Holden took the Win and the Manufacturers Award at the 1970 BP Rally
Greg and John Garard (Drivers) with Roy Denny and Brian Waldron (Navigators) were the first in rallying to run not one but two Rally Monaros, EZT-153 and EZT-154. It was an era of State based Factory support of Privateer Teams, the Garards who owned a Taxi business eventually became Holden Dealers themselves.
The Garards got a pair of HK GTS 307’s in July 1967 which were painted red with gold GT stripes, a striking pair of rally machines. They both were rallied months before the David McKay, Holden Dealer Racing Team (HDRT) Monaros in 1968 and nearly a year ahead of the Harry Firth Holden Dealer Team (HDT) Rally Monaros in 1969.
The Gerards were just beaten in being the first Monaro in competition by a single week. Des West takes that honour when he ran his GTS 327 in a Sports Sedan race the week before Garards first event which was the Canberra 500 (bitumen) on 25th August 1968.
The Garard Monaros never finished outside of the Top 10 in 1968 other than one unfortunate incident. Following repairs both Monaros contested in the 1968 Southern Cross rally a month later with Greg 7th and John 8th.
The navigation error at the 1968 ARC QLD Warana Rally resulted in the two Garard Monaros suffering a mid stage head on collision with each other!! Luckily the only injury was pride and the damage to the cars was quite repairable. This was the only bad result for the Garard Brothers two Monaro Privateer Team showing their consistency and talent.
Possibly due to Rally being banned in NSW in 1969, the 1968 Southern Cross Rally would be the Garard Brothers last rally, leaving the sport completely.
The Garard Brothers leave a wonderful Holden Rally legacy of over 10 years with lots of success particularly in NSW. Greg and John Garard and Roy Denny and Brian Waldron will always be the first Rally Monaro Team and for that, The Dukes of Oz thank and salute you as the Very First Dukes.
