The Crowfoot Collection by Maureen Alexander
NORMAN CROWFOOT AND THE CROWFOOT COLLECTION WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
ARTICLE COMPILED BY MAUREEN ALEXANDER
Editor; the following article has been reprinted with the kind permission of the Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia and the previous editor Maureen Alexander. The research involved in putting something like this together is enormous. Congratulations to all involved.
In 1963, having purchased the exWhithead 1955 Le Mans Cooper Jaguar, Norman raced at the Melbourne and Albury circuits. He held track records at Mt. Druitt and on two Queensland racing circuits, including the famous Lowood Circuit. He also won the Australian hill climb championship for racing cars over 1500 c.c. at Mt. Panorama, Bathurst. The same year he drove the Bryson Industries entry in the Sandown (Melbourne) 6-hour race, driving a 3.8 Mark Il. A member of the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club, Norman first got the ‘bug’ for motor sport after securing a second to veteran trials driver, Ken Tubman, in the Redex 500-mile trial.
A Jaguar Lovers Dream Collection. Photo Andrew Haigh
Perhaps best known for his prowess as a racing car driver, Norman Crowfoot of Crowfoot Holden fame, together with his wife Jacqueline, put together a collection of Jaguar cars that some can only dream of. Norman started life as a teacher before entering the motor trade working in dealerships in Parramatta and Newcastle but his love affair with racing, commencing in 1954, saw him compete on all the leading New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland circuits in some of Australia’s toughest events.
He was recognised as one of Australia’s most promising racing drivers. Norman’s first Jaguar was a second hand XK120 purchased in 1954. That XK started the love affair which continued. Norman raced at the Sydney circuit, Mount Druit, but because of the braking, or lack of it, racing continued with a TR2; an Open Wheel Special; a Lancia Aurelia; and a Ferrari Monza. Tow wagons for these cars were a Mark V and then a Mark VII. The Holden, with a fibreglass body that Norman developed, closely resembled a D-Type.
1997 - Norman in the Holden Special now known as the Crowfoot Holden
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Norman worked in the sales department of the Australian Jaguar distributor Bryson Industries in 1960, and ultimately graduated to Daimler marketing manager. He parted with Brysons in 1967 to become a Jaguar/Daimler dealer at Albury, New South Wales. After selling that business he went into real estate, using a Mark X and then a Daimler Majestic Major as the appropriate work car. On retirement Norman and Jacqueline moved to Hallidays Point in coastal New South Wales where they joined the Jaguar Car Club of the Hunter Region. Inspired by a visit to the Beaulieu Motor Museum on a trip to the UK in 1989 Norman and Jacqueline, who already owned four Jaguars, decided to start a collection of their own.
Cooper Jaguar Owner Driver Norm Crowfoot, Lakeland Hill Climb 1964
THE OFFICIAL MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE JAGUAR DRIVERS CLUB OF SA
