The first appearance of Rory the Lion at a track remains a bit of a mystery but the man responsible is part of Bathurst folklore. The late Ron Hodgson first had the idea of using a lion mascot in the early seventies when he was running one of the most successful private Holden teams with Bob Morris as lead driver. Morris definitely remembers Rory appearing on the grid but can’t recall who the unfortunate person was sweating away inside the suit.
Sometimes Ron would dress up as the lion tamer, sometimes a promotions girl was given the job. It was all done as a bit of a joke, but Rory clicked with Holden fans and the Holden Dealer Team soon adopted him as their official mascot.
Eventually even GM-H took to Rory. One if his first official gigs was at the 1975 Sydney Motor Show on the Holden stand, giving away brochures next to Colin Bond’s HDT rally Torana.
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