Robert James “Bob” Hardy was born on 24 March 1944 and discovered rallying, by accident, in the late 60s when a friend introduced him to what was known as Open and Closed Odometer Rallies, then controlled by the ARC.
Living in Somerset West and driving Alfa Romeo cars Bob Hardy must be rather exclusive in saying his mechanic at the time was Serge Damseaux. Eventually moving to the Transvaal he changed to Datsun and on the 21-27 July 1976 Total Rally over four days and 2600km he and navigator Brian “Spotti” Woodhead achieved third place overall, first on class C with a (No 18) Datsun 160U SSS, in an event that started with 82 entries and finished with only five.
Amongst the International entries received, there was a Belgian by the name of Serge Damseaux with Ivor Peltz as navigator in a (No 30) Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT.
Ford was the first manufacturer to claim first and second in the 19-year history of the Total Rally and the only manufacturer team to finish the event with Timo Makinen / Henry Liddon first and Roger Clark / Stuart Pegg second.
This remarkable achievement in an almost standard, privateer, Datsun 160U SSS, saw Robert Hardy and Brian Woodhead contest the 27-30 November 1976 Lombard RAC Rally in the UK with a (No 64) Chrysler Avenger. With 132 entries present the only other South African present was Jan Hettema with British navigator John Billet in an RS1800 Escort. They too would retire from this event and only 71 teams would reach the finish.
Rubbing shoulders with all the greats of South African motorsport during the Castrol / British Airways Tour of South Africa.
Twice Western Province Rally Navigators Champion, Mike Swarbreck (1970 and 1972), filled the suicide seat on many events and recalls Bobby as having great mechanical sympathy which suited the almost standard cars during the early pre-energy crisis years when rallying was more of a lifestyle than motorsport.
Mike Hooper, Dave Dusseljee and Brian “Spotti” Woodhead shared the early number-crunching duties in various events and then Mike Swarbreck joined for the Chevrolet and Fiat era.
After several years of concentrating on their professional careers, it was Bob Hardy and Mike Swarbreck back in action with the Castrol Chevrolet Dealer Team, winning on debut in the Chevrolet Hatch before eventually moving into the Chevrolet Chevair. With Richard Leeke as navigator, Bobby Hardy was also dominating the Clark-Datsun Regularity Rally Championship.
The Castrol colours found their way to the Serge Damseaux Alfetta (Rally) and Bertone Sprint (Track) and as they say in the classics – the rest is history! The Datsun found its way to Pieter de Waal who added two Western Province Rally Drivers Championships to its record with Vito Bonafede and Allen Castley the respective navigators in 1977 and 1978.
Then Bobby and Mike moved on to the Fiat Dealer Team in national rallies whilst Bobby Hardy and Richard Leeke “owned” the Blue Circle Regularity Rally Championship in their 5 series BMW with registration BMW666T.
Robert James “Bob” Hardy achieved remarkable success in his 1965-1980 career as a driver with the 1976 Total Rally as his career highlight. Owning Jock of the Bushveld in Sabie for some 15 years meant that Bobby remained close to the sport he loved until finally retiring to Stilfontein with his wife Marie.
Then there is the legend of Pepe navigating for Bobby Hardy when his nominated navigator failed to pitch. Always fond of dogs, Pepe, enjoyed the event!
Out forests are thinning out and so are the legends of the golden age in rallying.
Condolences to Elise, Sharon, Marie, Francois, Monique and family.
Published by: Patrick Vermaak
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