In Memoriam – Frank Perry

We are very saddened to learn of the recent passing of former car and engine builder, car owner and club official Frank Perry and we offer our sincere condolences to his wife Vicky and family and Frank’s many friends.

Born in Saskatchewan and then moving to Vancouver Island in Gordon Head, Frank as a teenager became interested in cars and mechanics which led to an attraction to auto racing where he made the acquaintance of the racers and racing fans who worked at Vantreight Farms. Their many conversations about cars and auto racing made Frank decide to get directly involved, and he set about preparing a 1950 Meteor two door sedan to race in the Jalopy class for the 1965 season at Western Speedway. With Vantreight employee Albert Smith behind the wheel and Bernie Maggoria lending his sign painting talents and white Ford pickup truck to tow the racecar to both Victoria and Nanaimo tracks, the boys ended up in eighth spot in that year’s points standings. For the following 1966 season, Frank built up a 1953 Ford for the Stockcar class which Albert guided to a sixth place season end finish. 1967 saw yet another ’53 Ford and a fifteenth place points finish which was not so bad considering that that year there were sixty-five registered cars in the Stockcar division. Frank also served this season and the following one as Technical Man for VITRA (the Vancouver Island Track Racing Association).

For 1968, Frank teamed up with Ross Surgenor and they fielded a 1958 Ford for the newly-formed Super Stock division. Frank had by now become especially talented at building engines and this car was no exception with him creating this racer’s 352 cubic inch V8 engine with lettering on the car’s front end proclaiming, “Power by Perry”. The combination of Frank’s engine expertise and Surgenor’s superior driving skill got them number one in the year-end points standings of the InterCity Super Stock circuit which included Langley Speedway. Not content to rest on their laurels, they followed this up the following year with another Season Championship, this time in Western Speedway’s Late Model Stockcar class. For 1971, they upgraded the ’58 Ford’s body with one from a 1968 Ford Torino. which they first ran at Western followed by various tracks throughout the Pacific Northwest for the next three seasons at Open Competition events. Highlights of this time included winning the inaugural Canada 200 at Western in 1972 and placing third in points in the Pacific Northwest NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division as well as winning the International Drivers Challenge Series for Super Stocks in 1974.