George’s love of motorsport started at a very young age. His father Reginald owned the company REDeX and started the Round Australia Trial in 1953.
With the MG Car Club of NSW, after he attained his CAMS licence in 1959, George did rallies, sprints, hillclimbs and other events along with his best mate from school days Colin Bond.
They teamed together in the 1964 Round Australia Trial in a VW Beetle and won their class. In 1968 he was asked by British Leyland to do the London to Sydney marathon. While not for the result, the event was a memorable experience.
Colin’s and George’s union went on to win three Australian Rally Championships teamed in Holden Torana XU-1s in 1971, 1972 and 1974.
Colin went circuit racing while George had his roll cage business Bond Roll Bars. He was called upon to prepare and manage the Holden Dealer Team Commodore team for the 1979 Round Australia Trial which finished first, second and third in a crushing result.
At the start of the 1980s, George turned his attention to cars for circuit racing. It began with a Holden Gemini, driven by David Sheldon and Bob Morris who then set George to build an XE Falcon Group C touring car in 1981.
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It won its first race which was a distance race at Oran Park before Bathurst. At the 1000, it was classified second although involved in the accident that wrote off the car and ended the race.
He then managed Dick Johnson’s Ford Falcon team from its overnight rebuild at Bathurst in 1983, to a touring car title in 1984.
He headed the Mitsubishi Starion program, developed the cars in Australia and raced them in Japan, Macau and Indonesia. He also entered the car at Bathurst, where Garry Scott drove it to fifth place. He also set up his Roadsafe Suspension and George Shepheard Automotive Developments business in Brisbane.
He returned to his roots for the 1995 Round Australia Trial which his Holden Rally Team won with Ed Ordynski and Ross Runnalls in a Commodore.
George headed the Bridgestone Australia’s tilt at the Australian Production Car Championship with Tony Scott in a Commodore. By the mid-90s he was orchestrating Volvos in production cars which included the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Volvo then switched to Super Touring with the 850 Estate, 850 Sedan and the S4O. In 1998, in conjunction with TWR, Rickard Rydell and Jim Richards won the Bathurst 1000.
There have been three generations of the Shepheard family involved in Australian motorsport. Besides Reg, son Steven Shepheard won his first national title at the WRC event at Coffs Harbour in 2011 in his SACHS Rally Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.
“My dad won his first ARC title the year I was born [1971], so it’s taken 40 years for the Shepheard name to be at the top of an ARC score sheet again. A long wait, but we got there,” Steven said at the time.
George Shepheard made a name for himself as a successful team manager, car builder, and a faultless organiser. He was handy behind the wheel as three Queensland Rally Championships confirm.
He was also a loving family man and leaves behind wife Marie who he married in 1967, Steven, daughter-in-law Janelle, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Speedcafe extends its condolences to his family and friends.
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