Fred James
1915 - 2007
Fred James was born in Perth . Very early in his life he developed a
passion for cars.
He became a member of the Western Australian Sporting Car Club. He
built a Morris Minor Special which he drove in the Albany Grand Prix
between 1936 and 1938.
He was involved in the preparation of the Australian Grand Prix
winning MG TA of
Allan Tomlinson.
Fred joined General Motors Holden and was involved in the development
of the
Holden 48-215 after spending time designing the car at General Motors in
Detroit.
He spent more time in Detroit giving birth to Australia’s first V8
engine which made its
debut in the 1969 HT Holden. Many hundreds of thousands of these engines
powered
Holden cars over the years.
Fred settled in Phillip Island when he retired from GMH in 1977.
He still maintained a link with Holden for some time with his
involvement in the
homologation of Holden cars for racing.
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