An appreciation by Eoin Young

Racing driver Ernie Sprague died peacefully at his home in Timaru on March 14th. He was 78. Sprague made his name racing his modified Ford Zephyrs in saloon races in the 1960s and would dominate the six-hour races at Pukekohe usually sharing with Leo Leonard. He won the final six-hour race in a Mark IV Ford Zodiac co-driven by his son, Gary.

A colourful character, Sprague sparked his interest in racing watching the first Wigram race in 1949 and he then bought a 1930s Riley to race himself. This was followed by a late 1920s Chrysler roadster and a succession of 1932 Ford V8s. "My favourite was the V8 roadster. We built our own engines, fitted big pistons, twin carbs, and stuff like that. We also fitted Chrysler hydraulic brakes to the Fords," said Sprague in a rare interview. He ran a garage business in Timaru much frequented by the motor-sporting fraternity.

In 1957 he paid £500 for a 1934 P3 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car which he raced in local Timaru events and in the Mairehau street race at Christchurch but it was a difficult car to keep in tune and he sold it to buy an even more temperamental Italian car from Pat Hoare. It was a 1948 1.5-litre supercharged Maserati 4CLT. "The deal with Pat included a Renault Dauphine and £500."

Today these pedigree historic racing cars are worth several million dollars each but in those days they were just unreliable old racing cars. "I never worried about what I have or could have had. I swapped the Maserati for a wood-over-ply speedboat and a Mark 7 Jaguar and the Alfa I swapped for a '46 Ford V8 coupe and a '42 flat-bed truck. We tossed a coin for the transporter - fifty quid or nothing - and I won…"

His storming races in the Ford Zephyrs were legend. Visiting overseas Grand Prix drivers like Jim Clark and Graham Hill were enthusiastic spectators when Ernie was racing his Ford against Ray Archibald's Jaguar. He won the Benson & Hedges long-distance races at Pukekohe with Leo Leonard in a 3.3 Vauxhall in 1969 and they won again in 1970 with a Chrysler Valiant.

The Sprague dynasty continued with son Gary winning the Benson & Hedges races with Leo Leonard in 1975, 1977 and 1981 and now Ernie's grandson, Peter Sprague races in South Island saloon events.

Ernie Sprague is survived by his wife Mollie and sons Wayne, Grant, Gary and daughter Sharon.