41 replies to this topic

[RallyRed]

spoke to the H at SMP the other month when he was signing a book for me.....yep frail, but still sharp!!

That book was NOT leaving his hand until his handler had confirmed that I'd payed for it!

ha ha 

 

To be honest ,a lot of guys his age are wobbling around in Nursing Homes....so he is still inspiring.

[RallyRed]

yeah Tim,

I sort of share that view, but given the option of doing it tough,or trading on history....Im going for the coin by signing stuff to  make your later years more comfortable.

Edited by RallyRed, 26 November 2013 - 07:31 PM.

[V-SLR5000-P]

Making money off autographs is sad

 

Agreed Tim. Contrast with Peter Brock sitting for hours signing autographs, all gratis and with a genuine interest in the fans. There are many other legends who do the same like Jim Richards, Bob Jane, Norm Beechey, Alan Moffat etc etc.

[Litre8]

I would imagine the HDT pension plan wasn't that generous., if people are willing to pay for signature then go for it.

[tuxedoss]

Were you paying for just a signature or the book? If you were buying a book that he signed then yeah you have to pay for it. If someones charging for just a signature I think I would just move on.

On Peter Brock signatures I lined up at a supermarket in Bathurst in 1997 to get him to sign a picture i had taken myself of him in 1996 coming across skyline, he admired the photo and signed it but put 97 on it, then realised he was meant to put 96 on it I said not to worry. Although I wasn't quite happy it had the wrong year on it so got to thinking and tried a bit of metho on it and the black marker came straight off, so lined up again a few hours later at another supermarket with a Peter Brock signature and a 9 and asked him if he could put a 6 on it. He was quite amazed and what I'd done and happily added a 6. Still got the signed photo hanging on the wall. In contrast of all my years at Bathurst I found Dick Johnson to be totally unapproachable and always seemed to be too busy to talk to anyone.

Edited by tuxedoss, 27 November 2013 - 09:30 PM.

[REDA9X]

Barry would be able to confirm, that unless Harry has moved, he lives in quite humble dwellings, nothiing like I was expecting at all.

Harry was never a rich man, and he believed Holden owed him a lot of money for his efforts, particularly developing the XU1 V8 and the A9X. I don't mind throwing him a few dollars, and lets not forget, you may not even have the option for much longer, he's not a young man.

Peter was always good with the fans, and I never had a problem with Dick Johnson when I used to go to all the rounds. He and John Bowe would happily sign things for me, despite the fact I would always turn up in something with Holden and more than likely Brocks signature on it.

[jpxu1]

I used to go and watch the V8s at Calder and Winton. I can remember standing in a 100 metre queue at Winton waiting for Peter's autograph when being only 10 metres from the front his minders were trying desperately to drag him away for the next race. Despite them pleading there was only 5 minutes before the start he wouldn't leave until he had announced to the queue that 'he had to go and race, everybody take note of their position in the queue, go and watch the race and then come back and reform the queue- no queue jumping- and he would be back after the race'. And that's the way it happened. About 10-15 minutes after the race it looked like no-one had moved. Another time also at Winton I was waiting with my son outside Greg Murphy's pit garage, it was hot and not long after the last race for the day. Greg's garage was right down the end, being about the 2nd last one and so there wasn't anyone else (fans) around. Greg was sitting on the bench at the back of the garage, race suit down to his waist, sweating like a pig and drinking a can of Solo from memory. He called out to us that he didn't have the energy to come to us, so come in, grab a can of drink from the fridge if we wanted and sit down. We got the autograph on my sons cap and had a talk about the days racing for the next 15 minutes- magic! Another time, I think at Calder, I had my son and daughter with me and we were in the queue for Skaifey's autograph and a pic. Got the autograph and pic and a brief chat, very happy and about to move on, but Mark wouldn't have a bar of it- I had to check the photo I'd taken was OK first- it was, so then we were allowed to go! My first trip to Bathurst was over 10 years ago when Bob Jane T Marts were sponsoring the race. I went with a group of blokes, some of which I hadn't met before. One of the blokes I didn't know, but who was doing it a bit tough bumped into Bob Jane himself as they walked down along the back of the pits. They chatted and this bloke said he hoped Bob Jane sponsored the race again the next year as he wanted one of the jackets but couldn't afford it that year because he had lost his job. Bob took the jacket off he was wearing and gave it to this chap. He was like a kid at Christmas with a new toy and spent the rest of the weekend telling the story to anyone who would listen. Bob never knew but he certainly got his value in advertising. By contrast I was at Calder another time at the back of Dick Johnson's garage at the end of the days racing, waiting to get his autograph. I had waited about 15 minutes (holding a Bidgestone jacket and texta) and Dick had walked past me several times between the garage and the transporter, when he slowed his pace and asked 'if I was waiting for an autograph?' I replied 'yes, if I could, when he was ready please?' He replied 'well can't you see I'm busy? So f*** off!'. So I did and thought to myself that he could do the same. I have lot of the prominent drivers signatures on that jacket, but not his, and it's never likely to get there.
Cheers,
JPXU1

[Pop's-SS]

Barry would be able to confirm, that unless Harry has moved, he lives in quite humble dwellings, nothiing like I was expecting at all.

Harry was never a rich man, and he believed Holden owed him a lot of money for his efforts, particularly developing the XU1 V8 and the A9X. I don't mind throwing him a few dollars, and lets not forget, you may not even have the option for much longer, he's not a young man.

Peter was always good with the fans, and I never had a problem with Dick Johnson when I used to go to all the rounds. He and John Bowe would happily sign things for me, despite the fact I would always turn up in something with Holden and more than likely Brocks signature on it.

 

 

Yes, Harry does live in what most would call "humble" dwelling being a single level bungalow or you might call it, your standard 3 bedroom house.

 

I have a pic with my wife's Hatch out the front but will not put it on the net for privacy reasons.

 

To me, Harry is a living legend and although some might not agree on every thing he says, he has done  and experienced more more in his life than most would in 4 life times.

 

If he can make a few bucks for his signature which will give him and his wife a bit of quality in their lives then so be it.

He is not charging a fortune for his signature or any of his posters etc.

 

Just remember, when you get Harry's signature on your item, does that not make it more valuable ?

I would like to think so and although I will not get the benefit of that value, my wife will when I have gone to Torana Heaven. 

 

I enjoy having and displaying my memorabilia and I will leave a legacy for my wife at some stage.

 

Barry

[arrimar]

My dad asked me if I wanted to line up for Brockys autograph at QR and I replied Nah there'll be another time. There wasn't. I'm happy to have one from Surfers in the 80's along with all the prominent group A drivers from the event. Even Volvo's Robbie Francevic.
In defense of DJ he'd track us down in the Lakeside pits to see how we were going.

[REDA9X]

JPXU1, that was a great read. I think it depends how you catch people on the day sometimes, I know lots of people don't like Murphy, but I've always found him very pleasant. I always used to like going to see gardner and Crompton, they were always happy to throw a few cokes around and sign things, even when Wayne was in a bad mood he seemed to turn it off for fans.

I pit crewed for a team in targa Tassie in 1996 and Jim Richards was leading in the Porsche. The team had given out pictures, and there was a massive line to get a signature. I'm standing in line and behind me a bloke says to me, "he's a hard man to get hold of isn't he", and to my surprise standing in the line behind me was Dick Johnson.

Still no one comes close to Craig Lowndes.

[xu2308]

P.B just loved his Fans, and they loved him, some of the other drivers need to look at how Brocky did it and other famous people as well, that's why he is so loved, Targa Tasmania Races he did here, omg pete would not leave here until everything was signed that people wanted, he loved it, I have no issue about Harry wanting money for a Autograph, I sent him photos of his old HDT Workshop (from 1972) and he Autographed them and sent them back to me for no fee, he was amazed I had them, I sent him a letter not so long ago about the V8 LJ Prototypes, and he wrote back to me about them, I just sent him some items on Monday, for 'H' to look at.

 

AL

Edited by xu2308, 28 November 2013 - 03:29 PM.