RON HARROP.  A name that has been associated with motor sport for decades both in Australia and overseas.

When Production Cars are subjected to extreme stresses of motor racing, problems occur that were never envisaged by the manufacturer. Ron Harrop is an engineer who spends most of his waking and working hours finding solutions to these problems. In 1968 Ron first became involved in motor sport through two legends – Norm Beechey and Bob Jane. The family engineering business, started by his father Len, was located in Brunswick close to Beechey’s Speed Shop and Jane’s Autoland car yard, and Harrop Engineering was always doing machining and fabrication work for the duo.

These contacts got Ron interested in making cars perform better, so he bought and modified an EH Holden, which went pretty good in its day. Although he was not interested in racing, he was talked into a street drag race against another EH which was having some success at the Calder drags. The Harrop machine won, and a racing career was launched.