had done with

him and he was perfect all but going wide on one corner where we

damaged the steering and lost some time, time which we clawed back.

We were in the money from the go get, it was a great result and it took at

least a week to come back to earth and reality after the finish. My

admiration of Ken’s driving abilities was at a new high.

2. The second Ken rally memory was (I think) the first HRA Alpine staged out

of Lakes Entrance, it was the year with an amazingly long 100 plus K

competitive section mostly up the famous Engineers Rd in Far East

Gippsland to end the Saturday night section.

Now understand that Ken was probably the most understated person on

the planet. If something was REALLY good Ken would describe it simply

as…………. “Beaut”.

Anyway Graeme Vaux and I had finished the night and probably got to

bed about 3.30 – 4 am. Ken and Lee were further back in the field and

came into the unit as the sun was rising.

Both of them looked like Racoons due to the dust. Ken was beside himself

and was yelling “that was the best rally stage I have ever done, that was

fantastic, how good was that?

On and on and on he went. The joy in his face was to behold, it was as if

someone had slipped him a party drug…….…Ken LOVED long stages

……..Ken loved this sport …...Ken loved life and THIS was living.

He was just a misty-eyed kid in his late 70’s at the time. PAUSE

Vale Ken. You will be missed believe ME.

Thank You

On behalf of the family thank you all for attending this tribute to Ken.