Al Turner: the passing of a Ford legend
Al Turner died away on November 3 at age 89 in Florida, USA. Al Turner’s time here in Australia was only brief, but his legacy is huge. He presided over a hugely successful period for Ford’s motorsport effort in Australia in the early ‘70s, but more importantly was instrumental in the development of what even 50 years on are still regarded as the pinnacle of Australian Ford muscle cars. It is not overstating things to describe him as the father of the Falcon GTHO.
‘Big Al’, as he was affectionately known, was neither a qualified mechanic nor engineer; all of what Turner knew about cars and high performance had been self-taught in a lifetime of driving, racing and tinkering with them. He was the perfect man for the job, which was to replace Ford’s long-time competition go-to man, Harry Firth (now at Holden), and bring the competition department ‘in house’ with the creation of the now legendary ‘Lot 6’ in Thomas town, not far from Ford Australia HQ in Broadmeadows.
The late ‘60s were heady times for Ford Australia as the company continued to make big inroads into Holden’s share of the new car market. Turner had been brought to Australia by the then Ford Australia chief Bill Bourke – in many ways a kindred spirit of Turner. Bourke’s philosophy was to create a sense of excitement at Ford by developing performance models like the Falcon GT.
Under Bourke, Turner had a virtual free reign to develop whatever was needed to counter Holden on the track and in the performance road car sector generally.
“The Lot 6 deal didn’t exist when I arrived,” Turner told AMC issue #100. “There was nothing. What we had when I arrived was that Harry Firth was doing all the work for Ford in his shop. I made the decision to bring it inside, into our own shop, where I could control everything.”
Using the knowledge he had gained during his time creating the first Funny Car and developing Mercury’s NASCARs, Turner and his Lot 6 team installed the 351Windsor V8 into the XW Falcon GT and, with various additional enhancement aimed at making the car a winner in the October Bathurst 500 enduro, the GT-HO was born.
While it wasn’t a winner in 1969, Turner and his crew kept at it and in 1970 introduced the GT-HO Phase II, with 351 Cleveland V8 power. That year Allan Moffat used it to win his first Great Race. The legendary Phase III followed in 1971. At the same time, Turner oversaw the development of the Improved Production ‘Super Falcons’ for Moffat and Ian Geoghegan, This was a golden period for Ford in Australia, particularly in motor racing, and a large part of that was thanks to Turner’s leadership. He didn’t just lead his team, he was part of it – and was willing to get his hands dirty when required.
“One night our engine guy was off and they needed an engine built so I went in and assembled the whole engine,” he recalled in issue #100. “I’d roll up my sleeves and work with the guys. I’d be down at the shop every night talking with them. I grew up as a mechanic. It was in my blood.”
In 1972 he was reassigned by Ford, spending four years in Europe before returning home in the ‘80s to start up Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations. He left Ford in 1983 to join Chrysler. Turner retained ties with Australia and with his former Lot 6 staff. More recently he helped establish the Ford GT-HO Lot 6 Foundation, to try and advance the careers of young Australian engineers.
In recent years Turner kept busy with an involvement in the design and development of an experimental zero-emission power unit. Everyone at AMC passes on our condolences to Al’s family. He is survived by his wife Susan, seven children, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.