Pygmy's Palace

Pygmy’s Palace was the place where Holden folk and others gravitated socially on race weekends at Bathurst. Sure, glamour sponsors such as Marlboro or Levi’s may have pitched fancier marquees or parked up spectacular double-decker buses that acted as mobile hospitality centres, but Pygmy’s Palace remained a Great Race staple for a decade.

Pygmy is Greg Lynch, a long-retired Holden employee at its now-defunct Sydney assembly plant. AMC first met Greg when we took former Pagewood workers back to their old watering hole a few years ago to reminisce for a story that appeared in issue #98. At this time it was obvious the other retirees considered him a living treasure, one of those unsung behind-the-scenes heroes that every successful company needs. Pygmy was a dependable ‘go-to guy’ for all manner of mechanical jobs and, well, anything really.

Had Greg not been given the nickname ‘Pygmy’ early in his career by Holden colleague and Bathurst trackside announcer John Cummins, then he probably would have become known as ‘Lynchpin’.