Book Review – ‘Gelignite’ Jack Murray

For most petrolheads, their knowledge of Jack Murray starts and ends with ‘the bloke who won the 1954 Redex’ or ‘that bloke who used to throw gelignite from his car’. But there’s much, much more to know about Murray than that and who better to tell the story than his own flesh and blood?

Phil Murray, one of Jack’s two sons, took on the admittedly epic task of producing a biography that reveals the elder Murray crammed a lot into his 76 years. Subtitled ‘An Aussie Larrikin Legend’, this book is as much a chronicle of the character, cheek and charm of Jack Murray as it is of the man’s life.

That being said, racing fans will be glad to know Jack’s motorsport history isn’t overlooked: in fact, a full chronicle of that ’54 Redex win in a second-hand Ford V8 - known as the ‘Grey Ghost’ - forms the opening chapter of the book, followed by a chapter on Murray’s other motorsport efforts in everything from hillclimbs and circuit racing to stock cars. In his day, Murray raced against Jack Brabham, competed at the 1954 Australian Grand Prix and owned and raced automotive exotica (Bugatti, Allard, etc.) that would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars today.  

As the book reveals, Murray was an enthusiastic competitor in other sporting areas, too, including Aussie Rules football, wrestling, boxing, cycling and particularly waterskiing; one of Murray’s other great passions outside of cars.

Away from the racing circuit, Jack’s early life and the antics that occurred at the Bondi garage operated by he and his brother Ray are well documented and sure to raise a laugh, as is Phil’s recollection of “the talk” his father gave him as a young man (worth the book’s cover price alone!). But, in profiling his famous father, Phil admirably makes no attempt to airbrush history. The elder Murray’s failings as a husband and father are not omitted, nor is the story of an alleged illegitimate daughter.

That said, Jack’s larrikin attitude and love of life is what shines through, which makes the book’s subtitle all the more appropriate.

Perhaps the most remarkable revelation in this book is the sheer amount of “stuff” Murray managed to do in his life, as well as who he crossed paths with when doing it. Jack travelled extensively through Australia, Europe and the UK, served as a naval maintenance man in the Pacific during World War II, met Sir Malcolm Campbell, bluffed his way into a German motor ace where he saw Hitler, and later taught former Nazi scientist and father of America’s Apollo space program, Wernher von Braun, to waterski.     

Amply illustrated with black and white photos, many from the Murray family album, this book reveals that while ‘Gelignite’ Jack Murray may have not have been perfect, he was the perfect embodiment of the larrikin Aussie spirit that many of us claim to possess, but very few actually do.

For a detailed look at the man behind the name, this book is highly recommended.

‘Gelignite’ Jack Murray: An Aussie Larrikin Legend

358 page softcover, B&W illustrations

Author: Phil Murray

Publisher: New Holland Publishers

ISBN: 9781742579788

Price: $29.99 RRP