Vale: Tony Simmons

Historic motorsport is mourning a great loss with the passing of Tony Simmons earlier this month after a long time suffering Parkinson’s Disease.

He was best known for his Simmons composite wheels and will also be remembered for his Hustler Formula Ford and his contribution to historic motor racing.

New Zealand-born Australian resident, Simmons built U2 Clubmans which he also raced until seriously injured in an Oran Park crash. While he maintained the various Ferraris and Chevron B8 owned by the Oxley family, he made Simons Hustler Clubmans and began to manufacturer his own composite wheels.

The crash marked a significant change for Simmons. His racing prior garnered the attention of David Mackay and led to several drives for Scuderia Veloce in production cars. It could have led to more significant competition, but the crash caused quite serious head injuries.

Following an extended recovery period, he did some racing, but his major focus was on the engineering side in which he had great innovative skills.

Construction of the Hustler Formula Ford and the Seca3 Clubman followed. Driver safety was a focus with the later cars with increased rollover protection and increased supports around the driver. He also found time to invent, design and build a beach-cleaning machine for one of Sydney’s councils.

With Simmons Wheels well established and producing thousands of wheels for road and race use, he tracked down an original Hustler Clubman and returned to historic racing.

Subsequently, he competed in a B38 Chevron F3 car, a B23 Chevron, a Sports 2000r, an RT4 Ralt and Brabham BT6 Formula Junior which he took to the UK and Europe and competed at the Goodwood Revival and various Lurani Trophy events.

The wheel business kept his name to the fore and ultimately he passed it on to one of his colleagues. In subsequent years, his declining health forced the termination of his competitive activity and a gradual withdrawal from social contacts.

After a private family funeral, a celebration of his life will take place from 12:30 on September 28 at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club, Point Piper, for close friends and motor racing friends.

Tony Simmons was a very fine engineer, a competent and skilful racing driver, ready to advise and guide, and he will be deeply missed among the historic fraternity.