Vale Max McLeod

McLeod Ford is probably one of the best-known Ford dealers in Australia. That’s no mean feat when you consider that McLeod Ford no longer exists under that name, and that its founder, Max McLeod (pictured above standing next to Kevin Bartlett at Bathurst in 1974), sold the business decades ago.

But McLeod Ford is known more for the cars it raced and the races it won, than for the Fords it sold. Ask any motorsport or muscle car fan over the age of 30 and chances are they’ll know McLeod Ford as the sponsor of John Goss, and the dealer-backed race team that scored a fairytale win at Bathurst in 1974.

McLeod Ford in the 1970s was some kind of phenomenon. It wasn’t just that a humble Ford dealership in the southern Sydney suburb of Rockdale was able to take on the might of the factory race teams from Holden and Ford and beat them. Uniquely, this was a dealership for whom high performance Ford muscle cars were its trademark. The racing effort provided the excitement factor, and on the showroom floor the innovative sales team delivered with a targeted niche marketing effort that would eventually make McLeod Ford the biggest seller of Falcon Hardtops in Australia.

The McLeod Ford Horn Car concept of dealer-enhanced Falcons was nothing like the 1970s had ever seen – it was in fact a sneak preview of what the future would bring decades later with HSV and FPV.

Out on the track, McLeod Ford’s racing successes turned John Goss into a genuine Australian sporting hero – which was no bad thing for McLeod Ford, because when the charismatic racing driver wasn’t racing, he could be found working at the dealership. If you happened to be at Oran Park on the Sunday to see John Goss win in a McLeod Ford, you could front up at the dealership on Monday and meet the man himself. While there, you might even decide to purchase a new Ford…

It was what marketing gurus today might describe with jargon such as ‘the perfect synergy of sales and promotion’. But there was never any grand plan at McLeod Ford. It was simply a case of the entrepreneurial Max McLeod’s bold vision and his ability to recognise opportunities when presented to him, along with the faith he placed in the talents of those who worked for him.

Not bad for a car dealer who was never much interested in motor racing, and who never saw himself as any kind of car enthusiast.

Max went on to other business pursuits after quitting the car sales game. ‘Retirement’ was a word that wasn’t really part of Max’s vocabulary: he was still working three days a week operating a consultancy travel arrangement business well into his 80s. AMC expresses its condolences to Max’s family and friends.