Alan Bond, Singapore race driver, Period 1962-1970's, MGA, E Type, Lotus 23B, Porsche 911 & LeGrand

[BTremaine]

Greetings from New Zealand, I'm trying to track down any information on Alan Bond, who was a British National living in Singapore. He was Head of Selco Salvage Ltd in Singapore and was a keen motorsport participant, competing in local GP's, hill climbs & autocross events. He ended up returning to the UK around 1990 and if he's still alive today, would be in his 90s. I currently own his green 1962 Jaguar E Type 3.8 FHC. Would appreciate any feedback. Regards Barry

[Everso Biggyballies]

Greetings from New Zealand, I'm trying to track down any information on Alan Bond, who was a British National living in Singapore. He was Head of Selco Salvage Ltd in Singapore and was a keen motorsport participant, competing in local GP's, hill climbs & autocross events. He ended up returning to the UK around 1990 and if he's still alive today, would be in his 90s. I currently own his green 1962 Jaguar E Type 3.8 FHC. Would appreciate any feedback. Regards Barry

Hi Barry, I did happen to find some info on Alan Bond from an Aussie Slot Car forum and a persons memory of this car.... it refers to aLotus 23 used in Singapore. It suggests Bond was an Aussie rather than a Brit. It tells a tale of Bond in a Lotus 23 but It also makes a vague mention of a Porsche Carrera in later years.....no mention of an E Type but that means nothing. The person who posted was at the event in 1965 watching Bond, and was trying to find if the Alan Bond was any relation to an Alan Bond who bcame more famous in Aus in the 1980s for Americas Cup Racing and corruption. I know that particular Alan Bond never lived in Singapore or did any motor racing himself.

I do know that Alan Bond crashed out of the 1964 very wet red flagged GP event in Singapore in the Lotus

On another note I have information of the History of the Singapore GP back in the day. Its on an old hard drive that I cannot find at the moment. I do know however that the 1965 Singapore GP at Thompsons Road was in fact run as the Malaysian (or Malayan?) GP. Off the top of my head it only became the Singapore GP in 1966 due to the establishment of Singapore as an independent area not part of Malaysia. Also there were support races at the car Grand Prix, for Motorcycles, Saloons and Vintage cars. Certainly the Motorcycle race is also called the Singapore GP. Of the top of my head I cant remember if all the supports were called Vintage car GP etc

I will dig round for the Singapore stuff but it wont be for a couple of days due to the fact I am a bit busy atm.

However most of my info will be more of a general Singapore and local GPs and more likely to feature Alan in cars other than the E Type. Given you are (obviously) specifically looking for info on the E Type its probably not much help in your search.


In the meantime here is the post I found from a menber called Chenglaw in that forum dated back in 2006. A link follows to the thread. No useful info came from it.

chenglaw
Members
914
Gender:Male
Location:Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Posted October 4, 2006 (edited)
I was rummaging through my boxes of old slot car stuff and came across an old 1/32 Russkit vac-formed Lotus 23 bodyshell which I had used a long time back. It also reminded me of the first time I saw a 23 in real life - this was in the then Singapore Grande Prix in 1965 which was a race on the streets of Singapore. It was driven by an Australian named Alan Bond and was giving hell to a factory Jag D-Type which was specially flown over for the G.P. and driven by a local hotshot named "Fatso" Yong Nam Kee. In fact the 23 was so fast that it was leading the race by a mile and Fatso was pulling out all the stops to try to catch it. Unfortunately, he overdid things and flipped the Jag, killing himself and destroying the Jag. What I'm trying to establsh is does anyone know whether that Alan Bond who drove the 23 wa the same younger version of Alan Bond, former Australian entrepreneur and tycoon? From what I can remember, Bond also later bought and raced a Porsche Carrera. Any of you oldsters with memories going back to the motor-racing scenes of the 60's?

https://auslot.com/forums/index.php?/to ... irca-1964/

Im not 100% in agreement that this was 1965 as the poster suggests, or indeed even the SGP. I believe Fatso Yong died in 1963 at the Johore GP, held at Johor Bahru, certainly in the D Type, (it was his first race in it) when he hit a lamp post at high speed and the car split in two.



Edit: I did find a small pic of Bond in 1968 racing a 2 litre Porsche 911S.... the SGP was still run as Formula Libre then so basically free to all. In 1968 there were a number of Minis entered for instance. The race that year was won by Garrie Cooper in an Elfin 600



I did post this old video of the 1966 Singapore GP meeting elsewhere in the forum as part of a (Modern day) Singapore GP preview I did. Here is that video




Given your search is specifically for info on the E Type there is I know quite a collector car culture and ownership in Singapore and with it clubs for same. Often these clubs have members of long standing, crossing generations. Maybe try Google for any such car clubs / forums in Singapore. Maybe someone would at least know of the car back in the day or even have photos in old albums. Just a thought.

[Everso Biggyballies]

As an aside and nothing relevant to your quest, and I dont know whether you are North or South Island,, but I note your interest is it seems in Historic racing. I have been following the recent classic car events in the South Island closely as good friends of mine from the UK were running cars at the Skope Classic at Ruapuna, Timaru and then the Southern Classic at Teretonga.
They had issues with the container ship that the cars were shipped on got held up at Aukland for the vessel to have its hull bio cleansed before the ship could be unloaded. That resulted in them missing Ruapuna although one was offered a drive there in a locally owned car. After a flight to Aukland to meet up with customswho then released the cars which eventually arrived at Timaru an hour before practice there started, but at least got to race there. They got to Teretonga ok
It seems they also had problems with rain at every event but are now about to head back to the UK. A bit fed up with the dealys with customs given the cost of shipping etc but that motor racing.
Anyway that is all a bit removed from your quest and more my curiosity as to whether you were South Island and went to any of the events this month.

Cheers and welcome to the forum. Good luck with your quest for info on Bond and the E Type.
Chris.

[BTremaine]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comprehensive reply.
I'm very appreciative of the trouble that you have gone to providing additional information.
Yes, I'm specifically after any information on the E Type, but I'm also interested in information on Alan Bond also.
Interesting that feedback suggests that he was Australian, I'll have to do some more digging, maybe searching death notices in Australia, as I've already been through all the UK ones.
I live in the North Island, Auckland specifically, but my red race E Type is often raced at Scope Ruapuna and Teretonga by the current owner Kent Larsen.
I've included a photo of both cars at a race meeting in Taupo, in January 2023, had a blast that weekend!
Sorry to hear of the Customs drama, which unfortunately is not a solitary incident, NZ is becoming tied down in unhelpful legislation and officious individuals who obviously were rejected from entering the Police force )
I've joined various Singapore Car Clubs and asked for information, but have had no success so far, except from Eli Soloman, Rewind Media who has been fantastic.
Look forward to any additional information you may come across on the E or Alan Bond.
Cheers Barry

[hollie3sa]

Hello and welcome to The Fastlane @BTremaine:

Where have you tried to find info about Alan Bond, if I may ask? As in: which forums, which archives etc maybe? Or have you just started looking into him and are thankful for every (potential) lead?

[hollie3sa]

I can see the National Library of Singapore's online newspaper catalogue being quite helpful in your research @BTremaine.
It's available here: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/

A quick and superficial search gave me this news article where a small paragraph is dedicated to Alan Bond, who, in 1967, apparently was racing a "Le Grand, an american-built Formula Junior racer" (as described here).

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspaper ... lan%20bond

The database reaches back to the 1800s, can be filtered by year and usually covers many motor racing related events as well.



Do you know if bond raced outside of Singapore, i. e. in Australia or New Zealand?
Re NZ, motor racing historian/author/journalist Allan Dick jumps to my mind immediatly. He has extensive knowledge about the motor racing scene there.

https://www.facebook.com/allan.dick.9469

[Everso Biggyballies]

@BTremaine
Barry, You might be interested in this link..... its an article about the South Malaysian Rally in April 1965. If you scroll down you will find references to Alan driving in a Cortina GT. However, scroll down a little further and there is a very grainy photo of an E Type with the caption "Well known racing driver Alan Bond at Speed in a special test"
!https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspaper ... 30-1.2.121

Not relevant to your E Type search but Bond's Lotus 23-B which he seems to haved enjoyed considerable success in was presumably an ex works car as it is shown as "as driven by Jim Clark"

I can also tell you Alan Bond was "an executive of a marine engineering company"..... and his wife's name was Irene!
from this article about "women behind the men"
https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspaper ... 414-1.2.43

This article in 1966 suggests "Bond now hails from Saigon"https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspaper ... 1.2.147.19

Anyway if you search "Alan Bond Motor Racing" it will cut out a few thousand entries about the Americas Cup and the other Alan Bond's financial misdemeanours.

[BTremaine]

Hello and welcome to The Fastlane @BTremaine:

Where have you tried to find info about Alan Bond, if I may ask? As in: which forums, which archives etc maybe? Or have you just started looking into him and are thankful for every (potential) lead?

Thank you for your welcome. I've joined several Singapore motoring groups, but have had no joy in obtaining any information on Alan Bond or his Jaguar E Type. Eli Soloman at rewind-media has been very helpful, but otherwise, I'm not having much joy. I'm thankful for any lead. Regards Barry

[BTremaine]

I can see the National Library of Singapore's online newspaper catalogue being quite helpful in your research @BTremaine.
It's available here: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/

A quick and superficial search gave me this news article where a small paragraph is dedicated to Alan Bond, who, in 1967, apparently was racing a "Le Grand, an american-built Formula Junior racer" (as described here).

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspaper ... lan%20bond

The database reaches back to the 1800s, can be filtered by year and usually covers many motor racing related events as well.



Do you know if bond raced outside of Singapore, i. e. in Australia or New Zealand?
Re NZ, motor racing historian/author/journalist Allan Dick jumps to my mind immediatly. He has extensive knowledge about the motor racing scene there.

https://www.facebook.com/allan.dick.9469

Thank you for the links, I'm going to do some deep diving into the SG newspaper archives and see what I can find.

I'd love to know his date of birth or age at any event in competed in.

As far as I know he only raced in Malaysia in period and returned to the UK late 1980's when the company he headed, Selco Salvage Ltd went into liquidation in 1986. If he was still alive he would be in his 90's.

Allan Dick will be a great lead to follow up. Thanks Barry